Finnish retailer K Group has said that its efforts to reduce food waste in its store are proving effective, and waste is currently decreasing by 1-2% each year.
This is part of the retailer's target, which was set in 2013, to reduce food waste from its K-Food stores by 10% by 2020.
One of the main ways the company is achieving this goal is by donating surplus food to charity. About 90% of K-Food stores cooperate with charitable organisations, donating waste food to local charities that distribute it as food aid to those in need.
“It would feel daft to throw perfectly good food in the bin and that’s why we started distributing food from my store to charity 17 years ago," said Heimo Välinen, manager of K-Supermarket Seilori.
K Group also uses food waste from its store to create compost and biogas.
Preventing Waste
K Group says that its stores use forecasting and ordering systems, which can help to reduce food waste. These systems help retailers predict sales of food items more precisely, meaning a more exact amount of food is ordered, and less goes to waste on the shelf.
In addition, it manages its transportation to ensure that goods are delivered on time and products are fresh.
However, the retailer says that the greatest amount of food waste comes from households, and so it is encouraging its customers to become more aware of the issue.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
