Convenience retail chain A.F. Blakemore has begun trialling food waste-fighting app Too Good to Go.
The company has registered 15 of its Blakemore Retail SPAR stores in Lincolnshire on the Too Good to Go app, which enables people to purchase short-dated food for a reduced price.
The app, which was launched in the UK in June 2016, was set up to help tackle the 10 million tonnes of food wasted each year by saving the fresh and short-dated food often thrown away by restaurants and retailers.
The stores involved in the trial will make up ‘Magic Bags’ of surplus fresh food and groceries on the day of expiry, which Too Good to Go’s 2.5m users in the UK will be able to find and purchase for £3.09.
Customers will then be allocated a time to come and collect their Magic Bag, reducing the daily food waste of stores and ensuring the perfectly edible food is not thrown away.
The pilot began on 20January, with plans to register more stores in the future if it is deemed a success.
Store operations director Chris Bacon said: “Blakemore Retail is dedicated to reducing its food waste and what better way to do this than with an app that will also allow our customers to get some fantastic deals.”
Too Good to Go UK country manager Hayley Conick added:“We are delighted that 15 of Blakemore Retail’s SPAR stores have joined our growing community of partners in the UK, with the prospect of more to follow.
“This partnership bolsters our fight against food waste in the UK, enabling us to make an increasing dent in the £13 billion of perfectly edible produce that goes to waste each year. These stores operate at the heart of communities, so it is through relationships such as these that we can fight foodwastetogether at a local level.”
