*3.1. Wholesaler and Processor Participation, Received Fruits and Vegetables, and Loss Levels*

A total of 55 businesses were contacted and invited to take part in the present survey questionnaire. Figure 2 presents a percentage breakdown of participation from the various businesses (primary wholesaler, secondary wholesaler, and processor) located at Market City Canning Vale, Western Australia, as seen in Figure 1a. There were a total of 35 respondents to the survey questionnaire. Of the 35 participants, 18 were primary wholesalers (51.43%), 13 were secondary wholesalers (37.14%), and the remaining 4 were processors (11.43%). The remaining businesses declined to participate in the survey, citing business confidentiality. Those businesses that responded were found to be sincere and genuinely interested in reporting, since they could see the value of identifying loss and developing loss utilization strategies.

**Figure 2.** Percentage participation of wholesalers and processors located at Market City Canning Vale, Perth, Western Australia.

Figure 3 reports the weekly tonnage of supplied fresh fruits and vegetables and respective loss levels reported by each respective participant. Figure 3a presents the percentage breakdown of fresh fruits and vegetables received by each participant business each week. Around 31.43% of participants receive between 41 to 100 tonnes of fresh produce each week, while another 25.71% of participants receive between 1 to 20 tonnes each week. This was followed by 23% of participants receiving more than 100 tonnes of fresh produces each week. Figure 3b presents the weekly breakdown of food loss produced by the respective participants, with 31.4% of participants reporting loss levels exceeding 180 kg each week. Surprisingly, 25.71% of participants reported no loss during the week.

**Figure 3.** (**a**) Percentage breakdown of weekly tonnage of supplied fresh fruits and vegetables; and (**b**) percentage breakdown of respective loss levels reported by each respective participant.

## *3.2. Relationship between Received Produce and Loss Level with Respect to Business Type*

Three main business categories were considered in this study, namely primary wholesaler, secondary wholesaler, and processor. The reported tonnages indicated that around 75% of primary wholesalers (six) received more than 100 tonnes of fresh produce each week. This was followed by 36.36% of primary wholesalers (four) receiving from 41 to 100 tonnes, and eight primary wholesalers handling between 1 and 40 tonnes of fresh produce. In the case of secondary wholesalers, 25% (two) received more than 100 tonnes and four reported receiving between 41 and 100 tonnes of produce each week. The four processors received between 1 and 100 tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables each week. Losses were also reported by each of the respective businesses. For primary wholesalers, six businesses (54.55%) reported a weekly loss greater than 180 kg, while eight businesses reported losses between 1 and 180 kg each week. The remaining four primary wholesalers reported "nothing lost" each week. For secondary wholesalers, four businesses (36.36%) reported generating more than 180 kg of food loss each week, four businesses reported losses ranging from 1 to 180 kg, and five businesses (55.56%) reported "nothing lost" each week. For processors, three businesses reported losses between 1 and 180 kg and one business (9%) reported a loss above 180 kg. Further analysis of loss reporting was carried out using a log-linear model that used the "Processors" as the reference level. The model was also used to verify the significance of loss levels by each respective business in the three categories surveyed. The modelling revealed no statistically significant differences in loss levels between the processors and the secondary wholesalers (*p*-value = 0.81) and between the processors and primary wholesalers (*p*-value = 0.56).

Table 1 characterizes the association between received fresh produce and levels of loss generated each week by the various businesses surveyed. Only one business (2.86% of total participants) received between 501 and 1000 kg of fresh produce each week and reported no loss. For businesses receiving between 1 and 20 tonnes of fresh produce each week (nine in total, or 25.71% of total participants surveyed), three (33.33% of the nine businesses) produced no loss, while two (22.22% of the nine businesses) reported generating loss levels greater than 180 kg each week. Among businesses

receiving between 21 and 40 tonnes of fresh produce each week (six in total, or 17.14% of total participants surveyed), three (50.00% of the six businesses) generated no loss, while one (16.67% of the six businesses) reported loss levels greater than 180 kg each week. Among businesses receiving between 41 and 100 tonnes of fresh produce each week (11 in total, or 31.43% of total participants surveyed), two (18.18% of the 11 businesses) generated no loss, while four businesses (36.36% of the 11 businesses) reported loss levels greater than 180 kg each week. For businesses receiving more than 100 tonnes of fresh produce each week (eight in total, or 22.86% of total participants surveyed), four (50.00% of the eight businesses) generated loss levels greater than 180 kg each week (Table 1). Furthermore, the log-linear modelling used also examined the association between the dependent variable loss levels and the independent variables of business type and weekly reported amounts of produce received and showed that there were no statistically significant associations between the reported loss levels and the independent variables at *p* = 0.05. Overall, from the information reported by the 35 participants, it was possible to estimate average loss levels for primary and secondary wholesalers. Average fruit and vegetable loss for primary wholesalers was estimated to be around 180 kg per week and 30 kg per week for secondary wholesalers. Based on the reported fruit and vegetable losses, the annual loss was estimated to be around 286 tonnes.


**Table 1.** Relationship between received fresh fruits and vegetables and weekly loss levels reported by participants at the Canning Vale Wholesale Market, Perth Western Australia.
