Tailored Informational Interventions for Reducing Surplus and Waste of Fruits and Vegetables in a Food Market: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This pilot study explored the effectiveness of tailored informational interventions to reduce the surplus and waste of fruits and vegetables at the distribution level in Chile. Stalls from a fresh food market were randomized to intervention (n = 5 selling fruits, n = 5 selling vegetables) or control (n = 4 selling fruits, n = 4 selling vegetables) groups. The causes of surplus and waste were estimated by questionnaires. Surplus, avoidable waste, and unavoidable waste were measured using direct quantification before and after the intervention, and were expressed relative to the initial stock. Before the intervention, the surplus was (median [25th–75th percentile]) 46.2% [33.3–51.2] for fruits and 51.5% [41.3–55.0] for vegetables; avoidable waste was 0.1% [0.0–0.8] for fruits and 1.8% [0.7–5.3] for vegetables; and unavoidable waste was 0.0% [0.0–1.0] for fruits and 0.0% [0.0–1.3] for vegetables. Planning and storage represented the main causes explaining surplus and waste. After the intervention, the intervention group decreased the surplus of fruits compared to the control group (−17.8% [−29.0–−11.0] vs. 5.8% [−0.6–7.8], respectively; p = 0.016), without other differences. In conclusion, tailored informational interventions based on the causes of surplus and waste may reduce the surplus of fruits in a fresh food market. Interventions might also include management strategies for the surplus to improve grocers’ business operations.