Valorisation of food surpluses and side-flows and citizens’ understanding

Overview

Overview

The need: In the last few years, several innovative valorisation processes have been developed in different countries to prevent and reduce food waste. However, little is known about consumers’ acceptance of the end products resulting from these innovations.

The solution: A social experiment was carried out in Barcelona in the context of parents’ choices of their children’s school meals. They were tested to determine whether they would accept feeding their children with valorised foods from food surpluses or side-flows.

The benefit: The relevant factors that influence the acceptance or rejection of valorised foods were identified. These factors include familiarity, knowledge, perceived risks, perceived benefits, experiences of food processes, involvement, trust between consumers and producers, information, naturalness, local origin, levels of processing, trust in food regulatory institutions, sustainability, safety, complexity, moral considerations, traceability, and transparency.