Finnish retailer S Group saw a 29% decline in food waste across its grocery stores last year, compared to its 2014 base year. In 2022, the corresponding figure was 19%, the retailer noted.
"The leap we have made since last year in reducing waste is huge and speaks of long-term, good work in our stores and our customers' desire to make simple, environmental changes," said Iida Lehtimäki, sustainability expert at S Group.
"At S Group, we have been working to reduce food waste in the food chain for a long time, but reducing waste is a common issue that each of us can influence - including in households."
Last year, food waste accounted for less than 1.3% of total grocery sales in its Prisma, S-market, Sale, Alepa, and Food Market Herkku banners.
Food Waste Reduction
S Group noted that food waste reduction is a 'daily job' for the company, which is largely unseen by customers.
A significant part of the work is done before the products reach the store shelves, such as forecast-based ordering to ensure that stores always have the right amount of products available to customers, it noted.
Other waste prevention measures include labeling products approaching their 'use by' dates, with a recent customer survey showing that up to 67% of customers prefer so-called 'red-label' products as a way to save on food costs.
The retailer also offers fruit and vegetable boxes containing usable fresh produce of slightly diminished quality at discounted prices.
In 2023, approximately two million kilograms of such fruit and vegetables were sold in S group's grocery stores.
