Spar UK partner A.F. Blakemore has extended its partnership with food waste prevention app Too Good To Go to include all 275 convenience stores in England and Wales.
In January of last year, the retailer launched a trial of the app in 15 stores and extended it to 43 stores in June.
Too Good To Go launched in the UK in 2016 to help tackle around 10 million tonnes of food wasted each year by saving fresh and ‘short-dated’ meals and products thrown away by restaurants and retailers.
Food Waste Reduction
Blakemore retail managing director, Matt Teague, commented, “We’re delighted to be expanding our partnership with Too Good To Go. At Blakemore Retail, we are dedicated to reducing our food waste, and this app is a great way to help us on our mission to achieve this.
“The app enables customers to get some fantastic deals at the same time as encouraging them to try new products that they might not usually buy as part of their regular shop. The bags have proved very popular with shoppers, and since registering our first stores on the app, we have saved an incredible 17,400 bags of food from going to waste.”
‘Magic Bags’
Towards the end of each day, Spar stores prepare ‘Magic Bags’ of surplus fresh food, which Too Good To Go’s app users can purchase for a discounted price.
In the UK, each ‘Magic Bag’ contains food worth a minimum of £10, priced at £3.09.
The bags include groceries, fruit, vegetables, baked goods, sandwiches, cakes, meats, pizzas, ready meals, and sweet treats.
Paschalis Loucaides, UK managing director of Too Good To Go, commented, “If we’re going to make a dent in the vast quantities of food wasted every day, we need to work with partners who are as dedicated to the cause as we are.
“Now, consumers can help rescue food from their local A.F. Blakemore SPAR, bringing communities and businesses together in the fight against food waste. I’m excited to see what we can achieve together.”
Global Partnership
In December 2020, Spar International announced a global partnership with Too Good To Go, which will see the Danish social impact firm team up with the retailer on measures to tackle food waste in a number of markets.
In February of this year, Spar also became the first major food retailer in Austria to launch a partnership with Too Good To Go.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
