Econometric modelling and household food waste (2014)

In 2009, WRAP commissioned Fathom Consulting to develop an econometric model which examines the interplay between: macroeconomic factors, such as household incomes and food prices; household awareness of food waste; and the weight of food purchased and wasted by households.

The main objective of the work was to better understand the relationship between the weight of food waste (in tonnes), awareness of food waste (as a proxy for activity aimed at helping consumers reduce food waste), food prices and spending on food (by food type). The results from this work suggested that food waste awareness (using media coverage of food waste as a proxy) had a statistically significant impact on food purchasing behaviour and food waste.

More precisely, a doubling in media coverage of food waste was found to reduce the weight of food purchased by 8.5% in the long term. But, interestingly, no evidence was found that heightened awareness of food waste had a statistically significant impact on the revenue from food sales. One interpretation of this finding was that, as consumers find more ways to avoid waste, they change their purchasing behaviour and buy smaller quantities of more expensive food, which is a form of ‘trading up’.