Valoración cuantitativa de la perdida y desperdicio de alimentos en uno de los mercados municipales de Quito (mercado Cotocollao) : trabajo de integración curricular presentado como requisito para la obtención del título de ingeniero de la producción.

Abstract

The present degree project aims to analyze a quantitative assessment of food waste in the municipal market of Quito, ""Cotocollao Market."" The study project is structured with organized procedures that are arranged as follows: i) Identifying the component to be developed. ii) Defining clear and time-bound objectives. iii) Familiarizing oneself with the project's scope. iv) Presenting the theoretical framework to support and validate the practice. v) Applying the methodology in accordance with the scope. In the data analysis, the intention is to gather qualitative and quantitative information using surveys and weighing with the assistance of a scale. Surveys were conducted with 11 traders who had assigned stalls within the Cotocollao market. Surveys served as the tool that facilitated result analysis, interpretation, and subsequent conclusion drawing. The market provided insight into the daily routine of the commercialization process. The time for implementing the methodology was 7 days, considering the demand fluctuations. The methodology began by generating the necessary documents to access information that the traders could provide. After obtaining the accepted documents and conducting the survey, the process of quantifying and classifying the citrus fruits followed, categorizing them as either damaged or still edible. The results generated by the study demonstrated that one of the products with the highest percentage of waste during the seven days of observation was lemons, occupying 18.361%. This underscores the importance of controlling the supply of lemons based on the daily demand to prevent food waste.