Frozen food retailer Iceland Foods has partnered with retail technology provider Retail Insight to deploy its AI-powered WasteInsight solution, as the retailer looks to use operational data to support its ongoing efforts to reduce food waste.
WasteInsight identifies products that require intervention and recommends an optimised markdown designed to clear stock while protecting margin. The technology is intended to help store colleagues focus on products where action can have the greatest commercial and environmental impact.
Rather than relying solely on manual processes or retrospective reporting, the platform analyses multiple operational data points to identify products requiring attention and support earlier decision-making.
Retail Insight said the deployment reflects a wider shift in grocery retail, with retailers increasingly looking to make operational use of the large volumes of data generated across their store estates. Retail Insight already has established partnerships with fellow UK grocers Marks & Spencer and Co-op.
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Martin Rigby, general manager of EMEA and APAC at Retail Insight, said retailers have access to more operational data than ever, but that its value comes from enabling better decisions.
“The opportunity is to move from reporting what has already happened to identifying where action is needed before waste occurs,” he said.
The partnership is intended to help Iceland explore how AI-driven operational intelligence can support waste reduction while improving consistency across its stores.
Steve Shirley, stores director at Iceland, said reducing food waste remains an important priority for the retailer.
“We are continually looking at ways to improve how we use operational data to support our colleagues in making faster, better-informed decisions in stores,” he said.
Retail Insight said the technology is intended as a decision-support tool for store colleagues, helping them respond to changing demand, product lifecycles and operational complexity rather than replacing human decision-making.
[image credit: Green Retail World]
