Food Waste Management Research Proposal: A Denmark Case Study

This research proposal addresses the critical issue of food waste management in Denmark, a highly developed country where food-related activities contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. It highlights the background of the problem, emphasizing Denmark's high household spending on food and the environmental impact of unconsumed resources. The proposal outlines the management problem, focusing on the need for a comprehensive analysis of the food chain to identify key areas of waste generation, including processing, wholesale & retail, food service, and the household sector. It raises key research questions related to market demand, supply chain processes, and consumer preferences to guide the research objectives. The objectives include assessing activities responsible for food wastage, evaluating prevention strategies, recommending effective management practices, and identifying suitable methods for minimizing waste.

Running Head: FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DENMARK
Research proposal
Food Waste Management in Denmark

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Table of Contents
Background to the problem........................................................................................................2
Management problem.................................................................................................................2
Demand of the market..........................................................................................................3
Market analysis.....................................................................................................................4
Research question.......................................................................................................................4
Research objective.....................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

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Background to the problem
Food being the essential component for the survival of human existence is the most
powerful and growing industry around the world. Food not only provides the energy and
nutrition but also allow us to grow and remain healthy. In the last few decades, the industrial
food waste has been recognising as a significant issue of nutritional, social and environmental
problems. With a total population of about 5.4 million, a stable business environment,
Denmark is one of the highly developed countries. Copenhagen, capital of Denmark alone
has 20% of total population of Denmark. Denmark being a highly developed country, people
there are too busy and due to busy lifestyle they want to keep themselves physically fit and
healthy. In Danish society the importance can be demonstrated with the spending of
households over DKK 88,000 million in a year only on food and the agro-chain sector, from
production to retail, has a total turnover of DKK 162,000 million in a year (Napier &
Bjerregaard, 2014). The whole process of the industry in Denmark only emits the largest
amount of greenhouse gases, with a significant 7%of total CO2 emission, and if this food is
not consumed then the resources used for this much production are wasted. All this has to be
controlled with some effective way because if this wastage in food industry is not reducing
then there will be a huge problem of lack of resources along with some environmental and
social problems. This reduction of food waste can be achieved by different means but among
all these means prevention is the best solution. Prevention will reduce the food waste and as
well as the resources too (Affald & Spild, 2017).
Management problem
In the last five years Denmark has become one of the leading European countries to
fight for the food waste prevention. And the Danish Government has credited a woman,

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Selina Juul, who came from Russia, for her efforts to reduce the food waste by 25% in
Denmark (Rodionova, 2017). To get some effective means for the reduction of over all food
waste in Denmark the management of food industry has to analyse the root of the problem.
This analysis will require the whole food chain analysis from production to the retail services.
For this management has to collect some statistical and study data in terms of primary
information and secondary data. This whole process will require the research to be conducted
different major sectors responsible for the overall wastage of food which are processing,
wholesale & retail, food service and Household sector. All these sectors are equally
responsible for the total food waste. Therefore, all the primary and secondary data has to be
collected for the individual sector in order to get the complete understanding of the problem.
Further after collecting the required date management has to decide the suitable type of
methodology for the research (Nielsen, 2017). This methodology can be one of the below
stated two kinds of researches:
 Quantitative research
 Qualitative research
After this, management has to make some really important decisions for the selection of
the suitable method to conduct the research or study. The management has to decide its
strategy and planning to conduct the study in such a way that the adopted method must be
adoptable by the company and the outcome the study must be beneficial for the company
(Hesse-Biber, 2015). To conduct an effective market research, management has to investigate
the following factors about the new product in market:
Demand of the market
This study will help the management to get the actual demand of the market which is
important to control the extra and unnecessary production of the food

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Market analysis
In this particular management has to subgroup the market for its product by
distinguishing the gender, personality and choice of the consumers and then management has
to supply the quantity of different types of food according to the consumption by different
segments of the market
Research question
The above research problem leads us to get some answers to deal with the management
problems:
 What is the actual demand for food?
 What is the demand for individual cuisine in the market?
 What is the supply chain process of different products?
 Which food is loved most by the market?
 What is the supply for individual food?
Research objective
From the above research problem we derived some objectives to complete the research
in an effective approach. This research problem provides the following objectives:
 To assess the activities responsible for the wastage of food and identify the nature and
amount of the waste production.
 To identify and evaluate the food waste prevention in different sectors responsible for
the major food waste production.
 To recommend the effective and suitable management to reduce wastage production.

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 To consider different food waste minimizing methods and identify the good practise
for the same (Carraresi & Banterle, 2015).

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References
Affald, U., & Spild, S. (2017, April). Food Wasste Prevention in Denmark: Identification of
Hotspots and Potentias with Life Cycle. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from Ministry of
Environment and Food of Denmark:
https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2017/04/978-87-93529-80-9.pdf
Carraresi, L., & Banterle, A. (2015). Agri-food Competitive Performance in EU Countries: A
Fifteen- Year Retrospective. International Food and Agribusiness Management
Review, 18(2), 37-61.
Hesse-Biber, S. (2015). The Problems and Prespects in the Teaching of Mixed Methods
Research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 18(5).
Napier, G., & Bjerregaard, H. (2014). Towards An International Food Cluster in Denmark.
Retrieved April 12, 2018, from Danish Food Cluster: http://danishfoodcluster.dk/wp-
content/uploads/2014/10/TOWARDS-AN-INTERNATIONAL-FOOD-CLUSTER-
IN-DENMARK.pdf
Nielsen, M. M. (2017). eGovernance Framework for Successful Citizen Use of Online
Services: A Danish-Japanese Comparative Analysis. Journal of Democracy (JeDEM),
9(2), 68-109.
Rodionova, Z. (2017). Denmark Reduces Food Wastte by 25% in Five Years eith the Help of
One Woman- Selina Juul. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from independent:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/denmark-reduce-food-waste-25-
per-cent-five-years-help-selina-juul-scandanavia-a7604061.html

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