Consumer Perception of the Circular Economy Concept Applied to the Food Domain: An Exploratory Approach

Every year, agri-food industries in industrialised countries produce approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food loss and waste. The adoption a circular economy policy has received special attention by the industries, allowing for creation development new products made by-products that would otherwise be wasted or used secondary applications. present work, an exploratory nature, aims to assess how consumers conceptualise order identify consumer recognition use from industry upcycle evaluate attitudes towards economy. To this end, mixed-methodology was applied 340 participants. first part qualitative free word association consumers’ conceptualisation as foods. Data were analysed grouping responses into exclusive exhaustive categories correspondence analysis also performed originate perceptual maps. Additionally, questionnaire designed major concepts correlated with reduced principal component (PCA) participants grouped through clustering. Results showed understand related mainly Sustainability, Economy, Circularity dimensions. Participants had great difficulty identifying foods ingredients. From quantitative data, four groups identified based on associations six components originated PCA. However, results highlighted very low all clusters Food Valorisation dimension within concept economy, lack clear understanding Greater promotion dissemination competent entities aimed at general public may contribute greater integration, participation acceptance upscaling by-products.