Consumer perceptions of packaging’s role in reducing food waste

The problem

Information on household food packaging could be improved to change behaviours and reduce food waste.

The research

The ‘Consumer perceptions of the role of packaging in reducing food waste’ project led by RMIT University and supported by End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) examined the issue of household food waste and its complex interrelationships with supply chain factors.

With funding from Sustainability Victoria and Woolworths, it also aimed to develop both deep and broad insights into consumers’ attitudes towards food waste and packaging in their homes.

The research was based on the premise that packaging designed to minimise food waste may extend the shelf-life of food products, cater to different-sized households (and therefore reduce leftovers), and include information explaining how to use and store items to maximise their longevity.

The study included literature reviews, surveys, focus groups, and co-design with industry and consumers. The RMIT team aimed to provide industry with options for packaging designs that capitalised on the research evidence of consumers’ use and understanding of packaging to reduce food waste and supported consumers’ perceptions and industry priorities.

Consumers’ comments about packaging design included the following.

  • Packaging design should provide information in short form with simple text and symbols. Consumers will use QR codes if available.
  • People will pay to reduce waste overall, including food waste.
  • Package and label different food product categories differently.
  • Show consumers how to repurpose and refresh fruit and vegetables.
  • Focus on safety cues for meat and seafood in packaging designs.
  • Unpackaged food is problematic because there is no provenance or indicators of authenticity.
  • Packaging needs to indicate portion size and serves.
  • Offer thoughtful recipe ideas for leftover content.
  • The term ‘best before’ is clearer than other terms like ‘eat me’ or ‘freshest by’.
  • The term ‘Eat within X number of days’ is helpful for consumers.

The impact

Industry suggested that:

  • more consumer education is required to show consumers how to reuse and recycle packaging
  • portion-controlled packaging should be used more
  • sustainable packaging options and the equipment changes needed to produce sustainable packaging are expensive
  • government targets are not feasible without a whole-of-system approach to reducing food waste.

These insights now provide industry and government with evidence to pursue actions to better inform and enable consumers to reduce home food waste.

What’s next?

The next steps are outlined in the End Food Waste CRC project changing date-mark labelling and storage information. The new project has the same RMIT team working with industry and government to reform the date-labelling system nationally and educating consumers on the proper use of date labels and how to store various types of food. Prior experiences, particularly in the UK, have demonstrated such actions are a hugely impactful way of reducing food waste in the home.