From harvest to end consumer: Consequence of the behaviour of "Generation Y " regarding food waste on the supply chain of fresh fruits and vegetables

Sammanfattning: Food waste is a major issue from various perspectives. During the process from harvest to the end consumer, almost one-third of food produced is wasted. It is not just the wasted food during the process that is concerning, there are issues in sustainability related to food waste that need to be considered. Moreover, there has been little attention to the issue of food waste in the downstream part of the supply chain and how specific behaviours affect the issue of wasting food.This thesis explores the food waste of fresh fruits and vegetables from a consumer´s perspective. To specify, the purpose of the study is to investigate the drivers of the disposal pattern of fresh fruit and vegetables, with an emphasis on the behaviour of "Generation Y" (born 1980 – 1995). Therefore, a revised model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour is applied. Also, to understand the behaviour of "Generation Y" regarding disposal, it is expected to identify impacts on the supply chain.A deductive approach is applied to this thesis. The qualitative study was conducted with open-ended survey questions to supplement the results with the answers of the respondents. The empirical data is collected from consumers within the “Generation Y” who usually purchase their fresh fruits and vegetables for their respective households. The data was analysed using the coding analysis which involves summarization and categorization of data.The results of the research reveal that external attitudinal factors such as price and marketing perception, storage habits, and quality consciousness and internal attitudinal factors such as sustainable environmental awareness, health consciousness, and subjective norms influence the respondents’ disposal behaviour. Moreover, the sustainable attitude of “Generation Y’’ leads to most of the consumers’ waste reduction, and highly influences the supply chain.