Finnish retailer, K-Food has teamed up with app ResQ Club to offer customers special offers and deals on food items that are close to their expiry date.
The collaboration between ResQ and the first K-food store began in May of this year, and is a part of the company’s initiatives to prevent food wastage.
More than 40 K-Food outlets have managed to cut down their food waste by close to a sixth after tying up with the app.
Development manager of ResQ Club, Antti Tuomola, said, “We have long wanted to expand the use of the app from restaurants to food stores.
"As independent entrepreneurs, K-retailers have been able to adopt the app in an agile manner, and the results have been positive from the get-go," Tuomola added.
How It Works
The stores gather products approaching their expiry date and assemble shopping bags. These bags are then sold to customers through the app at discounted rates.
Retailer Harri Mattinen has three K-Market stores in Lappeenranta and commenced selling ResQ Club bags in his stores in May of this year.
The response has been overwhelming and Mattinen said, “In August, my stores sold a total of 452 bags through ResQ. Of the bags we put together, 92% were sold, so the food really does end up with consumers.
"Daily food waste in a store has gone down from three shopping carts to half a shopping cart,” he added.
According to estimates, around 25-30% of the world's food ends up in waste bins. Grocery stores account for almost 18% of total food waste, while households contribute around 35%.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
