**5. Conclusions**

Average weekly fruit and vegetable losses reported by primary wholesalers was estimated to be 180 kg, with 30 kg of loss generated by secondary wholesalers/processers. This equated to around 286 tonnes of fruit and vegetable loss annually by the participants. Causes for food loss generation were identified, and preferred options for loss utilization strategies recommended by participants were examined and discussed. Wholesalers reported a number of important issues affecting loss that included: (1) Over supply and poor market demand; (2) Lack of adherence to proper growing practices and guidelines for producing high quality produce, with a tendency to harvest regardless of market demand by growers; (3) The need to improve infrastructure and promote better business practices to reduce loss levels; and (4) Revising visual appearance standards for produce and highlighting the importance of nutritional value to increase sales. From the grower's perspective, being able to deliver the right crop with high quality, in the right quantity at the right time to meet prevailing market demand, is difficult. Moreover, forecasting future demand is influenced by many factors, and market volatility exacerbates the difficulty. Thus, balancing supply and market demand will have an impact on food loss levels. The current imbalance could be alleviated by more effective on-line based market information being made available to all stakeholders. Furthermore, an increased supply of higher quality produce resulting from improved grading guidelines has the potential to significantly reduce food loss levels and improve profit margins. However, the size of the sampling pool used in this study was small and only enlisted 64% of wholesale businesses operating at the market. The number of non-participating wholesalers (36%) does influence the statistical significance of the findings. Nonetheless, considering the highly competitive nature of wholesalers and their general reluctance to reveal any businesses related information, the 64% participation was considered

a good outcome. Thus, by addressing the reported food loss and possible loss utilization strategies discussed in this study, it should be possible to reduce loss levels and promote a more profitable business environment for all stakeholders.

**Acknowledgments:** Purabi Ghosh would like to acknowledge Murdoch University for providing her Ph.D. Scholarship to undertake the present study. This work was partly supported by Horticulture Innovation Australia Project Al14003 and Derek Fawcett would like to thank Horticulture Innovation Australia for their research fellowship.

**Author Contributions:** Purabi Ghosh and Shashi Sharma planned and designed the survey; Purabi Ghosh coordinated with Market City wholesalers, implemented the survey and collected data, traveled to conduct interviews with all stakeholders, and transcribed interviews. Purabi Ghosh, Derek Fawcett, and Devindri Perera worked on analysis; while Gerrard Poinern coordinated project activities and developed the framework for the paper. All authors substantially contributed to writing the paper.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.


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