K's choice

• ​Targeted software and methods allow a Finnish grocery store to substantially reduce food waste in all departments
• Thousands of euros saved by reducing food waste over only a couple of months

The Finnish National Waste Plan to 2030 aims to promote food waste reduction through fostering a commitment to material efficiency within the food sector. In line with this objective, the Finnish Grocery Trade Association organised a project which involved testing the effectiveness of specialised food-waste management methods and software. These were devised by Kauppavalmennus Oy, a company which trains grocery stores in matters of food waste efficiency.  

K-Supermarket Kulinaari, a grocery store affiliated to the K-Group chain, took part in the project. Sales reports were uploaded to the selection management system every week. Careful analysis of the gathered data then allowed each department to identify food-waste trends and swiftly adopt measures to improve their efficiency, either by decreasing minimum inventories or leaving products out of the selection altogether.

According to Kauppavalmennus Oy, better food-waste management can increase the profit margin of a grocery store by up to 40 %.

Key benefits

• The software ensured a systematic approach to food-waste reduction while helping to keep stocked items up to client standards
• The use of this software over only a couple of months saved K-Supermarket Kulinaari thousands of euros
• Reduced food waste also implies lower waste management and labor costs, as well as improving the freshness and availability of a store’s selection