Empirical data supporting the interpretation of added value, well-being and dimensions
| 2nd order theme | Representative quotes | Additional empirical information |
|---|---|---|
| Dimension 1: increased environmental and social association value | ||
| Reduced food waste | “The donations [of food] are seen as a way to mitigate the loss that we otherwise would have contributed to.” (Company 1); “We must take advantage of the knowledge that the product has not been produced in vain and that it has a value.” (FG-TM); “Helps us achieve goals in waste and food waste.” (Company 3); “The value the company sees from donating food is mainly that they can improve their sustainability work and reduce food waste.” (Company 9) | Based on the environmental impact from producing the food rescued, the project manager estimated that the external environmental costs in total exceeded €70,000 per year |
| Improved environment | “It is good that food is not thrown away. This is also an important issue for the younger generation.” (WS2); “The collaboration [with 4RDC] gives both social and environmental value.” (Company 1) | |
| Increased work motivation | “There is a need to create a policy or systematic way for how our sustainability performance can be communicated to them [i.e. coworkers in the supporting organizations].” (FG-TM); “The employees like it when the company takes action.” (WS1); “The donations are seen as a much better alternative to throwing the food away; it feels good and creates pride in the staff as they want to do good and take care of the environment.” (Company 2); “It gives an internal pride that we work for a sustainable society.” (Company 3); “The employees think it is good that the products are not wasted.” (Company 4); “It involves commitment from employees.” (Company 6) | |
| Added work training | “We have a solid program for work training and offer training in three different areas: terminal handling and logistics, store management, and different aspects of running a restaurant.” (FG-TM); Would it be possible to have one work trainer in our terminal dedicated to handling the redistribution of food? (FG-LSP1); “Work training needs to be run at a larger scale to be efficient, with at least 2–3 persons.” (FG-TM) | The government provides subsidies for work training |
| Sustainable food at restaurants | “Different people came to the restaurant. It is people from the surrounding companies, the employees within the initiative, but also people who come here to try the concept.” (FG-TM; this has also been noticed in the observation); “At least 50% of the food served is rescued food.” (FG-OR1) | |
| Greener logistics | “Inefficient retrieval of food waste. There are many large stores that are not covered; by picking up from several stores, economies of scale can be obtained.” (WS1) | |
| Improved reputation and image | “[Supporting 4RDC can give] increased goodwill. It does not feel good to throw food away so we can reduce food waste.” (WS1); “Throwing away food is an ethical mistake. Then you can come up with a lot of other things that reduce costs for waste, but the ethical reason is first. That it then goes to charity is an extra spice.” (WS1); “The collaboration [with the 4RDC] is currently communicated in line with an agreement on PR that has been written, which included a press release.” (Company 4); “There is an opportunity to use the collaboration [with the 4RDC] for PR purposes, but we have not done that yet.” (Company 5); “It can be communicated externally to create value for the company. The communication channels that have been used are the company’s sustainability blog, intranet, and social media.” (Company 6) | All companies that donate more than €2,000 become “Friend Companies” of the 4RDC initiative, letting them use the organization’s name and describing its mission in, for example, their sustainability reports |
| Enhanced environmental performance | “It would be nice if we could get a number, such as ‘Our donation has resulted in the decrease of carbon dioxide by X percent’.” (WS1); “As the company compensates for climate change, it will also result in less compensation thanks to lower CO2 emissions.” (Company 9); “[The 4RDC] is an instrument for the company to be more sustainable.” (Company 2) | The food industry seems more interested in the social aspects, while the logistics industry puts a higher value on environmental considerations. People can more easily relate to food waste than to poverty, and thereby find more interest in decreased food waste. A way to enlighten potential actors and the public, and thereby support the marketing of the initiative |
| Enhanced social performance | “That other food redistributors have higher demands on the minimum donation for associate organizations is inspiring.” (FG-OR1)¸“Are we selling ourselves too cheap?” (FG-TM); “By not donating food there would be 17 persons without food for today and one person would be left outside the job market. Would it not be fair that the logistics company that donates their services also gain from these benefits?” (FG-LSP2); “The donations to [the 4RDC] are in line with the company’s goal of becoming the most sustainable food supply chain in the industry. [Food] donations are seen as a much better alternative to throwing away food.” (Company 2) | |
| Dimension 2: reduced societal cost | ||
| Improved health | “Every day hundreds of homeless people come to the [organization’s name] to rest and eat. Many are tired after many years without a permanent home. Some are affected by or suffer from mental illness.” (Website); “The most important value-creating factor is that the food is consumed instead of thrown away.” (Company 6); “The social supermarkets make it possible for people who live in financial vulnerability to buy food at a reduced price. Good food that would otherwise be thrown away comes in handy and can give that little extra to the meal for many who are in need of it.” (Website); “The social supermarket is good for both people and the environment. […] As a member you can buy food at very low prices. We are mainly there for our members with low incomes who have difficulty getting enough money in regular grocery stores. Members can buy food at a third or less of the regular store price.” (Website) | Access to free cooked food for people who are not able to cook themselves, due to, e.g. homelessness, no access to a kitchen or lack of ability; Access to free food products through grocery bags through local charities. Two potential downsides with these bags are a risk of food waste due to unwanted food, and resource-intense distribution channels |
| Decreased food poverty | ||
| Maintained dignity | “In the store, the customers were treated like customers in any store. They get help when they ask for it and can choose what to purchase.” (Observation); “It is not possible to put a financial value on empowerment for persons that are living in extremely vulnerable situations.” (FG-TM) | Can choose to shop at a social supermarket and are given freedom to choose what to eat. The people in need appreciate the possibility to make their own choices and the way they are treated as respected customers in the supermarkets without the skepticism that they can experience in regular stores |
| Increased awareness of food waste and poverty | “Should we develop a communication strategy for the project? One way is to develop a homepage or similar that can be used to inform food producers and the government (on, e.g. the benefits of decreased food waste, work training, and the poverty in society).” (FG-TM); “The new law on sustainability reporting requires more transparency regarding sustainability. Reporting of food waste is an example of how food companies can fulfill this.” (WS2); “They [some food companies] do not know about the food hierarchy, and they are insecure when it comes to what they are allowed to donate or not. We need to contribute to raising this awareness.” (FG-TM) | 4RDC finds it important to continuously spread knowledge of food poverty, food waste and economic poverty to current and potential donors |
| Dimension 3: improved state budget | ||
| Decreased economic poverty | see improved health and decreased food poverty | |
| Increased employment | “Our goal is to take you to the next step, toward a job or education. During job training, we have a clear job focus. By performing real tasks, learning new things, or improving existing knowledge and experience, the opportunities for a future job increase.” (Website); “We have approximately 20 people in job training every year and thus far most of them have gotten a job within the area trained.” (FG-TM) | |
| Enhanced knowledge | ||
| Better food hygiene | “You need to be able to secure the quality; it would be a media disaster if people got sick.” (WS1); “There are questionable organizations, once a food donation [involving other organizations than the studied ones] ended up in a normal store.” (WS1); “We do not know if, and what, we are allowed to donate.” (WS1); “Producers are more nervous about who takes responsibility if someone gets sick. People do not remember the store but remember the producer. How to ensure that recalled products are actually recalled?” (WS1); “It is important that the chain works 100%. The media find it worse if people in a hostel get sick than if visitors to a restaurant get sick.” (WS1); “The hub of the system [i.e. the 4RDC] must be the guarantor of safety from donor onwards.” (WS1) | There are organizations with lacking traceability and food safety. The level of knowledge on regulations governing the handling of surplus food is low. The workshops enlighten the managers of 4RDC on the value of being a registered food organization |
| Dimension 4: increased operational value for food donor | ||
| Changed internal logistics cost | “Who’s got the time and money for this [i.e. sorting/extra handling of surplus food]?” (WS1); “It will be a lot of extra handling and administration if the recipient [i.e. 4RDC] can only take 3 out of 7 pallets.” (WS1); “It will be an extra job, not included in the usual flows and the usual organization. Decision-making processes must be reviewed and so on. Food that is to be donated can be blocked for sale in the regular channels, and then the administration increases.” (WS1); “The big difference between companies is how they handle surplus food in their operations. From the fact that there are clear policies that a person only needs one hour to get acquainted with these and a person has the authority to make decisions, to the fact that for each product you have to get an OK at different levels in the company (sell, cannot sell, etc.).” (WS1); “It can create value for companies if the donations are made quickly as it does not require companies to have space to store food to be donated.” (WS2); “Donations do not lead to any financial losses.” (Company 1); ”An improvement we would like to see is a reduction in the redistributors [4RDC] lead time, so that we can donate the food more quickly and that they [4RDC] increase their capacity so that we can donate larger quantities. (Company 1); “The food that the stores donate does not give rise to any major costs and is seen as an economic zero-sum game, while the food that is donated from the warehouse gives rise to some extra costs in the form of picking and transport.” (Company 2); “The products that are donated require more manual handling. The products cannot be scanned but must be marked manually.” (Company 3, respondent 1); “There is nothing different in the management as [the 4RDC] is seen as a customer and is as important as all other customers.” (Company 3, respondent 2); “it takes approximately 1–2 h every month [the extra work needed in order to donate food],/ … /initially it was approximately 15 h” (Company 6); ”There needs to be clear routines regarding the donation/ … /rules regarding taxes and declarations must be clear/ … /as well as for the handling of pallets./ … /The redistributor [4RDC] ought to provide a manual on how to donate food.” (Company 7) | |
| Changed waste disposal costs | ”The food industry sometimes pay for the destruction of food, but sometimes they get paid if the waste can be used to produce biogas.” (FG-TM) | |
| Dimension 5: reduced costs for redistributors and recipients | ||
| Decreased food purcha-sing cost | The local charities do not pay for the food they receive. (Source: FG-TM) | |
| Decreased transport cost | “There is a divided transport market, which means that it will not be efficient; a common portal for surplus food can counteract division.” (WS1); “There is a need for a specific transport tariff that guides the logistics sector in how to price this kind of transport service.” (FG-LSP1) | LSPs offering a social tariff for transporting surplus food (their margins are cut so they do not make money). Discussion during both workshops indicated that some food donors sometimes find paying for the transport service unfair, as they support the initiative by donating food |
| 2nd order theme | Representative quotes | Additional empirical information |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced food waste | “The donations [of food] are seen as a way to mitigate the loss that we otherwise would have contributed to.” (Company 1); “We must take advantage of the knowledge that the product has not been produced in vain and that it has a value.” (FG-TM); “Helps us achieve goals in waste and food waste.” (Company 3); “The value the company sees from donating food is mainly that they can improve their sustainability work and reduce food waste.” (Company 9) | Based on the environmental impact from producing the food rescued, the project manager estimated that the external environmental costs in total exceeded €70,000 per year |
| Improved environment | “It is good that food is not thrown away. This is also an important issue for the younger generation.” (WS2); “The collaboration [with 4RDC] gives both social and environmental value.” (Company 1) | |
| Increased work motivation | “There is a need to create a policy or systematic way for how our sustainability performance can be communicated to them [i.e. coworkers in the supporting organizations].” (FG-TM); “The employees like it when the company takes action.” (WS1); “The donations are seen as a much better alternative to throwing the food away; it feels good and creates pride in the staff as they want to do good and take care of the environment.” (Company 2); “It gives an internal pride that we work for a sustainable society.” (Company 3); “The employees think it is good that the products are not wasted.” (Company 4); “It involves commitment from employees.” (Company 6) | |
| Added work training | “We have a solid program for work training and offer training in three different areas: terminal handling and logistics, store management, and different aspects of running a restaurant.” (FG-TM); Would it be possible to have one work trainer in our terminal dedicated to handling the redistribution of food? (FG-LSP1); “Work training needs to be run at a larger scale to be efficient, with at least 2–3 persons.” (FG-TM) | The government provides subsidies for work training |
| Sustainable food at restaurants | “Different people came to the restaurant. It is people from the surrounding companies, the employees within the initiative, but also people who come here to try the concept.” (FG-TM; this has also been noticed in the observation); “At least 50% of the food served is rescued food.” (FG-OR1) | |
| Greener logistics | “Inefficient retrieval of food waste. There are many large stores that are not covered; by picking up from several stores, economies of scale can be obtained.” (WS1) | |
| Improved reputation and image | “[Supporting 4RDC can give] increased goodwill. It does not feel good to throw food away so we can reduce food waste.” (WS1); “Throwing away food is an ethical mistake. Then you can come up with a lot of other things that reduce costs for waste, but the ethical reason is first. That it then goes to charity is an extra spice.” (WS1); “The collaboration [with the 4RDC] is currently communicated in line with an agreement on PR that has been written, which included a press release.” (Company 4); “There is an opportunity to use the collaboration [with the 4RDC] for PR purposes, but we have not done that yet.” (Company 5); “It can be communicated externally to create value for the company. The communication channels that have been used are the company’s sustainability blog, intranet, and social media.” (Company 6) | All companies that donate more than €2,000 become “Friend Companies” of the 4RDC initiative, letting them use the organization’s name and describing its mission in, for example, their sustainability reports |
| Enhanced environmental performance | “It would be nice if we could get a number, such as ‘Our donation has resulted in the decrease of carbon dioxide by X percent’.” (WS1); “As the company compensates for climate change, it will also result in less compensation thanks to lower CO2 emissions.” (Company 9); “[The 4RDC] is an instrument for the company to be more sustainable.” (Company 2) | The food industry seems more interested in the social aspects, while the logistics industry puts a higher value on environmental considerations. People can more easily relate to food waste than to poverty, and thereby find more interest in decreased food waste. A way to enlighten potential actors and the public, and thereby support the marketing of the initiative |
| Enhanced social performance | “That other food redistributors have higher demands on the minimum donation for associate organizations is inspiring.” (FG-OR1)¸“Are we selling ourselves too cheap?” (FG-TM); “By not donating food there would be 17 persons without food for today and one person would be left outside the job market. Would it not be fair that the logistics company that donates their services also gain from these benefits?” (FG-LSP2); “The donations to [the 4RDC] are in line with the company’s goal of becoming the most sustainable food supply chain in the industry. [Food] donations are seen as a much better alternative to throwing away food.” (Company 2) | |
| Improved health | “Every day hundreds of homeless people come to the [organization’s name] to rest and eat. Many are tired after many years without a permanent home. Some are affected by or suffer from mental illness.” (Website); “The most important value-creating factor is that the food is consumed instead of thrown away.” (Company 6); “The social supermarkets make it possible for people who live in financial vulnerability to buy food at a reduced price. Good food that would otherwise be thrown away comes in handy and can give that little extra to the meal for many who are in need of it.” (Website); “The social supermarket is good for both people and the environment. […] As a member you can buy food at very low prices. We are mainly there for our members with low incomes who have difficulty getting enough money in regular grocery stores. Members can buy food at a third or less of the regular store price.” (Website) | Access to free cooked food for people who are not able to cook themselves, due to, e.g. homelessness, no access to a kitchen or lack of ability; Access to free food products through grocery bags through local charities. Two potential downsides with these bags are a risk of food waste due to unwanted food, and resource-intense distribution channels |
| Decreased food poverty | ||
| Maintained dignity | “In the store, the customers were treated like customers in any store. They get help when they ask for it and can choose what to purchase.” (Observation); “It is not possible to put a financial value on empowerment for persons that are living in extremely vulnerable situations.” (FG-TM) | Can choose to shop at a social supermarket and are given freedom to choose what to eat. The people in need appreciate the possibility to make their own choices and the way they are treated as respected customers in the supermarkets without the skepticism that they can experience in regular stores |
| Increased awareness of food waste and poverty | “Should we develop a communication strategy for the project? One way is to develop a homepage or similar that can be used to inform food producers and the government (on, e.g. the benefits of decreased food waste, work training, and the poverty in society).” (FG-TM); “The new law on sustainability reporting requires more transparency regarding sustainability. Reporting of food waste is an example of how food companies can fulfill this.” (WS2); “They [some food companies] do not know about the food hierarchy, and they are insecure when it comes to what they are allowed to donate or not. We need to contribute to raising this awareness.” (FG-TM) | 4RDC finds it important to continuously spread knowledge of food poverty, food waste and economic poverty to current and potential donors |
| Decreased economic poverty | ||
| Increased employment | “Our goal is to take you to the next step, toward a job or education. During job training, we have a clear job focus. By performing real tasks, learning new things, or improving existing knowledge and experience, the opportunities for a future job increase.” (Website); “We have approximately 20 people in job training every year and thus far most of them have gotten a job within the area trained.” (FG-TM) | |
| Enhanced knowledge | ||
| Better food hygiene | “You need to be able to secure the quality; it would be a media disaster if people got sick.” (WS1); “There are questionable organizations, once a food donation [involving other organizations than the studied ones] ended up in a normal store.” (WS1); “We do not know if, and what, we are allowed to donate.” (WS1); “Producers are more nervous about who takes responsibility if someone gets sick. People do not remember the store but remember the producer. How to ensure that recalled products are actually recalled?” (WS1); “It is important that the chain works 100%. The media find it worse if people in a hostel get sick than if visitors to a restaurant get sick.” (WS1); “The hub of the system [i.e. the 4RDC] must be the guarantor of safety from donor onwards.” (WS1) | There are organizations with lacking traceability and food safety. The level of knowledge on regulations governing the handling of surplus food is low. The workshops enlighten the managers of 4RDC on the value of being a registered food organization |
| Changed internal logistics cost | “Who’s got the time and money for this [i.e. sorting/extra handling of surplus food]?” (WS1); “It will be a lot of extra handling and administration if the recipient [i.e. 4RDC] can only take 3 out of 7 pallets.” (WS1); “It will be an extra job, not included in the usual flows and the usual organization. Decision-making processes must be reviewed and so on. Food that is to be donated can be blocked for sale in the regular channels, and then the administration increases.” (WS1); “The big difference between companies is how they handle surplus food in their operations. From the fact that there are clear policies that a person only needs one hour to get acquainted with these and a person has the authority to make decisions, to the fact that for each product you have to get an OK at different levels in the company (sell, cannot sell, etc.).” (WS1); “It can create value for companies if the donations are made quickly as it does not require companies to have space to store food to be donated.” (WS2); “Donations do not lead to any financial losses.” (Company 1); ”An improvement we would like to see is a reduction in the redistributors [4RDC] lead time, so that we can donate the food more quickly and that they [4RDC] increase their capacity so that we can donate larger quantities. (Company 1); “The food that the stores donate does not give rise to any major costs and is seen as an economic zero-sum game, while the food that is donated from the warehouse gives rise to some extra costs in the form of picking and transport.” (Company 2); “The products that are donated require more manual handling. The products cannot be scanned but must be marked manually.” (Company 3, respondent 1); “There is nothing different in the management as [the 4RDC] is seen as a customer and is as important as all other customers.” (Company 3, respondent 2); “it takes approximately 1–2 h every month [the extra work needed in order to donate food],/ … /initially it was approximately 15 h” (Company 6); ”There needs to be clear routines regarding the donation/ … /rules regarding taxes and declarations must be clear/ … /as well as for the handling of pallets./ … /The redistributor [4RDC] ought to provide a manual on how to donate food.” (Company 7) | |
| Changed waste disposal costs | ”The food industry sometimes pay for the destruction of food, but sometimes they get paid if the waste can be used to produce biogas.” (FG-TM) | |
| Decreased food purcha-sing cost | The local charities do not pay for the food they receive. (Source: FG-TM) | |
| Decreased transport cost | “There is a divided transport market, which means that it will not be efficient; a common portal for surplus food can counteract division.” (WS1); “There is a need for a specific transport tariff that guides the logistics sector in how to price this kind of transport service.” (FG-LSP1) | LSPs offering a social tariff for transporting surplus food (their margins are cut so they do not make money). Discussion during both workshops indicated that some food donors sometimes find paying for the transport service unfair, as they support the initiative by donating food |
Source(s): Authors’ own work
Sharing content requires targeting cookies to be enabled. Please update your cookie preferences to use this feature.