Lead to (no) waste: how kitchen leadership styles shape food waste management practices

This study explores how leadership styles in professional kitchens influence food waste prevention and reduction. Based on 18 semi-structured interviews with chefs across diverse restaurant settings, it applies a multi-theoretical leadership framework encompassing autocratic, transactional, transformational, democratic, servant, situational, and laissez-faire styles. The study finds that while traditional, control-oriented styles (autocratic and transactional) dominate, they often suppress junior chefs' pro-environmental creativity due to fear of reprisal, hindering innovation. Conversely, empowering and inclusive styles (transformational, democratic, and servant) are significantly more effective, fostering shared ownership and active staff engagement in food waste prevention and reduction. Another finding is the behavioural spillover effect, whereby culinary values and food waste management habits practiced by leaders at work are transferred by junior chefs into their home practices. Theoretically, the study contributes to hospitality leadership literature by linking leadership styles to environmental sustainability outcomes in foodservice provision. Practically, it offers guidance for leadership development and managerial training for food waste management.