Abstract:
It is reported that about one-third of the food produced globally is not consumed but wasted across the supply chain according to (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2020). The aim of this study was to have an in-depth exploration of how this global phenomenon of food waste can be alleviated by studying the behaviours of consumers regarding food waste in South Africa. The study looked at existing theories about urban consumer behaviours and their response to managing food waste. Even though the problem of food waste expands across many areas from production, transportation to households, this study focused on the retailer to-customer relationship and explored how retailers can make use of consumer education as a communication element to encourage the reduction of food waste.
A theoretical framework was developed to introduce several factors that are considered in the recent literature regarding the impact of food waste. The incorporated secondary research guided the enquiry of how retailers can use their existing relationship with consumers to communicate the issue of food waste. Retailers have frequent interaction with their consumers through their stores and existing channels of communication, an established relationship exists and therefore it can be used to reduce food waste by educating consumers about food waste management in their households.
A sample of urban based consumers were observed for this study and the findings indicated that customers are aware of food waste and the social moral obligation not to waste food as thousands go hungry every day. The findings also revealed that for retailers to effectively communicate messages of sustainability they would have to employ engaging, person-to-person initiatives instead of relying on their day-to-day communication channels. Customers mainly engage with retailers for purchasing purposes, for any other matters the brand will have to take extra measures, this was also supported by a similar study of Asda retailer in the UK.
