Contemporary Innovations in Food Waste Management in Commercial Food service Outlets in Kenya

Food waste is one of the biggest problems in commercial foodservice sector because a high amount of food produced is never eaten. Commercial foodservice outlets loses food to waste at various stages during purchasing, transportation, storage, preparation, cooking, serving, and even after serving. There is evidence that the majority of waste in dumpsites is food waste. Moreover, when food goes to landfills, it decomposes without access to oxygen thereby producing methane gas, a greenhouse gas that has great effects in destroying the environment and contributing to climate change. Other than the resources throughout the value chain that are put towards production of uneaten food wasted, the major concern is the high level of starvation and food insecurity present in Kenya. The ultimate consequence of food waste is therefore economically, morally and environmentally wrong. The purpose of this study was to examine the contemporary innovations in food waste management. The objective of the study was to identify the contemporary innovations in food waste management in commercial foodservice outlets. The study adopted documentary analysis research design where a systematic procedure was used to review previous literature materials. The study concluded with a framework that brought the findings together which indicated that while there were practices put in place to manage food waste in foodservice outlets in Kenya, appropriate food waste management innovations were lacking in most of the outlets due to limitations of awareness, finances, technology and sufficient sensitization. The three sustainability principles of reduce, reuse and recycle are not yet fully embraced. Foodservice operators are therefore encouraged to adopt innovations aimed towards reducing the amount of food waste in their daily operations