Hiding in plain sight: How imperfect ingredient transformation impact consumer preference for rescue-based food

Rescue-based food (RBF) – food products often made from ingredients that are not able to be sold due to aesthetic imperfections – represent an opportunity to reduce food waste. However, despite consumers’ desire to act pro-socially, preference for such products is negatively impacted by the perception that the imperfect ingredients reduce the quality of RBF. Across two studies, one field study and one controlled experiment, we demonstrate that a higher level of ingredients transformation can positively impact demand for RBF. Specifically, when the transformation makes the physical appearance of the initial imperfect ingredients less discernable (e.g., pureed) consumer demand increases in comparison to when the imperfect ingredient is less transformed and more visible (e.g., chunky). The findings have implications on prior literature on how transformation impacts consumer preferences, which shows equivocal results in the RBF domain. Further, the potential to elevate consumer demand for RBF has significant potential to advance efforts to reduce food waste.