Food waste in hospitality and food services: A systematic literature review and framework development approach

Abstract This study critically analyzes the state-of-the-art of food waste in the hospitality and food services (HaFS) sector body of literature. It uses a systematic literature review (SLR) approach implemented through search, evaluation, and synthesis of peer-reviewed articles. The primary focus is on uncovering key research themes and gaps in the extant knowledge to edify and advance a future research agenda. Content analysis is used to aggregate the selected articles around nine themes representing various aspects of food waste. The themes range from the causes of waste generation to leftover handling and waste reduction. Additionally, extensive research profiling is undertaken to present summary statistics of the selected articles in terms of research design, methods of data analysis, variables investigated, and the theoretical lens used. The SLR raises some interesting research questions and offers actionable inferences for practice. The study concludes with a framework that brings the findings together to inform future empirical research in the area.