Blakemore Retail said it has signed up all 275 of its SPAR convenience stores across England and Wales to food waste app Too Good To Go.
The retailer began the trial of the platform that connects customers to stores and restaurants that have unsold, surplus food with 15 stores in January 2020, and registered a further 43 stores six months later.
It completed the roll out to all stores this week.
“At Blakemore Retail we’re dedicated to reducing our food waste, and this app is a great way to help us on our mission to achieve this,” commented Matt Teague, Blakemore Retail managing director.
“The app enables customers to get some fantastic deals at the same time as encouraging them to try new products that they might not usually buy as part of their regular shop.”
Towards the end of each day, SPAR stores make up ‘Magic Bags’ of surplus fresh food, which Too Good To Go’s app users can then purchase for a great price.
“The bags have proved very popular with shoppers, and since registering our first stores on the app we have saved an incredible 17,400 bags of food from going to waste,” Teague said.
“This practice of reducing food waste has now become the normal way of working across our retail estate, and we’re also seeing retailers from A.F. Blakemore’s independent SPAR estate increasingly eager to sign up to the app too.”
Each ‘Magic Bag’ contains food worth a minimum of £10 at full retail price, but is sold to customers for £3.09. The bags can include groceries, fruit, vegetables, baked goods, sandwiches, cakes, meats, pizzas, ready meals and sweet treats.
After placing an order for a ‘Magic Bag’ and paying for it on the app, customers collect their bag of goodies at the allocated time from their chosen SPAR store.
“We’re thrilled to be rolling out our partnership with A.F. Blakemore and its owned SPAR stores. If we’re going to make a dent in the vast quantities of food wasted every day we need to work with partners who are as dedicated to the cause as we are,” Paschalis Loucaides, managing director UK at Too Good To Go, commented.
“Now, consumers can help rescue food from their local A.F. Blakemore SPAR, bringing communities and businesses together in the fight against food waste. I’m excited to see what we can achieve together.”
