It’s bitter-sweet, citrusy

A review spanning a decade of the scientific literature has looked at the growing food waste crisis in which about a third of the food we produce is wasted. The work, published in the International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, has focused specifically on citrus crops grown across subtropical belts from Spain to Brazil to China and found that the waste is closer to half in this sector. The researchers suggest that we need a fundamental rethink on how food is grown and processed and how we can ensure that it reaches the people who need it.

The team used a systematic, quantitative approach to analyse 871 scientific papers published between 2010 and 2023. Of these, 111 met the criteria for examining sustainability in agricultural supply chains. Food supply chains account for about 70 per cent of all freshwater used by humans and use nearly a third of the world’s energy and are the second biggest source of carbon emissions.

Citrus was chosen as the case focus because fruit in this sector is the most widely produced and represents vast environmental costs at every stage. Citrus fruits are highly perishable, which makes them particularly vulnerable to waste. The researchers point out, however, that citrus represents an opportunity in the form of the “pomace” waste generated when the fruit is juiced. This is the peel and pulp that remain after extraction and represents half the weight of the fruit.

The researchers suggest that pomace may have economic and environmental value. Until now it has been treated as waste or, at best, low-grade animal feed. But it might be converted through anaerobic digestion into biogas, for instance. It can also be composted or processed into a soil improver. It also has the potential to become the raw material for bioplastics. A more surprising application might be in its use as a bio-adsorbent in wastewater treatment to remove pollutants from water.

Supply chain management theory has not kept pace with this kind of circular development in the food industry as it has historically focused only on the flow of goods, information, and capital, rather than considering the biological nature of the materials in the supply chain. The researchers suggest that this needs to change if environmental and sustainability problems are to be addressed.

Alzubi, E., Kassem, A., Melkonyan-Gottschalk, A., Gruchmann, T. and Noche, B. (2026) ‘Socio-technical transformations in citrus supply chains: a literature review based on bibliometric analysis’, Int. J. Integrated Supply Management, Vol. 18, No. 6, pp.1–45.