Reducing food loss and waste in supply chain operations

This paper presents a review of research on food loss and waste (FLW) from the perspective of operations management (OM). Supply chain FLW represents a significant challenge for researchers and practitioners grappling with issues of famine and inequitable access to food supplies. Our broad literature pool includes 346 articles published in prestigious OM, management, and prominent economics, environment, and food science journals. The contribution of this review is threefold. First, we provide insights into FLW studies from the lens of specific stages within the food supply chain and from the perspective of the entire food supply chain. Second, we identify overarching research themes in the FLW literature. Third, we draw insights from our literature sample, presentations in the leading OM conferences, working papers, and 30 semi-structured interviews of food supply chain stakeholders to provide a projection of future research opportunities. Such a review approach ensures our analysis being relevant to practice.