Central Co-op extends partnership with Retail Insight to tackle food waste

Central Co-op said it has renewed its partnership with Retail Insight, the leading provider of in-store execution software, for an additional three years, as it looks to continue to tackle food waste as part of its sustainable retailing focus.

With a heritage stretching back over 180 years, the independent retail co-operative society runs 450 trading outlets across 21 counties, employing 7,500 colleagues. Its retail network spans 255 food stores and 18 petrol station outlets, as well as offering floristry and funeral services.

‘Creating a sustainable society for all’ is Central Co-op’s founding purpose, and food waste - along with carbon reduction and recycling - is one of its key sustainability focuses. Since 2018, for example, it has worked with FareShare Midlands to create 6.5million meals and also works with food redistributor, Olio, as part of its ambition of achieving zero food waste.

Central Co-op first partnered with Retail Insight in 2021, using Retail Insight’s WasteInsight platform to dynamically optimise mark-downs on products nearing expiry to increase sell-through and reduce waste. A cloud-based software solution, WasteInsight puts retailers in control of food waste through data-led, actionable insights that support businesses’ entire waste journeys. Enabling dynamic markdowns, it also addresses expiration management, offers more efficient donations to charities, and drives improved forecasting accuracy, allowing retailers to sell more while wasting less.

“WasteInsight has revolutionised our approach to markdowns and waste reduction, allowing us to optimise our operations and improve sustainability. We are excited to continue this journey and experience the additional benefits that the prompted markdown feature will bring to the business,” Ben Grove, senior operational excellence manager at Central Co-op, said.

As part of the contract extension, Central Co-op will also start to implement Retail Insight’s Prompted Markdown feature, which sits within the WasteInsight solution. Enabling better expiration management, this feature will allow the co-operative to quickly identify products nearing expiry, enabling prompt action to minimise waste and maximise profit. Working alongside dynamic markdown capabilities within the solution, Central Co-op can optimise its waste journey, further improving operational efficiency, minimising excessive markdowns and positively impacting sustainability efforts.

Jessica Westwell, customer success manager at Retail Insight, added: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Central Co-op. Its commitment to waste reduction and operational excellence is truly inspiring, and it's been great to work with the team to increase compliance and drive performance through our solution.”