ReFED – Savanah Van Citters – 2024

SummarySavanah Van Citters identified employee engagement tactics that reduce food waste by analyzing incentives at the retail level of the U.S. Food Waste Pact.GoalsWWF and ReFED created the U.S. Food Waste Pact to help businesses reduce food waste in their operations. At a 2024 retail sector summit, Pact members highlighted the need for a curriculum to boost employee engagement in food waste reduction, seeking effective lessons tied to incentives. WWF enlisted Savanah to conduct a meta-analysis of employee incentives in the retail sector to assess the current landscape and identify further engagement opportunities.SolutionsSavanah approached the project using 3 phases:

1. Stakeholder Engagement: Savanah conducted interviews and literature reviews to understand how the retail sector of the U.S. Food Waste Pact engages employees in food waste reduction and diversion.

2. Data Analysis: She synthesized data from 18 interviews and multiple case studies, developing five strategies for employee engagement and food waste reduction, which were presented to the Pact’s retail sector.

3. Recommendations: Savanah advised that employee engagement should be based on dedicated food waste training, internal data collection, and employee recognition, with intermittent incentives like store competitions and monetary rewards as complementary measures.Potential ImpactSavanah’s meta-analysis of employee incentives for food waste reduction in the retail sector of the U.S. Food Waste Pact will guide pilot programs for testing employee engagement strategies. Her work helped Pact retailers understand the current incentive landscape and provided clear insights into opportunities for further engagement, research, and strategic development.