Gander is to introduce its anti-food waste app to 10 McColl’s stores early next year.
The trial, in the north west of England, aims to address in-store food waste and the redistribution of surplus stock to the wider community as a business priority.
Gander will also provide a “comprehensive list” of any reduced items that have become surplus at the end of the day to local charities connected to McColl’s through Food Drop, which connects surplus food to local charities.
The app is also expanding its reach in Northern Ireland with 30-plus Musgrave company-owned stores. This follows a trial with two stores, across its Centra and SuperValu brands, in Limavady. These stores are now selling up to 23% more reduced items and recovering a further 12% of markdown losses.
Musgrave is also encouraging its independent retailers to use Gander as its “first defence” against food waste in stores.
“Our aim is to roll out within the entire estates nationally to allow retailers to reap the benefits of economies of scale and enable consumers in all regions to know when, where and what products are available to save them money and reduce waste nationally,” Gander founder Mike Osborne told The Grocer.
It is also continuing to bolster its reach among Nisa retailers, with the symbol group now selecting Gander as its preferred service provider for food waste.
This would provide “an easy funnel” for Nisa retailers to understand what Gander is, how it can benefit them and their customers, and how to get their store on board via its internal website and communications, Gander added.
Nisa retailers already involved include CK Foodstores in South Wales with 22 stores, and Nisa Local in Barrow-in-Furness. The Filco Group in South Wales is also launching Gander in late January.
The app works by displaying reduced-to-clear food items that are available in stores for users nearby. It integrates with the retailer’s point of sale system, so any time a product is reduced, sold or wasted, the app updates in real-time. This ensured retailers and consumers had a live view of what’s on shelves “at their fingertips”, Gander said.
“Retailers win from increased revenues and footfall, customers win by saving money on perfectly good food and the environment wins with significantly less food wasted in store,” added Osborne.
Gander said the number of “app events” – which includes a user clicking into a store on the app, adding a product to their watchlist, or searching for a product – had grown by 75% year on year.
It is currently integrated with over 450 food stores across 17 brands, including Spar, Eurospar, and the Co-op.
“While the whole sector has had to focus on the safeguarding of the public in their stores during the pandemic, it is a testament to the convenience sector that they have simultaneously committed to sustainability and been able to introduce Gander in their stores, collaborating quickly and flexibly, in such unprecedented times,” said Osborne.
“The demand for Gander from consumers is huge and convenience independents and groups have been the first to provide their customers with this technology. They are at the forefront of innovation.”
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