A series where we hear from retail’s movers and shakers about how they are tackling the challenge of becoming a greener business in an industry that is far from green – assessing organisational change, eco initiatives, and much more.
Since the turn of the year, food waste prevention has been a key topic in the stories covered on the pages of Green Retail World.
From Tesco’s work with GS1 UK to better manage inventory and therefore cut down waste, to Greggs and Morrisons reaching significant redistributed food sales landmarks with Too Good To Go, UK retail is strongly focused on this key environmental issue.
Elsewhere, Sainsbury’s said in February it was working with RenEco to transform food waste into HGV fuel for its fleet, and Cook’s chief creative officer James Rutter told us in April it was working with Wase to find ways of turning waste into biogas that fuels its kitchen.
At the Co-op Group and the regional Co-ops, much progress is being made in preventing food ending up in the bin thanks to a partnership with UK tech company Retail Insight. The team at the Manchester-headquartered mutual see it as an example of tech, commercial, and sustainability strategy all coming together to drive multiple benefits.
Sustainability starts with efficiency
If you’ve been a reader of this publication since it launched in 2020, you’ll have probably heard us touting the “sustainability starts with efficiency” line. It’s the idea the road to being a less unsustainable business begins with finding efficiencies in existing operations.
Co-op’s work with Retail Insight is another example of this in action. In 2018, there was a realisation that something needed to be done about reducing food waste in the organisation, so the technology company was brought in to support its plans.
Seven years later, Retail Insight’s WasteInsight tool advises Co-op store staff across the UK on the most optimal price changes required to drive sales and support food waste prevention. The technology platform will make decisions based on store footfall and other influencing and historical factors associated to the store or region, providing a unique price suggestion for each shop.
“In 2018 we had a rudimentary understanding of our waste and our waste processes – we had basic key performance indicators (KPIs) and knew the cost but it was a commercial KPI,” explains Tom Norgate, who leads the food analytics team at Co-op.
“We needed to move that on and we needed to understand the causes of that and have something that allowed us to intervene at the appropriate point. Originally it sat in the commercial function but that has grown and is now the responsibility of our central team which has allowed us to expand the remit of how we think about waste.”
He adds: “We think about it less as a pure cost and margin optimisation issue and now something that allows us to balance the sustainability and financial impact – it’s moved on a lot in the last seven years.”
Data related to the price changes and their impact is fed back to Retail Insight, whose analysts work alongside Norgate’s team and other Co-op stakeholders to see if further improvements can be made in the group’s operations. It might influence starting price decisions and store compliance work, but this information could also being used in ranging strategy further up the supply chain.
The ultimate aim is to get the right products to the right stores and create optimum sales with minimum waste.
Member benefits
It’s one of those examples of a strategy implemented by a retailer to save it money, but that also naturally supports the drive towards planetary welfare and supporting other social causes.
Ellie Morley, shared value and sustainability reporting manager at Co-op, says everything the Co-op does is in the interests of its members.
“We’re a cooperative, and our strategic vision is to create value for members – ownership value [meaning they have a say in what Co-op does]; economic value [members get financial incentives], and social value,” she remarks.
The food waste prevention programme covers all this because members have placed this goal high up this list of what they require from the Co-op.
“Waste reduction means financial savings which mean we can operate more efficiently and effectively and pass on savings to members,” Morley continues.
“Over the years we have been able to reduce food waste but also increase the amount we redistribute.”
She also talks of “better quality waste” because there is a system in place to manage it – the surplus can easily be located to redistribute to charitable partners such as Hubbub and Your Local Pantry to generate the social benefit that is such a large part of Co-op’s raison d’etre.
Results and regional gains
Co-op’s 2024 Social Value and Sustainability Report highlights the organisation’s target to reduce food waste generated in its stores and depots by 50% by 2030 compared to 2022. With the help of Retail Insight’s tools, Co-op is able to report that it has reduced food waste by 31% already.
Co-op says its operational food waste total and food waste intensity – a metric looking at the amount of food wasted relative to the amount of food handled calculated by dividing the weight of food wasted by the weight of food handled – remained stable at 1.03% in 2024.
The retailer notes it has almost halved food waste in its depots over the past year through a combination of changes in process, engagement with suppliers, and ongoing redistribution efforts by stock managers.
In the report, Co-op shows where the food waste is coming from – and food-to-go (22.4% of total tonnage), produce (19.2%), dairy (13.5%), and bakery (11.6%) are the biggest culprits.
But last year, Co-op redistributed 5,299 tonnes of would-be food waste in its stores through the platform Caboodle to reach circa 1,898 local community groups. Its depot teams shared 812 tonnes of surplus food in 2024, with the goods ending up with FareShare, City Harvest, The Bread and Butter Thing, and Company Shop for redistribution to those who need it.
Commenting on the journey with Retail Insight to date, Norgate says: “We saw an immediate impact in waste savings.
“We could start to measure it not just in value but in the amount of product, so it’s an instantly different view we get on emissions and sustainability. We have seen continuous improvement as we refine the process.”
He adds: “The best way to reduce waste is to not send excess stock [into stores] in the first place. We’re benefiting from other systems that help with that – we’re putting considerably less product in the bin.”
Morley suggests there is strong confidence in the data, and the success in this space means food waste goals are part of Co-op’s sustainability-linked credit facility targets. The data is assured by DNV Business Assurance Services.
Retail Insight’s technology is also deployed by Marks & Spencer, and it is utilised by some of the regional co-operatives including the East of England and Southern Co-op chains.
Food waste is a major issue, with the United Nations Environment Programme estimating food loss and waste account for 8-10% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. Those figures provide the motivation behind retailers doing what they can to make a difference and reduce their waste, but so often it has a commercial benefit for their organisations too.
At Green Retail World, we are giving retail executives and industry leaders, like Tom Norgate and Ellie Morley, a chance to explain how they are enacting environmental change within their organisations. Please contact editor, Ben Sillitoe, if you’d like to put yourself forward for an interview on this key subject. Sharing good practice can help the wider sector move in a positive direction.
[image credit: Green Retail World]
