Request to Conduct Exploratory Semi-Structured Interviews on Retail Food Loss under Generic Clearance for Survey Research Studies

Appendix D-2

Recruitment Script for Non-FMI Members (Contact identified)

Exploratory Semi-structured Interviews on Retail Food Loss

Agency: Economic Research Service

Contractor: RTI International

Appendix D-2: Recruitment Script for Non-FMI Members (Contact identified)¹

Good Morning/Afternoon,

My name is <name>, and I am a researcher with RTI International. I am calling about a study we on conducting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (USDA ERS), and you were identified as someone who might be able to help us. USDA is working to address the problem of food loss and waste through its programs, policies, and guidance. As part of these efforts, we are asking food retail companies to participate in confidential interviews to help inform the design of a potential national study on retail-level food loss. We have chosen your company so that we talk to different sizes and types of retailers.

We would like to interview the person or persons in your company who is most knowledgeable about how your company tracks food loss and maintains electronic data on product shipments and sales. This might be someone in operations or supply chain management, or a procurement specialist or retail/supermarket buyer. Taking part in the interview will take about 2 hours—90 minutes for the interview itself and about 30 minutes of prep time before the interview. Participation is voluntary and confidential. Would you be the best person to interview?

[IF YES] Thank you. Would you like to schedule the interview now or would it be better if I followed up by email?

We have the following days/times available:

May I have your email address and phone number?

[RECORD INFORMATION]

Thank you, I will follow up by email (to schedule interview/confirm interview) and provide additional information about the interview. Please feel free to invite other individuals from your company to participate in the interview.

[IF NOT BEST PERSON] Who do you suggest I contact? Can you please provide me with their email or phone number?

[IF CONTACT RECOMMENDED, RECORD CONTACT INFORMATION AND WAIT TO BE TRANSFERRED] Thank you, have a nice day. [REPEAT SCRIPT FOR IDENTIFED INDIVIDUAL]

[IF NO CONTACT RECOMMENDED] Thank you for your time.

Interview Topics (Reference for Interviewer If Needed)

• General information about company

• If and how your company currently tracks food loss

• Process for receiving product shipments (i.e., from store-owned distribution centers vs. direct shipments vs. wholesalers) and tracking shipment information

• Information on unsold product removed from shelves

• Information on donated product

• Data maintained on product shipments: level of detail (e.g., product code vs. department), time period, information maintained (e.g., units, value, weight)

• Data maintained on product sales: level of detail, time period, information maintained

• Whether stores cut, grind, or repackage meat, poultry, or seafood in the store and sell as random-weight products and, if so, data maintained on shipments and sales for random-weight products

• Whether stores do intra-store transfers (e.g., using raw chicken from the meat department to make chicken salad in the deli) and, if so, data maintained on intra-store transfers

• Data management and software systems

• Availability, willingness, feasibility, and estimated amount of time to provide requested data

• Feedback on proposed benchmarking report as benefit for participation

• Feedback on data security and confidentiality procedures.

1 We will use this script if a contact was available from online sources or if we identified a contact using Appendix D-1 call script.