Sustainable Food Delivery

Dear Coleagues,

The rise of e-Commerce has reshaped the food delivery (FD) scenario. Multiple online FD platforms are available, and customers can issue orders to a wide range of restaurants from their personal computers or smartphones. e-Customers are very demanding in terms of both service level and price. On one hand, they ask for speed and punctuality; on the other, they are not willing to pay much money for delivery. In order to be efficient, players in the market usually resort to crowdsourcing logistics, which consists in outsourcing the deliveries to a network of common, nonspecialized people (i.e., “riders”). A great debate has arisen in several countries around the opportunities and risks of crowdsourcing logistics, and its sustainability from all the three possible perspectives: economic, social, and environmental. From an environmental point of view, FD—like other e-Commerce initiatives—is often claimed to have a negative impact in terms of packaging (e.g., boxes) and disposable materials (e.g., forks and knives). However, research efforts intended to assess the real impacts on the environment and propose innovative solutions to reduce it are still rare. From a social perspective, the impact of FD is still unclear: On one hand, it represents a new opportunity for people with disabilities, but on the other hand, it is often accused of giving the crowd scarce protection and working conditions which are not always acceptable. Finally, from an economic point of view, it is not always clear under which conditions FD can be considered profitable, due to the high service level required by the market and the low amount of money customers are willing to pay for such a competitive service level.

With these being the premise, this Special Issue is intended to collect papers that investigate the sustainability of logistics activities related to FD. Original contributions on all dimensions of sustainability, i.e., environmental, social, and economic perspectives, are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Angela Tumino
Prof. Dr. Riccardo Mangiaracina
Mr. Arianna Seghezzi
Mr. Chiara Siragusa
Guest Editors

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