Combating food waste in imperfect agricultural products with quality decay over two periods

Impact Factor:7.3

DOI number:10.1016/j.cie.2026.112260

Journal:Computers & Industrial Engineering

Abstract:Fresh agricultural products are highly perishable and account for a large share of retail-level food waste. In addition to spoilage-induced losses, a major portion of waste arises from aesthetic screening, whereby retailers reject cosmetically imperfect yet edible products. This study examines how a retailer manages imperfect products by considering three prevalent strategies: discarding imperfect products, bundling them with perfect products, and selling the two grades separately. We formulate a two-period decision framework that incorporates the quality decay over time and quantifies the resulting multiple forms of waste. Our findings indicate that, relative to the discarding strategy, differentiating substantially reduces food waste and can even eliminate it when the inventory is moderate, whereas bundling performs better when inventory level is high. Interestingly, reducing the share of imperfect products or enhancing perceived quality of imperfect products may increase overall waste. Furthermore, the optimal strategy shifts from bundling to differentiating as the inventory increases, potentially leading to greater waste. Finally, reducing food waste does not necessarily improve consumer surplus or social welfare.

Indexed by:Journal articles

Document Code:112260

Volume:220

Translation or Not:no

Date of Publication:2026-07-20

Included Journals:SCI

Links to published journals:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2026.112260