Applying Circular Economy Thinking to Food Systems in the Hospitality Industry in Nigeria

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic revealed some of the risks in the import-dependent food system in Nigeria. For the hospitality industry, the disruption to global food supply chains and the Federal government lockdown, which lasted for five weeks across major cities like FCT, Lagos, and Ogun at the start of the pandemic, led hospitality establishments to review their existing food supply and distribution arrangements to survive in the challenging business environment. Even after the lockdown was lifted, the effects of the industry’s over-reliance on imported food items meant that a new course of action was required to protect it from future shocks. This chapter applies circular economy thinking to review the role of the hospitality industry as a component of the food distribution system in Nigeria. Using primary data from the survey with 70 respondents cut across the hospitality industry (hotel managers, food and beverage managers, chef, hotel owners, and restaurant managers). The chapter reviews the response and recovery options hospitality managers consider using the crisis management framework. While circular economy strategies applied to food systems primarily focus on waste, this chapter considers new insights for food distribution to see how the hospitality component of the food distribution system in Nigeria may be redesigned to promote locally sourced ingredients and seasonal menus and reduces import-dependency for food supply, which invariably results in adverse environmental and economic impacts for the local agricultural food industry, that is, food that could have been demanded but is met by imported supply may result in waste. The chapter is an exploratory one to consider new insights for applying circular economy thinking to food distribution systems for the hospitality industry in Nigeria.