Waste Not, Want Not: A Case Study on Food Waste in Restaurants of Lahore, Pakistan. Issue 5 (4th July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aamir, Musa; Ahmad, Huzaifa; Javaid, Qasim; Hasan, Syed M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of food products marketing. Volume 24:Issue 5(2018)
• Page Start: 591
• Page End: 610
• Publication Date: 2018-07-04
• Subjects: Food waste -- restaurants -- survey -- Pakistan; Food -- Marketing -- Periodicals; Food industry and trade -- United States -- Periodicals; 381.45664097305
• DOI: 10.1080/10454446.2018.1472695
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1045-4446

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Recently, there is growing focus on quantifying food waste problem and analyzing its causes due to an imminent challenge: feed nine billion people by 2050. Among developing countries, we focus on Pakistan which has the sixth largest population in the world and faces serious issues of food insecurity and malnourishment. Astoundingly, despite the gravity of the situation the available research on the issue is almost non-existent. Here, in this first-of-its-kind study for Pakistan we attempt to measure the quantum of food wastage and study its underlying reasons across restaurants in the country's second largest urban center, Lahore, which is also popularly designated as "the culinary capital of Pakistan". Segmenting restaurants according to the niche markets they target—as high-end, medium-end, and low-end—and using actual measures of daily wastage, we find overproduction and liability concerns as the prime reasons of excess food preparation and its improper disposal.