DOI: https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2021.105
Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2608
Date of Award
6-2021
Degree Name
MS in Industrial Engineering
Department/Program
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
College
College of Engineering
Advisor
Tali Freed
Advisor Department
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Advisor College
College of Engineering
Abstract
Food waste has become a disaster of global proportion that the world can no longer turn a blind eye to. This paper aims to reduce food waste at the retail level of the food supply chain by recommending and quantifying the effects of current technology that can be implemented in traditional supermarkets. This research recommends that retailers implement electronic shelf labels in stores and employ dynamic pricing of perishable products, leading to reduction of food waste. No prior research had considered the primary goal of reducing food waste while preserving retailer profit through technological implementation. This paper quantifies the effects of implementing this technology and provides economic justification of the required investment through the calculation of profitability metrics and discussion of environmental regulations retailers will soon have to abide by. Our results indicate, even in the most conservative of scenarios, that the payback period for full implementation of electronic shelf labels will be less than or slightly over one year and the return on investment is high in all situations discussed. Sensitivity analyses of labor costs, revenue, and profitability ratios are illustrated to provide a full breadth of these results.