Portuguese retail group Sonae MC plans to develop an innovative digital platform to help combat waste in stores.
The LIFEFood Cycle project will facilitate the digital management of surplus goods, optimising donations to charities and selling food products close to sell by date to business partners at a lower price.
The project, which aims to improve the sustainability of the food system, has been developed in consortium with Phenix, and 55% co-financed by the EU’s LIFE programme, the European funding instrument for the environment and climate action.
The donation process has been in place for several years in Continente stores, but was previously undertaken manually. Last year, €12.3 million in food surpluses were donated to over 1,000 welfare institutions and animal support associations.
All Continente stores have partnerships in place with one or more local institutions for the donation of food surpluses.
Zer0% Waste Boxes
At the same time, Continente continues to develop other initiatives to combat food waste. The so-called “Zer0% Waste Boxes” contain five kilograms of fruit and vegetables that are close to the optimal point of consumption and sell for €0.50/kg.
They are currently available from 29 stores, but the plan is to extend them to the rest of the network, helping save 25 tonnes of fruit and vegetables per year.
The banner is also taking advantage of the waste generated in the production of apples and pears by transforming them into dehydrated fruit snacks, on sale for €0.69 per 20g package.
In addition, Continente produces natural juices from excess fruits, such as the 100% Alcobaça apple juice, which is available for €2.99 per 1.5 litre packaging.
The Banana Solteira project, in a collaboration between Continente and Bagga, helps combat the waste of bananas that have been removed from bunches and left loose in Continente shops. The bananas are then sold at a fixed price (€0.50) in Bagga cafeterias.
Elsewhere, Panana is a manganese rich cake made with banana pulp from leftover bananas, while Bread Beer is a homemade beer developed together with Vadia, produced with surplus bread from Continente bakeries.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
