**1. Introduction**

Food loss is a serious global problem that needs immediate action [1]. The loss begins at the farm and continues throughout the food supply chain [2,3]. Fruits and vegetables are delicate products that are subjected to a number of natural and physical sources of deterioration during the marketing process that leads to food loss [4–10]. The high loss levels reported (typically ~35%) are serious threats to food security and the long-term economic sustainability of the food supply chain for present and future generations [1,11–13]. In addition, fruit and vegetable shortages resulting from loss can also contribute to commodity price increases [14–16]. Furthermore, food loss has a negative environmental impact on land usage, water resources, and the use of non-renewable resources such as fertilizer and energy that are utilized to produce, process, handle, and transport the food [17]. Because of the impact of food loss, government, industry, and community groups need to collaboratively work together to achieve policy and cultural change towards the prevention of loss at all levels in the food supply chain [18].

Food supply chains are complex networks consisting of several stages that begin at the farm and end on the proverbial plate of the consumer. Research into the various stages of a food supply chain concerned with fruit and vegetable loss have focused on producers [5,13,16,19–21], retailers [22–27], and consumers [19,28–31]. An often overlooked and rarely studied stage in the food supply chain is the wholesale sector and, as a result, very little reliable data is available. According to Cadilhon et al. [32], wholesale markets can be defined as physical places where supply chain actors (such as producers, processors, retailers, grocers, caterers) come together to buy and sell products to other professionals. Recently, Stenmarck et al. [33] discussed both retail and wholesale trade loss produced in several Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden). However, their study was based on a review of currently available literature and produced no new data quantifying the amounts of fruit and vegetable loss in the respective Nordic countries. The study did indicate that food loss amounts tended to vary depending on the individual characteristics of the respective retail and wholesale sectors in each country. The study also highlighted the need for further research into establishing the levels of loss in both the retail and wholesale sectors in the respective Nordic countries.

Like many other countries, the fruit and vegetable sector is an important component of the Australian economy. In 2015, Australia's fruit and vegetable production was estimated to be 5.77 million tonnes and valued at AUS \$10.59 billion [34]. Most large Australian cities have wholesale markets to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to a variety of retailers who will in turn supply smaller retail outlets in the surrounding regions [2]. The wholesale market investigated in the present study is located at Canning Vale (south of the states' capital, Perth, as shown in Figure 1) and plays an important role in the Western Australian economy. The present study, for the first time, identifies causes for and extent of food loss at the wholesaler stage for a major food value chain in the state of Western Australia. An innovation of the study is its examination of several approaches that can be applied to reduce and utilize food loss by wholesalers. Among the wholesalers, 53% were primary wholesalers (buy produce directly from growers) and 47% were secondary wholesalers (buy produce in bulk from primary wholesalers and supply to the local retail market, caterers, and customers with specific requirements). The study consisted of a ten-question survey that was distributed to all wholesalers, and their responses were recorded. The questions were designed to: (1) determine quantity of produce (fruits and vegetables) received and supplied; (2) estimate the level of fruit and vegetable loss; (3) quantify the ratio between supply and loss; (4) identify the key reasons for loss generation; and (5) identify loss reduction and innovations currently being applied or under consideration for future food loss reduction and utilization strategies.

## **2. Materials and Methods**
