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Managing Household Food Waste with the FoodSaveShare Mobile Application

Author

Listed:
  • George Mastorakis

    (Department of Management Science and Technology, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, Greece)

  • Ioannis Kopanakis

    (Institute of Economic Analysis, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 72100 Ag. Nikolaos, Greece)

  • John Makridis

    (Department of Management Science and Technology, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, Greece)

  • Christina Chroni

    (Department of Economics and Sustainable Development, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece)

  • Katerina Synani

    (Department of Geography, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece)

  • Katia Lasaridi

    (Department of Geography, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece)

  • Konstadinos Abeliotis

    (Department of Economics and Sustainable Development, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece)

  • Ioannis Louloudakis

    (Department of Agriculture, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, Greece)

  • Ioannis N. Daliakopoulos

    (Department of Agriculture, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, Greece)

  • Thrassyvoulos Manios

    (Department of Agriculture, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, Greece)

Abstract

It is estimated that European households are responsible for 55% of food waste generation. Key factors contributing to household food waste generation include food spoilage, confusion over expiration dates, overbuying, and inadequate shopping planning. Thus, food waste prevention at the household level depends heavily on food supplies monitoring and management. To this end, during the last decade, several consumer-oriented digital tools have been designed and launched. A literature review showed that currently accessible digital tools are scarce and cover a narrow range of functionalities. Here, we address these issues by designing and launching a decision support tool implemented in a smart mobile phone application (app), the FoodSaveShare Mobile App. The application development followed a traditional client–server architecture using state-of-the-art software and hardware technologies. Additionally, a survey of 340 individuals was conducted to better understand end-user motivation for and barriers against adopting this and similar apps. The developed application combines user-provided data with a retailer loyalty program to leverage the integrated features for tracking shopping activities. The app features a household shopping list populated by product barcode scanning and manual entry. Based on food and packaging type, food products are assigned approximate expiration dates to issue product expiration reminders. For products about to expire, suggestions for their utilization are provided, drawing from a list of over 7000 recipes. Additional functionality allows users to identify products that have either been consumed in time or that need to be discarded. Analytical tools, such as past purchase and resources discarded versus resources saved statistics, offer comprehensive insight and encourage improved shopping and consumption practices. The FoodSaveShare App was launched during the A2UFood Project, which allowed an organised campaign for its use. The app was tested under real customer data and conditions, and selected features have been adopted by the largest supermarket chain on the Island of Crete, Greece. The potential end-user survey results suggest that, provided personal data use issues are addressed, such apps can have a significant impact on reducing household food waste. Future work will focus on analysing the datasets produced by the application to assess its impact on household food waste management.

Suggested Citation

  • George Mastorakis & Ioannis Kopanakis & John Makridis & Christina Chroni & Katerina Synani & Katia Lasaridi & Konstadinos Abeliotis & Ioannis Louloudakis & Ioannis N. Daliakopoulos & Thrassyvoulos Man, 2024. "Managing Household Food Waste with the FoodSaveShare Mobile Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:7:p:2800-:d:1365286
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Heiberger, Richard & Robbins, Naomi, 2014. "Design of Diverging Stacked Bar Charts for Likert Scales and Other Applications," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 57(i05).
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