Suppliers of the supermarket chain are invited to use an online swap-shop to cut costs and reduce waste.
With food prices in the UK rising, supermarkets are under pressure to do more in terms of costs and waste avoidance. Tesco launched a new online marketplace for its suppliers called ‘Tesco Exchange’ where suppliers who have too much of a product – for example, crops, by-products, ingredients or packaging – can match with other suppliers that need it. They can also post requests for things they need and agree on sales with each other.
More than 3,500 Tesco suppliers can cut production costs and reduce waste. Tesco said that these savings in production costs would ultimately benefit customers too.
One of the first listings on Tesco Exchange was made by food manufacturer G’s Group, which supplies pickled beetroot to Tesco. The manufacturing process leaves them with tonnes of beetroot peelings that a livestock farm could use as cattle feed.
Tesco and the World Wildlife Fund, WWF, have recently published a report about on-farm food loss. It found that in the UK alone, more than three million tonnes of food waste perishes before making it off the farm. “Excess stock or waste for one supplier could be a valuable commodity to another,” said Sarah Bradbury, Tesco’s Quality Director.
