Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) Sector Action Plan Chapter

The National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study (FIAL, 2021) reported a total food waste amounting to 7.6 million tonnes across the supply and consumption chain in Australia, of which an estimated $6.4 billion worth of food waste is attributed to the commercial food service sector, nearly 18% of total food waste in Australia’s food supply chain – most of which ending up in landfill.

The proportion of food waste that the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) subsector contributes to total food service food waste is currently unknown in Australia or internationally. However, the sub-sector represents over 38% of all Australian food service outlets (McGrath 2021), and over $150b in revenue annually (ABS 2023), making QSRs a significant location for consumer out-of-home dining. Working with industry stakeholders within the QSR sub-sector, this project will develop a chapter for the Stop Food Waste Australia Foodservice (Commercial) Sector Action Plan (SAP) to identify food waste hotspots and causes to investigate, identify, and validate viable solutions for sector-wide implementation at national scale. 

Develop a QSR SAP chapter with the following key project outcomes: 

• Identify food waste hotspots and develop a deep understanding on root causes for why waste is generated within the QSR value chain. 
• Identify opportunities to prevent, reduce and manage food waste through relevant data, best practice insights and input from industry stakeholders. 
• Present an implementation plan as a sector roadmap to collectively reduce food waste via strategic partnerships and collaborations amongst industry players, food rescue organisations, charity organisations, local councils, etc. 
• Identify, prioritise, and commence testing of key food waste reduction initiative at select QSR businesses. 
• QSR businesses are empowered to tangibly adopt effective measures to reduce food waste in day-to-day business operations.