Seven in ten Greek households waste food to some degree, a new study by IELKA has found, with around 300,000 tonnes of food ending up wasted on an annual basis.
The Greek consumer goods research institute found that 60% of households state that up to 10% of the food they purchase is wasted, with 9% saying that 10% to 25% is wasted and 2% saying that more than 25% is wasted.
Fruit And Vegetables
In terms of the categories in which food waste most often occurs, 68% of Greek consumers say that fruit and vegetables are the products most often wasted in their homes, while 58% cite bread and pastries, 37% cite cold cuts, 29% dairy products, 28% sweets and snacks, and 27% milk.
Less waste tends to be recorded in ambient categories such as rice, pasta and legumes, with just 15% of households seeing waste in these categories. In addition, meat and fish waste is only seen in 14% of households due to the higher value/kg of these products.
Poor Household Management
Four fifths of consumers (81%) say that they 'feel bad' for throwing away food, with 21% saying that they main reason for food waste is due to poor household management and 18% saying that it is due to purchasing more food than they need.
Some 30% of Greek consumers would like more assistance from food companies in tackling food waste.
The study was carried out between 5 and 11 November, across a representative sample of 1,000 consumers from across Greece. The results of the research were presented at the 12th IELKA MetaFood conference at the start of December.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Clicksubscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
