You should “consume” this episode preferably by today

INESC TEC Science Bits – Episode 41

Link to the episode (Portuguese only)

Guest: Sara Martins, researcher at INESC TEC and lecturer at the School of Management and Technology of the Polytechnic of Porto

Keywords: supply chains, expiry dates, consumer behaviour analysis, decision-making, collaboration, sustainability

Do you usually buy yogurts? If you said “yes”, then you simply can’t miss this episode of Science Bits; we decoded, bit by bit, the impact of consumer behaviour analysis on the decision-making process – a decision that can contribute to avoiding food waste.

On the brief journey between the shelf and the shopping cart, do you check the expiry date of yogurts? How often did the packaging date made you consider whether to leave them on the shelf or take them to your refrigerator? Did you know that the decisions we make at those times, i.e., our behaviour as consumers, once analysed, can help retailers define discount actions to ensure that the product is sold and there is no waste?

In this episode of Science Bits, we will get to know the BeFresh project, which brings an innovative contribution to the scientific and business communities by studying and proposing the flexibility of the MLOR criterion (Minimum Life On Receipt). What influence do food expiry dates have on our decision-making? What impact can that decision have on the operation of supply chains? Is it possible, through the analysis of consumer behaviour, to support retailers and producers in defining strategies that benefit the entire chain? That’s what we’re going to find out in this conversation with Sara Martins, researcher at INESC TEC and lecturer at the School of Management and Technology of the Polytechnic of Porto.