Drivers of divergent industry and consumer food waste behaviors: The case of reclosable and resealable packaging

Optimizing packaging to align with consumers' food management needs can improve packaging's potential to reduce household food waste, important for a sustainable food system. This paper provides actionable insights to support the food/beverage-packaging industry, policymakers, and researchers to better understand the factors impeding industry implementation of packaging aligned to consumer needs and the potential flow-on effects on household food waste. To facilitate understanding, a consumer-industry grounded model is presented based in the Australian context, developed through qualitative research using the Gioia method to examine reclosable/ resealable packaging, food storage, and household food waste. The results indicate that divergent packaging priorities and needs in industry and consumers impede food waste reduction. Industry concerns for business viability mean prioritizing features to sell products, hence consumer needs are secondary. Consumer needs are framed by individual task goals for managing food storage and the availability of supporting resources, including appropriate packaging. Suggestions to help align consumer and industry priorities include increased industry-consumer communication to better help industry understand consumer needs and validating product-packaging with consumers.

Automated summary

Optimizing packaging to align with consumers' food management needs can reduce household food waste in a sustainable food system. Divergent priorities between industry and consumers impede food waste reduction, as industry focuses on business viability while consumer needs are secondary. Increased communication between industry and consumers, along with validating product-packaging with consumers, can help align priorities and reduce food waste.