Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine and quantify the most dominant types of food waste in Hungarian households and to analyse the effect of demographic background and income as influencing factors. Design/methodology/approach Data related to solid and liquid food waste were recorded from 100 households for one week. The study primarily focussed on avoidable food waste, however, unavoidable and potentially avoidable food waste were also measured. Appropriate tools and manual were provided to the households to ensure data consistency. Findings Estimated quantity of total food waste (including liquid waste) per capita is 68.04 kg/year. In all, 48.70 per cent of total food waste would have been avoidable (equals to 33.14 kg/capita/year). Most frequently wasted food categories were meals and bakery products. In case of some demographic categories, different wastage levels were observed. It was also confirmed that income has effect on food waste production that varies by foodstuff categories: bakery product waste was mainly dominant for middle income consumers and fresh fruits were typically wasted by more affluent households. Apart from that, higher income resulted in higher food waste production in general. Practical implications This primary data set about avoidable food waste in Hungary contributes with relevant information to the refining of international estimates. Having specific data on food wastage and the most affected target groups, as well as information on the impact of the income can be applied in planning awareness raising campaigns. Originality/value The research is based on measurement of food waste categories in households resulting in detailed data sets. This study is one of the first investigations based on primary data collection from the eastern part of Central Europe and the very first related to Hungary. The study draws attention also to the influence that household income exerts on the issue of food waste.

The aim of this study is to explore behavioral patterns behind household food waste with partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results are based on a quantitative consumer survey with personal interviews. Sample (n = 1002) is representative of the adult population of Hungary in regard to age, sex, and geographical distribution. Statistical analysis included descriptive tests, variance analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis, and PLS-SEM modeling. Based on multivariate tests, income, age, education, residence, and region were identified as the most influential socio-demographical factors of food wastage. Within the framework of the attitude model, the first PLS-SEM model (normative model) validated that all three—cognitive, affective, and conative—attitude components have an effect on food wastage behavior, but the conative component revealed to be the most important one. This underlines the importance of childhood education and awareness raising to shape routines and behavioral patterns with proper messages and impulses. Based on the second PLS-SEM model (explicative model), cooking too much food was identified as the most prominent pattern that influences food wastage. Contrary to anticipations, unplanned food purchase represented only minor significance. The results provided behavioral insights to a national level food waste prevention campaign in Hungary, called Wasteless (Maradék nélkül). This campaign plays an important role to meet the requirements of new EU legislation on food waste and the recommendations of EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.

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Purpose Replacement of milk fat with vegetable fats (e.g. coconut oil or palm fat) in sour cream is a well-established practice among producers – these products are called sour cream imitations or sour cream analogues. Although sour cream imitations are legitimate products, consumers might be confused by them. The purpose of this paper is to assess the familiarity of sour cream imitations, the opinion of consumers, and to map the factors that may affect purchasing decision. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative consumer survey (n=1,000) has been conducted in 2017 based on personal interviews. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings Results showed that the majority of Hungarian consumers have already purchased a sour cream imitation. In total, 69.65 per cent of them bought the imitation product accidentally: packaging and placement on the shelves were mentioned as major reasons. And 44.68 per cent of the respondents consider this product category to be misleading. Path modelling revealed that the perceived price-value ratio of the product and the respondent’s culinary skill, knowledge, consciousness and general preference of sour cream have a significant impact on the willingness to buy of sour cream imitations. Originality/value Sour cream imitations are accepted as reasonable cheaper alternatives to sour cream as it has been revealed by descriptive statistical methods and structural equation modelling. However, producers and retailers should avoid misleading packaging and product placement. General communication to broaden consumer knowledge would be also important. The study provides evidence-based input for producers, retailers, marketing experts and policy makers on consumer behaviour regarding food product analogues.

Decreasing food waste is an important contribution to the practical achievement of Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The last decades witnessed a dynamic expansion of food waste-related publications, parallel with this studies, systematic reviews and bibliometric analyses had been published on this topic. The novelty of the current publication is threefold: 1) it summarizes recent publications, and puts their results into development context; 2) applies the triangulation method by analyzing the food waste-based literature from the aspect of epistemological development, structural composition and scientometric mapping, 3) based on in-depth research of the literature and the determination of the most important ways of its development, the key steps of a modern waste research project as a function of research goals as well as available financial resources are outlined. The bibliometric research based on nearly three thousand resources has shown a considerable geographic disparity in food waste research: these topics are investigated mainly in developed and emerging countries. Bibliometric mapping highlights the importance of the application of qualitative methods for exploring motivational drivers and actual behaviour of households. A general workflow for food waste research is suggested by the authors based on a study carried out in developed countries. This method can be considered as a general, flexible framework, which could serve as a common platform for experts. The framework can be used independently from the of economic development level of the countries but it is especially useful for researchers in the global South because experiences gained by developed countries opens a favourable possibility to conceptualise, plan, realise and publish their food-waste related research.