Clean Technology and Food Waste Reduction in On-Site Foodservice Management Companies
Tiffany S. Legendre, Rachel Hyunkyung Lee, Anni Ding, Eun Min Hwang, Nancy S. Graves
Abstract
On-site foodservice management companies serve many people and have been dealing with severe food waste problems. Thus, many companies adopted clean technology to reduce food waste. This study aims to provide a meaningful understanding of the role of clean technology in food waste reduction goal setting and achievement in these companies. Through 16 expert interviews, this study found that clean technology adoption can make organizational food waste reduction goals more specific by its ability to measure and quantify: specified goals lower psychological distance (temporal, hypothetical, social). When objectives are understood at a concrete (vs. abstract) level, management can better develop detailed action plans and motivate employees to be part of them. However, employees may fear that clean technology can be used as a penalizing mechanism. Therefore, inner-organizational collaboration is critical to achieving sustainability goals and offsetting the double-sided nature of clean technology.