COVID-19 pandemic and food waste: An empirical analysis

This paper investigates the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on food waste using an original dataset from 176 agrifood business operators in the European Union (EU). Our objective is to assess whether and why the pandemic crisis affected food waste level. Unlike previous studies that addressed the issue at a consumer level, our research focuses on pre-consumption waste covering stages of the agrifood supply chain from input suppliers to retailers. Considering the importance of waste reduction for the sustainability of food production, the study provides an insight into the ability of the agrifood supply chain to cope with a major shock and its resilience. A multinomial logit regression model is used to estimate the effect of Covid-19, testing whether the ability to innovate, the role in the supply chain, the magnitude of the shock and policy support were drivers of changes in food waste. We find that three main factors affect the change in a firm’s food-waste level during the Covid-19 pandemic: The magnitude of the disruption of the sale channel, the firms’ ability to adapt the business model to the new pandemic environment, and the adoption of public policies mitigating the lockdown effects. The first driver was associated with an increase in food waste, while the others were associated with a decrease.