Netherlands – Wasteless, the AI-driven solution to cut down on food waste in retail, announces the wide rollout of its dynamic pricing system into stores from Hoogvliet, a leading European supermarket chain.
Six percent of the European continent’s greenhouse gas emissions are a result of food waste, as the continent alone lets food costing €143 billion go to waste every year. Weighing in at a whopping 153 million tons of food, that’s equivalent to all its imports. Current approaches to food waste do little to address the causes of this waste nor do they offer a solution that impacts business and consumer behavior on a sufficient scale. On top of that, current price reduction systems are unattractive and hard to manage effectively, so shoppers continue to hunt out the freshest perishables at the expense of the environment.
By running Wasteless’ AI-driven markdown technology in Hoogvliet’s existing store operations, the supermarket is on track in the immediate term to cut waste and markdown costs by 30% and 50% respectively – a major financial determinant for sustainable actions. Wasteless has optimized the retailer’s barcodes for all perishables so it can monitor the risk of a product expiring on the shelf. If and when needed, the item may be slightly reduced, to make it more attractive to consumers. As the expiration date grows nearer, products will become less expensive. This means consumers can stop digging back to buy fresher products and will receive cash-saving incentives for greener shopping. The Wasteless algorithm automatically updates prices on the shelf, within Hoogvliet’s store operations app, and at the checkout.
Hoogvliet’s perishables sections in its 71 stores comprise approximately 3,000 SKUs, and Wasteless’ technology will help the company reduce the category’s carbon emissions and help Hoogvliet recover up to 4% of its revenues lost to discarded food. Founded in 2016, Wasteless reduces greenhouse gas emissions by reducing food waste, which is one of the top five causes of greenhouse gas emissions. Hundreds of its partner stores have experienced a 39% decrease in food waste, as well as a 40% increase in revenue. Wasteless demonstrates practical sustainability and helps supermarkets keep profits out of the dumpster.
“Our goal is to encourage consumers in the Netherlands to make more sound choices when it comes to shopping, for their wallet as well as for the planet,” said Sebastiaan van Duijn, CMO at Hoogvliet. “Price reduction systems we’ve seen have been unattractive and hard to manage effectively. We’re looking forward to this journey with Wasteless and doing our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By rolling out the integration in three other Hoogvliet stores in the area around The Hague, we’re excited to see how customers respond and to position ourselves as a green brand to look up to. In 2022, Hoogvliet’s Distribution Center won two international BREEAM Awards for the most sustainable building. This means that, in the view of the independent judging panel, our building is leading the way with significant achievements in sustainable building design, development, and management. Our digital innovations, in no small part thanks to our new Distribution Center, give us plenty of opportunities for further improvements.”
“The EU’s supermarkets alone are responsible for nearly 7% of all food waste, leading to more than 15 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Oded Omer, Co-Founder and CEO of Wasteless. “By the time this waste occurs, all the energy and resources have already gone into the food. It’s the most costly waste we’re creating – indeed it’s costing each store up to 4% of their revenues. In addition, Wasteless will help customers make smarter grocery decisions. Our solution also helps retail managers by optimizing inventory control systems. Joining forces with leading innovative retailers like Hoogvliet means we’re another step closer to saving the environment and achieving our goal of reducing food waste in retail by 80% while increasing retailer’s profits. This is a concrete step toward the Food Waste Pledge that we signed at the COP27 Climate Conference last week, along with other signatories including the World Wildlife Fund.”
About Wasteless
Founded in 2016, Wasteless is a sustainable fintech company that fights global warming by reducing food waste in supermarkets. In addition to benefiting food retailers, consumers, and the environment, Wasteless helps retailers to repair their costly discounts by applying its AI-Based markdown optimization solution. Food waste reduction is considered the third most impactful measure to reverse climate change. Forty percent of food ends up in landfills, making it the single largest CO2 emitter. Wasteless’ machine-learning technology aims to eradicate food waste in retail. It is backed by $9.75M in funding, led by Slingshot Ventures (NL), Zora Ventures (US), SOSV (US) IT-Farm (Japan), Food Angels (Germany), Strategic industry-related investors, and IIA grants. The company was singled out in the FAO’s State of Food & Agriculture 2019 and received the 2020 and 2022 EU Seal of Excellence. The company won several awards, including XTC Global 1st place in food-tech and agriculture and the Accenture AI Award for its proprietary AI pricing engine. Most recently, the organization was selected by The Circulars and Uplink of the World Economic Forum as a leading solution to boost the circular economy.
