Traditional food markets in Mexico reveal structural barriers to cutting produce waste

Fresh fruit and vegetable sellers in traditional Mexican retail outlets are losing produce to problems that begin well before the goods reach their stalls, according to a new observational study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. The research, based on face-to-face interviews with 180 retail outlets across four Mexican states, finds that self-reported food waste is tied to infrastructural and supply-chain constraints at the point of sale, while the destinations of unsold produce remain overwhelmingly informal, ranging from household consumption to animal feed and landfill disposal.

The study, conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research, the Universidad de Sonora, and other Mexican institutions, set out to characterize marketing dynamics, the frequency of suboptimal produce, and waste management practices in traditional retail formats. Unlike supermarket chains operating within tightly controlled logistical systems, the formats examined here, municipal markets, produce stores, grocery stores, and open-air markets, operate under persistent vulnerability to environmental and infrastructural constraints. The authors argue that this vulnerability has been largely overlooked in a literature that tends to focus on quantifying waste volumes rather than analyzing reduction practices comprehensively.

Methodologically, the research adopted a quantitative, descriptive and correlational design using a non-experimental, cross-sectional approach, with data collected at a single point in time between January and March 2026. The unit of observation was the retail outlet, and information came from a single informant per outlet, specifically the owner or primary manager. Sampling was non-probabilistic and based on convenience, relying on logistical accessibility and merchants’ willingness to participate. Of 250 retailers initially approached, 70 declined, primarily citing lack of time during business hours or reluctance to share commercial information. The authors acknowledge that this refusal may introduce selection or non-response bias, since no demographic or operational data could be collected from non-participants.

The surveyed outlets were concentrated in the State of Mexico (109 outlets across Texcoco, Atenco, Ecatepec, Nicolás Romero and Atizapán de Zaragoza), Chiapas (38 outlets in Ocozocoautla de Espinosa and Soyaló), Sonora (17 outlets in Hermosillo), and Coahuila (16 outlets in Torreón). These locations were purposively selected to capture geographic diversity across central, southern, northwestern and northeastern Mexico, not to form a statistically representative national sample. Data were gathered with a structured 24-item questionnaire covering outlet characteristics, suboptimal produce, purchase and sale dynamics, and waste management. A pilot test with 15 surveys calibrated the instrument, and those participants were excluded from the final sample to preserve data independence.

The typology results show a retail ecosystem dominated by municipal markets, which accounted for 51.1 percent of outlets, followed by produce stores at 29.4 percent, grocery stores at 10.0 percent, and open-air markets at 9.4 percent. Across all formats, homemakers or female heads of household represented over 94 percent of customer foot traffic. Yet the formats differed sharply in commercial dynamics. Municipal markets stood out for long-term consolidation, with more than 60 percent of outlets operating for over six years, and were the only profile serving wholesale buyers and resellers. Open-air markets relied heavily on weekly shoppers, at 58.8 percent, while produce stores centered on rapid inventory turnover, with 86.8 percent of their customers shopping daily.

The waste-related findings were equally format-dependent. Open-air markets showed the highest vulnerability to incoming supply-chain defects, with 41.2 percent of their vendors reporting that more than 10 percent of delivered merchandise arrived with defects. By contrast, 92.5 percent of produce stores reported supplier defect proportions below 10 percent. Open-air markets also commercialized imperfect or suboptimal produce most frequently, with 41.2 percent selling such items often, whereas 90.6 percent of produce store operators said suboptimal produce was rarely or never sold. Pearson’s chi-square tests, including a Monte Carlo exact procedure where expected cell counts were too small, confirmed statistically significant differences across commercial profiles for both measures.

To understand the marketing dynamics that may exacerbate or mitigate waste, the researchers applied K-means cluster analysis to variables covering purchasing decision factors, supplier prioritization criteria, expected consumer attributes, and sales strategies. Four clusters emerged. One group of retailers procured on visual appeal, freshness and seasonality and attracted consumers with eye-catching displays. A second represented a cost-minimization model built on price discounting and continuous promotions. A third balanced price, visual quality and freshness while prioritizing trust-based supplier relationships. A fourth, the smallest cluster with 17 outlets, perceived its customers as prioritizing post-purchase shelf life over low prices or immediate visual perfection. Cluster membership was significantly associated with retail format: 76.5 percent of open-air market retailers fell into the cost-driven cluster, while municipal markets leaned toward the aesthetic cluster and produce stores and grocery stores predominantly occupied the balanced cluster.

Crucially, however, when the researchers tested whether weekly self-reported waste volumes differed across these clusters, the chi-square test revealed no statistically significant association in this sample. The authors caution that this result should be interpreted carefully because some expected cell counts were small, a consequence of subdividing 180 outlets into four formats, four states and four clusters. They also note that because a nominal categorical item was entered as numerical codes in the clustering algorithm, the solution may depend on that specific coding, limiting interpretation. The analysis is framed as an exploratory typology rather than a validated segmentation.

Multiple Correspondence Analysis, a technique that maps geometric associations among categorical variables, was used to explore how commercial profiles relate to waste perceptions, mitigation measures, and utilization practices. The authors stress that spatial proximity on these maps indicates potential statistical association, not causal relationships. The maps suggested that municipal markets were associated with a normalization barrier, viewing waste as an inevitable operational reality, alongside structural deficiencies in market sanitation and a preference for refrigeration infrastructure and consumer acceptance of suboptimal produce. Open-air markets clustered near low optimism about waste reduction and a demand for protective roofing or awnings against solar radiation and heat. Produce stores mapped close to the highest perceived control over waste, with demands pointing toward cold storage facilities, while grocery stores aligned with prevention through staff training in gentle handling and ergonomic display fixtures designed to prevent product crowding and compression.

On the destination of unsold produce, the analysis revealed a segmentation of disposal practices by format, suggesting a predominantly informal pattern of utilization. Municipal markets were associated with both composting and direct landfill disposal. Produce stores showed a geometric correlation with household self-consumption, consistent with their typically family-owned nature, plus informal gifting to people in their immediate environment. Open-air markets were associated with diverting unsold produce to animal feed, possibly reflecting links to peri-urban or rural settings. One striking outlier concerned food banks: only nine outlets, 5 percent of the total sample, reported allocating produce to food rescue institutions. The study did not evaluate the reasons for this low uptake, and the authors call for future research into whether limited collection infrastructure, transaction costs, lack of awareness, or retailer willingness explain the gap.

A third MCA model mapped geographic regions against operational strategies, but the authors are explicit that these associations are exploratory patterns observed exclusively within the sampled locations, not demonstrated requirements for individual Mexican states. A statistically significant imbalance in the sample composition, with a confounding effect between states and retail format, must be acknowledged when interpreting regional differences. Proposed interventions, such as public awareness campaigns promoting consumer acceptance of suboptimal produce in the central region, cold-chain strengthening and microloans for refrigeration equipment in Chiapas and Sonora, and staff training workshops and staggered display shelving in Coahuila, were neither implemented nor evaluated in this study and must be treated strictly as hypotheses for future testing.

The limitations are considerable and openly stated. The convenience sample of 180 outlets cannot be statistically generalized to the entire Mexican retail sector. Thermal vulnerability was inferred from macroclimatic classifications of the regions rather than measured directly at points of sale. The data are self-reported rather than based on physical waste audits, introducing the possibility of recall and social-desirability bias, although the authors note that confidentiality protocols were used to encourage honest estimates. The cross-sectional design restricts the ability to establish long-term causal relationships. Within these constraints, the study’s contribution lies in its multidimensional framing: it integrates marketing dynamics, suboptimal produce frequency, and unsold inventory management across traditional commercial profiles, and it identifies format- and context-specific intervention candidates, from roofs and awnings for open-air markets to display furniture and staff training for grocery stores, whose effectiveness now awaits rigorous future evaluation.

Subject of Research: Food waste drivers and management practices in traditional fruit and vegetable retail outlets in Mexico

Article Title: Structural and operational barriers to food waste mitigation across traditional fruit and vegetable retail profiles in Mexico

Article References: Sánchez-Toledano, B. I., Zegbe-Domínguez, J. A., Camarena-Gómez, D. M. J., García-Vázquez, R., & Pacheco-Navarro, A. C. (2026). Structural and operational barriers to food waste mitigation across traditional fruit and vegetable retail profiles in Mexico. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 10, Article 1971858. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2026.1971858

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1971858

Keywords: food waste, fresh produce, traditional retail, Mexico, open-air markets, municipal markets, suboptimal produce, supply chain, cluster analysis, multiple correspondence analysis, food banks, cross-sectional survey