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Review
. 2021 Sep 13;10(9):2163.
doi: 10.3390/foods10092163.

From Quantifying to Managing Food Loss in the Agri-Food Industry Supply Chain

Eva M Sánchez-Teba  1 , Germán Gemar  1 , Ismael Pablo Soler  2
Affiliations
Review

From Quantifying to Managing Food Loss in the Agri-Food Industry Supply Chain

Eva M Sánchez-Teba et al. Foods. .

Abstract

The significant contradiction of food waste and food insecurity that preoccupies society today is growing increasingly important. It is estimated that one-third of all food produced globally is either lost or wasted. In a world where almost one billion people are hungry, reducing food loss and waste is critical to creating a world with zero hunger and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. This study analyses how scientific research concerning food loss has evolved in recent years, with a focus on the supply chain of agri-food companies. Bibliometric techniques were used to analyse a sample of 181 publications from journals indexed in the Web of Science from 2012 to 2021. The obtained results show a growing interest in this topic and a clear concern for the management and prevention of food loss. An important conclusion is that a holistic approach from a supply chain perspective is needed to devise food loss reduction strategies focusing future lines of research on stakeholder collaboration, the circular economy and related regulatory changes. The study has implications for entrepreneurs and decisionmakers due to the effect that a reduction in food loss has on business strategies, as well as for policymakers in order to create updated food safety and quality regulations.

Keywords: SciMAT; agri-food companies; bibliometric analysis; food loss and waste; food supply chain; sustainable development goals.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Food loss and waste occur across the value chain. Source: [31].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic of general workflow in scientific mapping. Adapted from [42].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Prima flow diagram [43].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Thematic evolution map (a) and overlap map (b). Source: adapted from [42].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Thematic network (a) and strategic diagram (b). Source: adapted from [42].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Number of documents per year of publication.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Overlapping graph of keywords from 2012 to 2021.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Thematic evolution map.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Strategic diagram: (a) main thematic network; (b,c) 2012–2017 period.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Strategic diagram: (a), main thematic network; (b–d) 2018–2019 period.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Strategic diagram: (a) and main thematic network; (b–d) 2016–2021 period.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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