Monetization of Food (Waste) in the Platform Economy
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2023
Author(s)
Abstract
Start-ups that aim to reduce food waste with a platform solution commonly accessed through a mobile phone application (app) interface are increasingly attracting investments: In January 2021 TooGoodToGo raised $31 million, and OLIO received $43 million in venture capital (TechCrunch, 2021). In this paper, I explore apps that focus on household food waste reduction, and I ask how different monetization practices shape practices of food waste redistribution; by monetization practices, I refer to ways of how something is turned into revenue. I first provide a short overview of current research on food waste apps and the platform economy (e.g., Kenney & Zysman, 2016; Scnicek, 2017; Fuentes & Sörum, 2019). I then introduce the two cases I build my paper on (1) TooGoodToGo, which connects restaurants/supermarkets and consumers to distribute surplus menus, and (2) OLIO, a community-based sharing platform for food and other consumer goods that redistributes private household surpluses for free. To study them, I have taken an (online) ethnographical approach, including the app walkthrough method, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews (Hine, 2015; Light et al., 2018; Leer & Strøm Krogager, 2021; Asdal & Reinertsen, 2022). In my analysis, I first show what is monetized through the introduction of the app. Then I elaborate on how monetization practices around the apps are changing food waste redistribution. My analysis shows how TooGoodToGo and OLIO turn food (waste) into a (new) resource by redistributing rather than reducing food waste. I thereby add to existing research on the platform economy with two cases of how the platform economy and related promises of “doing good” (Asdal et al., 2021) are used to turn food waste into a resource for the platform-enabled sharing economy.
Language
English
Event Title
Science, Expertise and other Modes of Knowledge: Trends, Patterns, and Prospects
Event Location
University of Basel
Event Date
31.08.2023-01.09.2023