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XXXVIII CICLO | Yu Mengting

YU MENGTING

PhD student in Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods – Curriculum “Circular, Collaborative and Sustainable Economy”

Cicle: XXXVIII

Tutor accademico: Prof. Luca Secondi

Thesis title: Evaluation of Innovations to Tackle Food Waste in the Food Service Sector with a focus on the out-of-home dining sector: statistical approaches and quantitative methods for data mining

email: mengting.yu@unitus.it

 

Curriculum Vitae

 

  • Personal profile and research interests

    Mengting Yu achieved a Bachelor in Economics from Shanghai Finance University and a Master of Science in E-Commerce from Hong Kong Polytechnic University before 2013. She has held management roles in international Food & Beverage trade and promotion since then. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in Economics and Statistics at the University of Tuscia. She collaborates on international projects about food loss and waste, including the H2020 LOWINFOOD project. Her research interests particularly lie in food waste in the food service sector and evaluating digital innovations for food waste reduction and sustainable food consumption.

  • PhD project

    This research aims to shed light, using surveys, data scraping, and case studies on the following research questions:
    How to quantify the food waste from both the food provider and consumer perspective?
    What are the driving factors behind food waste, and therefore how to motivate food waste reduction practices?
    What are the innovations, including business models and digital technologies, to address food waste at the consumption stage of a food value chain?
    To what extent are those innovations effective in reducing consumer-related food waste? Do they positively reduce food waste or shift the waste from businesses to consumers? Are they sustainable for the businesses or do they potentially create a new marketplace for sustainable food consumption?
    The study aims to understand the quantification and generation of food waste, as well as the various innovations, involving the H2020 LOWINFOOD project, which includes several innovative start-ups, research institutions, and industrial partners in the food value chain. Additionally, a case study on a market-leading innovation is conducted with web scraping technology, assessing its achievements from both business and consumer perspectives. A literature review focusing on food waste in the food service sector gives an up-to-date picture of the current academic outcomes, meanwhile, outlines the gaps and directions for future work.
    The research results will be formalized with an academic paper for each research question stated above. Insights will be practical for policymakers and commercial sectors when implementing new policies or launching new business initiatives to reduce the economic, environmental, and social impacts of food waste.