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Analysis of Changes in Shopping Habits and Causes of Food Waste Among Consumers Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland Cover

Analysis of Changes in Shopping Habits and Causes of Food Waste Among Consumers Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland

Environmental Protection and Natural Resources
Volume 32 (2021): Issue 3 (September 2021)
By: Robert Nicewicz and  Beata Bilska  
Open Access
|Sep 2021

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products before the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey
Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products before the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey

Figure 2

Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products during the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey
Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products during the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey

Figure 3

Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products before the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey
Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products before the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey

Figure 4

Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products during the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey
Frequency of listed activities when purchasing food products during the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey

Figure 5

Reasons why food products were thrown away before and during the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey
Reasons why food products were thrown away before and during the pandemic COVID-19 [%]Source: own survey

Figure 6

Consumer responses to products labelled ‘use by date’ during the pandemic COVID-19Source: own survey
Consumer responses to products labelled ‘use by date’ during the pandemic COVID-19Source: own survey

The results of the mean, kurtosis, median, and standard deviation for responses regarding shopping behaviour

Before the pandemic COVID-19
N=500I was preparing a list of needed productsI bought products according to the shopping list I had preparedI happened to take a product off my shopping listI chose the foods I wantedI have often reached out to products offered as a ‘novelty’ to try themI checked the expiry date before putting a food item in shopping cartI bought products with a short ‘use by’ date if they were discountedI bought products whose shopping packaging was deformedI was shopping for supplies
Mean12,702,722,472,282,972,153,043,983,68
Standard deviation1,191,150,930,910,971,111,141,111,16
Median3,002,002,002,003,002,003,004,004,00
Grouped - median2,682,622,462,242,991,953,054,193,80
Kurtosis-1,09-0,89-0,140,07-0,56-0,22-0,75-0,18-0,63

Pearson's correlation results between attendance and shopping volume versus discarding selected food items before the COVID-19 pandemic

SpecificationFrequency of food shoppingVolume of food shoppingMeat (pork, beef, veal, muton, venison)Poultry (whole, breast, tenderloin, thighs, wings, other)Meat preparations (pates, sausages, cold cuts)Cottage cheeseRenneted cheeseFishMilk (bottle)Fermented milk drinks (yoghurts, kefirs, buttermilks)BreadFruits & vegetables
Frequency of food shopping1-,455**-0,0480,007-0,0340,0630,076-0,037-0,029-0,052-0,066-,147**
Volume of food shopping-,455**10,024-0,038-0,003-0,047-0,017-0,024-0,039-0,001-0,0160,009
Meat (pork, beef, veal, muton, venison)-0,0480,0241,832**,708**,492**,427**,555**,422**,420**,419**,328**
Poultry (whole, breast, tenderloin, thighs, wings, other)0,007-0,038,832**1,704**,532**,464**,612**,429**,411**,456**,327**
Meat preparations (pates, sausages, cold cuts)-0,034-0,003,708**,704**1,624**,534**,481**,478**,482**,498**,436**
Cottage cheese0,063-0,047,492**,532**,624**1,630**,391**,500**,528**,441**,406**
Renneted cheese0,076-0,017,427**,464**,534**,630**1,454**,497**,525**,480**,372**
Fish-0,037-0,024,555**,612**,481**,391**,454**1,494**,464**,387**,269**
Milk (bottle)-0,029-0,039,422**,429**,478**,500**,497**,494**1,574**,471**,423**
Fermented milk drinks (yoghurts, kefirs, butter-milks)-0,052-0,001,420**,411**,482**,528**,525**,464**,574**1,634**,585**
Bread-0,066-0,016,419**,456**,498**,441**,480**,387**,471**,634**1,703**
Fruits & vegetables-,147**0,009,328**,327**,436**,406**,372**,269**,423**,585**,703**1
**. Correlation significant at the 0,01 level (two-sided).

Characteristics of the respondents

Respondents’ characteristicsShare [%]
Gender
Female60
Male40
Age
18–2643,8
27–3511,2
36–409
41–457,8
46–506,6
51–557,6
56–607
>607
Place of residence
Village18,6
City up to 19,000 inhabitants9,2
City between 20,000 and 49,000 inhabitants10
City with 50,000 to 99,000 inhabitants9,8
City with 100,000 to 199,000 inhabitants8,2
City between 200,000 and 499,000 inhabitants11,8
City > 500,000 inhabitants32,4
Household size
One-person11,8
Two-person31,4
Three-person23,8
Four-person18,2
Five-person8,2
Six-person3,4
>Six-person3,2

Pearson's correlation results between attendance and shopping volume versus discarding selected food items during the COVID-19 pandemic

SpecificationFrequency of food shoppingVolume of food shoppingMeat (pork, beef, veal, muton, venison)Poultry (whole, breast, tenderloin, thighs, wings, other)Meat preparations (pates, sausages, cold cuts)Cottage cheeseRenneted cheeseFishMilk (bottle)Fermented milk drinks (yoghurts, kefirs, buttermilks)BreadFruits & vegetables
Frequency of food shopping1-,556**0,0710,0080,0380,0450,0370,084,152**,178**,119**,145**
Volume of food shopping-,556**10,0330,0600,027-0,024-0,012-0,015-0,080-,154**-,112*-,151**
Meat (pork, beef, veal, muton, venison)0,0710,0331,865**,763**,540**,516**,616**,465**,470**,471**,390**
Poultry (whole, breast, tenderloin, thighs, wings, other)0,0080,060,865**1,770**,551**,532**,618**,479**,476**,492**,386**
Meat preparations (pates, sausages, cold cuts)0,0380,027,763**,770**1,670**,622**,515**,548**,555**,576**,510**
Cottage cheese0,045-0,024,540**,551**,670**1,782**,472**,570**,619**,576**,547**
Renneted cheese0,037-0,012,516**,532**,622**,782**1,476**,554**,545**,571**,497**
Fish0,084-0,015,616**,618**,515**,472**,476**1,513**,429**,397**,302**
Milk (bottle),152**-0,080,465**,479**,548**,570**,554**,513**1,664**,623**,515**
Fermented milk drinks (yoghurts, kefirs, buttermilks),178**-,154**,470**,476**,555**,619**,545**,429**,664**1,705**,716**
Bread,119**-,112*,471**,492**,576**,576**,571**,397**,623**,705**1,756**
Fruits & vegetables,145**-,151**,390**,386**,510**,547**,497**,302**,515**,716**,756**1
**. Correlation significant at the 0,01 level (two-sided).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/oszn-2021-0010 | Journal eISSN: 2353-8589 | Journal ISSN: 1230-7831
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Language: English
Page range: 8 - 19
Published on: Sep 30, 2021
Published by: National Research Institute, Institute of Environmental Protection
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
food waste,
consumers,
survey,
shopping behaviour,
COVID-19 pandemic,
Poland
Related subjects:
Life sciences,
Ecology

© 2021 Robert Nicewicz, Beata Bilska, published by National Research Institute, Institute of Environmental Protection
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

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