Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

This paper empirically quantifies the extent of food waste and its cost implications; identified the determinants of food waste in restaurants; and examined the food waste management options employed by the restaurants in the Oforikrom Municipality of Ghana. Through a multi-stage sampling technique, 80 restaurants were sampled for the study. For each selected restaurant, the quantities of food that went waste were weighed on three different occasions using a weighing scale and the average quantity used for the analysis. A five-point Likert scale was employed to examine the food waste management practices adopted by the restaurants. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was then used to identify and rank the challenges to food waste management by the restaurants. Ordered logistic regression models were used to identify the determinants of the level of food waste in restaurants. The study quantified the average extent of food waste to be 7kg per day at a financial cost of GH₵36.40 (US$ 7.2), representing about 10% of the average gross margin of the restaurants. Educational background of managers, the number of dishes served in a day, source of power used for operation, educational background of workers and distance to major food commodity market were identified as the key determinants of food waste in restaurants. The restaurants managed food waste by disposal without energy recovery, reuse, and source reduction of food waste. The study identified the varied nature of food waste generated as the main challenge to the management of food waste by the restaurants.