A sustainable business model to fight food waste

Food waste is major problem in developed countries, with the latest studies pointing to one third of the food produced worldwide. This problem occurs throughout the food value stream and has economic, environmental and social consequences. This study focuses on a solution developed in Portugal for a specific type of waste, vegetables and fruits discarded by farmers due to aesthetic reasons. Although with the same quality, their appearance is not within the requirements set by the main retailers and therefore not commercialized and consumed. The project developed to tackle this problem is a non-profit co-op, called Fruta Feia (Ugly Fruit) that commercializes this type of products that farmers cannot sell through the conventional channels. Tested successfully in Lisbon region, is now being replicated in Porto region. This study aims at assessing the sustainability of this project and its business model regarding the three pillars of sustainability - economic, environmental and social. For this, Life Cycle Assessment, investment appraisal, Social-Life Cycle Assessment and Social Return on Investment methods are used and compared, aiming also at the discussion of the key success factors of Fruta Feia project. Results showed not only the sustainability of the project, but also the suitability of the methods applied to assess the sustainability of a business model.