A Taste for Consumption: Food Waste Generation in New Zealand Cafés and Restaurants

About this resource: This Master’s thesis investigates food waste generation in 29 New Zealand cafés and restaurants using a mix of self-reported questionnaires, 24-hour food waste audits and informal conversations. Food waste generation was generally perceived by staff as minimal, while audited food waste found most businesses generated between 4 and 10 kg daily. Customer plate and food preparation waste were the dominant food waste streams, with vegetables, accompaniments and lower-value carbohydrates being the most commonly wasted food types. Most businesses identified financial and environmental outcomes as important motivators for reducing food waste. These findings indicate that New Zealand cafés and restaurants generate significant amounts of food waste. Reduction initiatives may be most effective if they tap into financial and environmental motives and consider customer behaviours driving plate waste.

WasteMINZ produced a report (Mainvil, L., Mirosa, M., Chisnall, S., Jones, E., Marshall, J., & Wassilak, C. (2018). Food Waste in the Cafe & Restaurant: Sector in New Zealand.) based on this study and one other (Jones, E. (2018). An investigation into food waste produced in New Zealand restaurants and cafes. [Thesis, Master of Dietetics]. University of Otago.) Click HERE to read the report.

Food Waste Innovation authors: Sarah Chisnall, Miranda Mirosa.

Citation: Chisnall, S. J. (2018). A Taste for Consumption: Food Waste Generation in New Zealand Cafés and Restaurants [Thesis, Master of Dietetics]. University of Otago. http://hdl.handle.net/10523/7942