The potential of the mobile application as a food waste reduction alternative

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the impact of using ‘Last Order’, a mobile application that provides a discount service for near-expiry food, on food waste reduction, and to verify whether food redistribution through such a platform can be an effective alternative to proactively reducing domestic food waste. A survey was conducted among 216 ‘Last Order’ users and 376 non-users, of which 469 respondents(136 users and 333 non-users), excluding single-person households, were used for the analysis. The results of the analysis showed that the variable ‘whether or not to use the application which discounts service for near-expiry food’ had a significant negative value, indicating that the use of the application contributed to a reduction in the amount of food waste generated per household per day. It implies that increased use of the application will increase the potential for reducing food waste through the consumption of near-expiry food from retailers to households.