Sustainability in food distribution: practices for prevention and reduction of food waste in supermarket retail aiming food security

• Grant number: 21/10489-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Andréa Rossi Scalco
• Grantee: Andréa Rossi Scalco
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Engenharia. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Tupã. Tupã , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Ana Elisa Bressan Smith Lourenzani ; Douglas D'Alessandro Salgado ; Fabiane Letícia Lizarelli ; Giuliana Aparecida Santini Pigatto ; Pedro Luz Brancoli ; Roberta de Castro Souza ; Sandra Cristina de Oliveira

Abstract

Even though Brazil is one of the largest food producers in the world, it is living with the problem of food insecurity. On the one hand, there is a worsening in the indicators of food insecurity, and on the other, the growing evolution of food losses and waste. These issues need to be resolved globally and, in this sense, it has become part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations (UN). In relation to these issues, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines two goals, SDG 2 and SDG 12. SDG 2 (zero hunger and sustainable agriculture) aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. The SDG 12 aims to ensure sustainable production and consumption standards, one of the goals being the reduction of half of the per capita food waste in the world, in addition to reducing food losses throughout the entire production chain. This study aims to investigate the actions taken in supermarket retail with regard to sustainability, specifically regarding the reduction of food waste aiming at food and nutrition security, and apply the FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) to identify the ways of failure, its causes and preventive and corrective actions. The methodology will be qualitative research, with bibliographical and documentary review, in addition to case studies. The cases will be four retail stores (two supermarkets and one hypermarket's in which it is intended to conduct interviews with the managers responsible for the stores, managers responsible for the fruit and vegetables section (FLV), employees of this sector and the receipt, and some stakeholders, in addition to on-site observation to assist in the analysis of the data collected by applying the FMEA collection, analysis, control and improvement instrument. In addition, a data collection will be performed to quantify food waste and its destinations (pre-store and store), which will be essential for the application of the FMEA. The results of this research will serve to contribute to the measurement of food waste at the retail level and propose actions to combat waste for the two most relevant retail food formats in Brazil, conventional supermarkets and hipermarkets, in addition to promoting food security. (AU)