Consumers' willingness to pay for reprocessed fried chicken: A way of reducing uneaten food

Substantial food loss and waste occur worldwide; approximately one third of produced food is lost or wasted annually, which worsens problems such as starvation and environmental degradation. This study examines the possibility of selling reprocessed meat products made from raw meat near its sell-by date, using Japanese fried chicken as an example. If reprocessed products are accepted by consumers, this will significantly contribute to reducing food waste in grocery stores. Because reprocessing does not require a reduction in current meat consumption, selling reprocessed foods is a more feasible and realistic way to reduce food waste compared to other initiatives, such as “Meat Free Monday.” We use a choice experiment to elicit consumer preference for reprocessed fried chicken. Our results show that the willingness to pay for reprocessed fried chicken is above 90% of that of regular chicken, which implies a high feasibility of selling such products.