Deliver Me from food waste: Model framework for comparing the energy use of meal-kit delivery and groceries

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production 2019-11, Vol.236, p.117587, Article 117587
• Main Authors: Gee, Isabella M., Davidson, F. Todd, Speetles, Brittany L., Webber, Michael E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Delivery; E-commerce; Energy; Food; Meal-kit; Supply chain
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.07.062

This work shares a model that was developed to compare the energy requirements of meal-kit delivery systems to conventional grocery shopping. Meal-kit services can reduce food waste because the kits pre-portion ingredients for each recipe, thereby saving energy. However, the supply chain and packaging requirements of meal-kit delivery are different than those for grocery stores, potentially offsetting any energetic benefits of reduced food waste. If meal-kit delivery replaces some trips to the grocery store, then transportation-related savings might be significant. The tradeoffs of these competing effects are non-obvious, so mass and energy balances were used to assess embedded energy in both pathways. The model was illustrated under representative operating conditions for a consumer in Austin, Texas using Monte Carlo simulation. Both per-meal and per-week, a meal-kit delivery service meal is more energy intensive than procuring the same meal from conventional grocery stores primarily due to single-use packaging. Consumer transportation to the grocery store was also found to be particularly energy intensive. These results suggest that the energetic requirements of meal-kit delivery services could be reduced such that they are less than conventional grocery shopping if reusable or low-impact packaging is used, and if the delivery services are able to reduce the number of weekly trips to the grocery store.2 •Meal-kit delivery might require more energy than groceries, per-meal and per-week.•Disposable packaging can represent over 50% of per-meal energy use for meal-kits.•Consumer transportation to the store plays a significant role in energy use.•Possible meal-kit energy benefits are case specific based on consumer behavior.•Modifications to packaging and transport could make meal-kits preferable.