Comparing “Leaf-to-Root”, “Nose-to-Tail” and Other Efficient Food Utilization Options from a Consumer Perspective

Abstract

The efficient use of natural raw materials is a key element of sustainable development and is also gaining importance in the food sector. Consumers are increasingly realizing that food is too valuable to be used only partially. However, consumer acceptance is an important precondition for establishing efficient food utilization options. A total of 470 German consumers were surveyed through an online-questionnaire where they had to evaluate three options each for the efficient use of plant-based foods as well as animal-based foods with respect to eight different criteria. The results show that the six options differed significantly regarding consumer acceptance. The efficient use of plant-based foods (especially non-standard fruits/vegetables and the "leaf-to-root" principle) was more accepted than the efficient utilization of animal-based foods. Furthermore, it can be seen that options using the by-products in a natural form were considered more acceptable than those which subject the by-products to some form of processing. These results provide an insight into the views of consumers on food waste reduction strategies, which are frequently debated in the sustainability discussion.The acceptance of consumers is an essential precondition not only for being able to utilize the various methods of efficiently using either plant-or animal-based foods but also for successfully establishing new products based on food by-products [6][7][8]. Some studies show that sustainability-related [9] and ethical aspects [10] have gained in importance in food consumption on the side of the consumer. In addition, there is also an increasing general awareness of the subject of food waste and a growing appreciation of food [11,12]. Nevertheless, based on people´s culinary habits, the by-products of foods are still often regarded as waste [13] and are negatively associated by consumers (e.g., contamination) [14,15].It is known that deficits of trust in the food industry on the side of the consumer [16] can have adverse effects on the acceptance of the various methods of efficiently using foodstuffs or even the development of new products using by-products from the value chain stage of the food processing industry. The use of by-products for food production can be associated with consumer concerns regarding the use of raw materials of lower quality for cost-saving or the production of products of reduced quality [8]. In addition, consumers can have reservations towards certain innovative technologies [17], which are sometimes used for the efficient utilization of by-products.Against this background, six options of efficiently utilizing food, located at different stages of the value chain, will be presented and discussed in the following. Three methods for the efficient utilization of plant-based by-products will be considered: the "leaf-to-root" principle, non-standard fruits/vegetables, and the innovative production of valuable substances (by means of food and biotechnological processing techniques). The three methods for the efficient u...

Consumer Attitudes towards Local and Organic Food with Upcycled Ingredients: An Italian Case Study for Olive Leaves

“…Consumer's general perception of the use of upcycled ingredients for food production is that the food industry tries to save money with inputs obtained at a lower cost [70]. Consumers accept many by-products for pharmaceutical use because they are rich in healthy components.…”

Approaches for reducing wastes in the agricultural sector. An analysis of Millennials’ willingness to buy food with upcycled ingredients

“…Nevertheless, literature on consumers' acceptance for food enriched with upcycled ingredients is still largely unexplored, also because there are few products that have already been developed and tested (Nitzko and Spiller, 2019), and Millennials are still an understudied segment of the market for sustainable products (Muralidharan and Xue, 2016).…”

Locality in the Promoted Sustainability Practices of Michelin-Starred Restaurants

“…In fine-dining restaurants, food waste is more likely to be generated from food preparation than from customer plates due to quality assurance and aesthetic reasons [55]. Thus, restaurants and chefs have implemented nose-to-tail/root-to-leaf eating [72], composted inedible food waste [73], donated to food banks [74], and fermented extra ingredients for food (e.g., cheese) [75] or feed (e.g., fish feed) [76]. With respect to disposables, restaurants could implement selective collection, minimise packaging or use returnable packaging boxes, reduce plastics, reuse and recycle glass, and use recycled or FSC-certified paper [7].…”