**5. Conclusions**

The grocery retail sector plays an important role in contributing to a sustainable food supply chain due to its central position in the food system. Identifying causes of food waste at the retail level is crucial for the development of effective measures to reduce waste. To generate in-depth insights about causes and reduction measures of fruit and vegetable waste at supermarkets, a mixed-methods approach was adopted, including qualitative data from the employees' perspective and primary quantitative data on food waste. The employees provided a different point of view and the results reveal some new insights. First, staff members are often portrayed as a root cause of food waste; the main results show the opposite. The employees are key actors as they manage causes and take a variety of precautionary measures to avoid and reduce food waste. The reality at the department is complex, for instance, the employees have up to ten different factors to take into account when making orders. The practices of the employees are closely intertwined with the policies of the management, the time allocation, knowledge and the trust they are given. Second, amount and causes of waste for several fruits and vegetables were studied in detail and there is no one solution that fits all. To develop efficient waste reduction measures at retail store level, detailed knowledge about different products and an understanding of their respective causes are preconditions. The findings reveal that a generic description of causes of food waste is not enough to use as a base when planning reduction measures; practices should be adapted for different products. Other factors affecting the waste are packaging, which in some cases reduces the waste, and in other cases increases it. This indicates that a nuanced approach and careful analysis of the different products and its packaging are required for providing good solutions. Third, to develop comprehensive strategies for reducing food waste, aspects of policy, practice, people and products need to be included and finely tuned.

The role of the employees has been neglected in earlier research and therefore ought to be given much more attention in future research on food waste reduction at the retail level. Employees who have knowledge, experience and mandate contribute actively to the monitoring of food waste and are crucial actors for reducing it, and the recommendation is to support the employees with training and time allocated to execute their tasks. The findings provide better understanding of general and product-specific causes of food waste and can support the planning and implementation of effective reduction strategies.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualisation, L.M.; Methodology, L.M.; Formal analysis, L.M. and H.W; Investigation, L.M. and H.W.; Data curation, L.M.; Writing—original draft preparation, L.M.; Writing review and editing, L.M. and H.W.; Visualisation, L.M. and H.W.; Supervision, H.W.; Funding acquisition, L.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was partly funded by the Swedish Retail and Wholesale Council.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data are not publicly available, though the data may be made available on request from the corresponding author.

**Acknowledgments:** We acknowledge the owners of the retail stores for granting access to the field, and we give a special thanks to the employees for sharing their experiences and insights.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funder had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.
