Auchan’s Fight Against Food Waste: A Call to Action
The fight against food waste is a big part of Auchan Retail’s business plan, and by 2032, the company wants to waste no goods. As part of this effort, it is putting in a lot of “no waste” aisles in its shops. The store will slowly roll out
Smartway uses the same tools in every country where it does business. This digitalized, AI-based food waste management technology was first used in Romania and France. It has already saved 70 million products (33,500 tonnes) per year in the three countries, preventing the release of 82,700 tonnes of CO2. This new method will soon be used in eight more countries.
AI can help fight food waste in more ways.
Find goods that are about to go bad, decide between sales at a discount or donations, apply the right discount rate, print labels, etc. These daily tasks in the store take time and can lead to mistakes.
Auchan is using Smartway’s new system, which is a technological tool based on unique AI that is involved in every step of the food waste process. This will make the process faster and more efficient. The tool lets teams increase the number of items that are either for sale as quick-consumption goods or as donations. Neither choice hurts the other. It also cuts the time it takes to serve a customer by a factor of four.
The goal is to lose no food by 2032.
One of Auchan Retail’s most important goals is to stop food from going to waste. Each country has set decrease goals for 2024 and 2032, and the goal for the whole world is to waste no food by 2032. The tool from Smartway will help reach this goal. After getting good results in France and Romania, Auchan Retail is doing more to stop food waste. From the fourth quarter on, Luxembourg and Hungary will also be able to use the method. Before summer 2024, Spain, Portugal, and Poland will do the same, then Ukraine, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Message from the press: June 14, 2023
Auchan wants to be a responsible and dedicated brand because it is a family business. So, our job is to suggest and make it easier for people to engage in “positive consumption,” which means consumption that takes into account the short-term and long-term needs of local people.
One important part of this promise is the fight against food waste. We leave less of a mark on the environment when we don’t throw away food. By making the most of goods with short expiration dates, we can also help our customers and the people who benefit from the organisations we work with. By making our actions more professional with AI, we are making big steps towards our goal of not wasting any food by 2032 and speeding up our strategic plan.
Olivier JAUBERT is the head of Auchan Retail’s Group Strategy and Explorator.
“Ouchan France gave us the job of putting our system in all 349 of its stores in record time in 2022. Today, we have to deal with a new problem: helping eight more countries fight against food waste. This is a great example of how quickly we can deploy our system no matter what, while also getting all the business teams participating on a scale that has never been done before.
Christophe MENEZ is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Smartway.
About Auchan Shopping
Auchan Retail is in 13 countries and has 2,100 places where you can buy food. This includes hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience shops, click-and-collect, and online shopping. Auchan Retail puts its customers at the centre of its strategy by giving them a “phygital” shopping experience that combines physical stores with the digital ecosystem, as well as exclusive, high-quality goods at the best prices possible. The 160,400 people who work for Auchan Retail care about selling good, healthy, and local goods. Its business is built on a people-centered, responsible method that helps customers, farmers, suppliers, and employees all live better.
To stay with us: www.auchan-retail.com, @auchannews on Twitter, and LinkedIn. Auchan is a shop.
How Smartway works
A grocery store spends as much money as it makes. When people are getting more and more in need, this kind of waste can no longer be accepted. Now, stores have a way to solve the problem and make more money at the same time. Since 2012, Swartway has been fighting food waste as the company behind the “Zero Waste” lanes.
It made the first Food Waste Management System to find the best way for food items to end their lives. Smartway’s tools use AI to help in-store teams find goods that are about to expire and decide how to get the most value from them, either by re-labeling them at a discount or giving them to charity in a simple way.
“Let’s work together to make a life that doesn’t waste anything.” – smartway.ai
