Convenience chain Spar International has expanded its partnership with tech company Upshop, with the aim of improving its in-store food production processes.
Spar already uses Upshop’s ‘Date Checking’ and ‘Markdown’ solutions, but it will now incorporate its ‘Recipe Management’ offering which is designed to standardise fresh food quality, ensure compliance, and provide real-time visibility into ingredients and nutrition across Spar stores worldwide.
The move essentially marks the digitisation of what until now was a manual process.
It is expected to help Spar organisations and retailers drive consistency and efficiency across the retail chain. In-store fresh food is viewed as a high-impact category within the business, and Recipe Management is seen as a way to improve this important area of trade.
Tom Rose, head of international operations at Spar International, said the retail group’s mission is “to enable our partners and retailers to deliver the best possible shopping experience”.
“By extending our partnership with Upshop to include Recipe Management, we’re providing Spar retailers additional tools to deliver consistent, high-quality food and accurate nutritional information to their shoppers,” he added.
Mike Sanders, CEO at Upshop, commented: “Recipe Management is a vital capability that connects the back of house with shopper trust.
“By digitising and simplifying recipes, Spar International is ensuring accuracy, compliance, and a better fresh food experience across its global network.”
Upshop’s ambition is to bring retailers a unified platform for their store operations. Its technology, which is used by Tesco-owned One Stop among others, has been developed to help retailers with forecasting, ordering, inventory management, as well as waste reduction and compliance.
Upshop – under its previous guise as WhyWaste – announced in 2023 that Spar International had started using its Smart Markdowns tool which uses real-time data and artificial intelligence power to adjust prices on products nearing their expiration date.
The aim is to use tech to prevent food waste but also to better manage discounting and ensure consumers have valuable deals to purchase in store. Recipe Management marks the next step in the journey for these two organisations.
[image credit: Spar International]
