The Netherlands has seen less food waste as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Wageningen University & Research and the Dutch Nutrition Centre have reported. 

Food waste in the Netherlands

The pandemic may have resulted in international panic that led to empty supermarkets and a battle for toilet paper, but new data has revealed that, throughout the course of the so-called coronavirus crisis, people threw away less food. 

Of those who took part in the research conducted by Wageningen University & Research and the Nutrition Centre, 26 percent claimed to have wasted less food over the last year. Three-quarters of respondents, however, admitted to still throwing away just as much bread, fruit, and vegetables. 

Shopping during COVID-19: Fewer impulse buys, more shopping lists

Toine Timmermans, director of the Together against Food Waste foundation, attributes this reduction in waste to better planning. "People apparently planned better then, and made more use of shopping lists," he told NOS. "There were fewer impulse purchases, people bought longer-lasting products more often and there were fewer unexpected events because we were more obliged to stay at home."

With fewer (dinner) parties and the national lockdown, not only did people buy less, but they were also more likely to rush through supermarkets so as to spend as little time possible indoors with other people - people only went to the supermarket if they absolutely had to. On top of all this, the rise in popularity of supermarket delivery services will have seriously impacted the number of impulse purchases.