Phononic, Durham, North Carolina, announced the findings of a survey of more than 2,000 adults across the United States that revealed consumers’ attitudes toward food waste, food and meal delivery services and portable refrigeration. Respondents estimated that they personally throw out 23 percent of their food each year, and they expressed concerns about the negative financial and environmental implications of such waste.
Nearly half of Americans identified prepackaged meals or meal delivery services as a potential solution for reducing food waste. While these services are increasing in popularity, the survey indicated that there are hurdles to overcome before there is widespread adoption. For example, respondents were concerned about refrigeration of food during delivery and the freshness of food when it arrives. A majority of Americans (72 percent) would be more likely to use a meal or food delivery service if the food was guaranteed to be fresh.
“In the United States, a staggering amount of food is sent to landfills each year. This issue is top-of-mind for consumers who want to curb food waste, buy organic and eat healthier. Emerging retail models like meal and grocery delivery services have the potential to help consumers achieve their goals if retailers are able to overcome challenges such as bulky and wasteful packaging needed to maintain temperature control,” Phononic CEO Tony Atti says. “We believe our advancements in solid state refrigeration can keep food fresh across the last mile, which ends at the consumer’s door. For many Americans, this could be the deciding factor to signing on for delivery services—ultimately helping to reduce food waste.”
Food waste concerns
- Survey results showed a disconnect in consumers’ perception of food waste: while respondents correctly estimate that about 41 percent of all food gets wasted, they estimate that they personally waste only 23 percent each year.
- Half of Americans (51 percent) say that while they tend to plan their meals and buy food for them, they get so busy they just order in and/or eat out instead of cooking.
- Asked what might motivate them to waste less food, saving money topped the list (64 percent), followed by managing their household and/or meal planning more efficiently (47 percent), and feeling guilty about wasting food when others don’t have enough (35 percent).
- Breaking down the types of food that consumers throw out, vegetables (55 percent) and fruit (53 percent) led, followed by leftovers from eating out (49 percent) and bread and bread-based products (47 percent).
- Sixty-nine percent of Americans said when they shop for fruits and vegetables, they often avoid buying any because they have looked close to spoiling in the store, and 52 percent said they would buy more organic food if it didn’t tend to go bad faster than non-organic food.
Meal and food delivery benefits and hurdles
- Nearly half of consumers (48 percent) think they would waste less food if they purchased prepackaged meals and/or used a meal delivery service.
- Among concerns about food and meal delivery services, 71 percent of consumers were most worried about how the food is stored while being delivered, and 65 percent felt these services cause too much packaging waste.
- Seventy-two percent said they would be more likely to use a delivery service if the food was guaranteed to be fresh.
Portable refrigeration possibilities
- Over half of Americans (56 percent) would be more likely to use a grocery and/or meal delivery service if it had a battery-powered portable refrigerator to keep the food cold/fresh. And, 49 percent would even be willing to pay more for these services if they used portable refrigeration.
- Consumers are also seeing other benefits of portable refrigeration. Sixty-six percent said they could eat healthier with some place to store fresh, healthy snacks that they could take with them, and 51 percent said portable refrigeration is something they could find a lot of uses for in their daily lives.
For more information on the study, visit Phononic online.