Nisa partners are among the first independent retailers to sign up to an initiative that is helping to tackle food waste while also recovering some costs for unsold stock.
Too Good To Go enables retailers to dispose of food that is close to its sell-by date by listing it on an app and selling it to shoppers at a discounted price.
Designed to combat the growing problem of wasted food, the scheme initially worked in partnership with the food service industry but increasing numbers of grocery retailers are now signed up.
Nisa is now working with Too Good To Go to encourage more retailers to sign up to the app and trial the scheme with a partner engagement event scheduled later this month to demonstrate how it works.
Nisa retailer Rikesh Patel (pictured) signed up four months ago. He said the platform was working well.
“It isn’t about making money, I see it as a way of getting rid of food rather than throwing it in the bin,” said Rikesh. “It does recover some costs but really it allows me to keep my stock at a good level. I was always quite cautious about how much chilled produce I ordered before, but this is a bit of a safety net.”
The ‘magic bags’ of mixed products are ordered online by shoppers who have signed up to the app and are collected in store.
Rikesh has a mixed customer profile utilising the scheme, from young professionals to low income households. He explained: “It is mostly new customers who come in for the bags and we get rid of a couple every day. I am getting more value and instead of throwing out £50 or £60 of fresh goods it is reduced by about 50%.”
Richard Shorney, Retail Development Manager at Nisa, is leading the project with partners. He said: “It is a winning solution for our retailers and so easy for them to get involved. It allows them to get their wastage down and recover some costs that would otherwise have been lost and at the same time, they are doing their bit to improve sustainability.
“We hope that as we share the scheme with more Nisa partners and show them how it can work for them, increasing numbers will take it on, sign up to the app and in doing so will become less cautious about investing in the fresh and chilled categories which we know are so profitable.”
