SPAR, the multinational grocery and convenience retailer, has launched a trial with Gander in two of its Scottish stores.
Gander is an app which aims to reduce food waste by pricing almost-expired fresh groceries at a lower price. Anti-waste apps have been on the rise for a few years, with platforms like Too Good to Go and OLIO focusing on distributing food that would otherwise go to waste from restaurants, supermarkets and even neighbours, via lowered — and sometimes waived — prices.
While Gander operates on the same essential premise, it differs slightly from its rivals by integrating with supermarkets’ processes, rather than acting as an external platform where goods are ‘uploaded’.
SPAR Abronhill and SPAR Stonehouse will be putting Gander to the text in a 12-week trial.
Sonya Harper, Central Operations Director at SPAR Scotland said: "As a convenience store business, we feel it is important to reduce the amount of food waste that ends up in landfill. Gander has a great partnership with SPAR International and this trial is a direct result of exhibiting at our annual tradeshow in Aviemore last year.
SPAR Stonehouse and SPAR Abronhill were selected as they are two of our Keep it Simple innovation stores and they offer the home delivery service Snappy Shopper. The link between Snappy Shopper and Gander is important because over time we are looking to sell reduced products on the Snappy Shopper platform giving our customers additional value as part of the rapid home delivery service already on offer.
We are looking forward to seeing how the trial develops especially as it is the first in Scotland and we hope the introduction of Gander to Scotland and to SPAR Scotland stores will help enable us to reduce food waste and change shoppers buying habits."
Stacey Williams, Head of Business Development at Gander, said: "We are delighted to partner with SPAR Scotland’s Abronhill and Stonehouse stores. Consumer confidence remains weak amid the ongoing cost of living crisis and this partnership will help to tackle the issue head on.
“The ability to use the Gander app in store will allow local consumers to save money on reduced food. It will also help them to cut back on food waste and, by doing so, contribute to a greater reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions."
Distributive apps such as Gander offer a solution that tackles many problems: reducing food waste, decreasing businesses’ environmental impact, and providing consumers with a low cost alternative to normal groceries during a cost-of-living crisis — a win-win-win situation that can alleviate the persistent issue of waste in the food and beverage industry.