Marks & Spencers has introduced a 25p discount on 'to-go' meals purchased from Market Place counters for customers who bring reusable containers.
The move will help the retailer to achieve its goal of making all its packaging widely recyclable by 2020.
Commenting on the move, CEO and founder of environmental charity Hubbub, Trewin Restorick, said, "It is massively encouraging to see M&S become the first major retailer to offer customers a financial saving encouraging them to make an important change to their shopping habits."
'A Growing Market'
Paul Willgoss, director of food technology at M&S, said, "Food-to-go is a growing market; so finding solutions in this space is an important part of our wider plan.
"Our Market Place containers are already widely recyclable, but we want to go a step further with the introduction of an incentive to encourage customers to switch to reusable containers," he added.
Presently, single-use containers offered by M&S in its Market Place counters are widely recyclable.
They are made of FSC-certified cardboard and come with a plastic lid, the retailer said.
The 'Market Place' Concept
Market Place counters operate in 23 M&S outlets located in busy, central locations, including London Pantheon on Oxford Street, Newcastle, Norwich, and Manchester.
It offers a wide variety of hot and cold take away lunch options, such as rotisserie chicken, fish, and freshly prepared salads.
More than 70,000 people purchase lunch from Market Place counters each week, the retailer said.
The food-to-go sector is set to grow by 26.4% by 2024, new research by the IGD has revealed.
Other Initiatives
In 2018, the M&S introduced a 25p incentive for customers bringing reusable cups for buying hot drinks.
It has already removed 1,000 tonnes of plastic packaging from across its business, and has pledged to remove all black plastic from its food business by the end of 2020.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
