Lincolnshire Co-op taps Retail Insight AI solution to reduce food waste and save 2.1m meals from landfill

Lincolnshire Co-op has extended its partnership with Retail Insight for an additional four years, as it looks to further reduce food waste across its store estate. 

As part of this, Lincolnshire Co-op will roll-out an enhanced version of Waste Trim, the latest feature of Retail Insight’s WasteInsight platform, which aims to optimise stock assortment, minimise overstocking and further cut food waste.

Lincolnshire Co-op is an independent co‑operative, which has been serving its local community for over 160 years, offering a wide range of services from its family of businesses. 

Owned by its 300,000 members, it now operates 218 stores within the region, including its Food and Pharmacy stores, Post Office branches and Travel, Funeral and Floristry services.  

Since 2021, it has partnered with Retail Insight, leveraging its WasteInsight platform, to optimise markdowns and reduce food waste. 

Last year, Lincolnshire Co-op reported a 90.8% sell-through rate using the solution, which prevented 2.1 million meals from being wasted and resulted in the prevention of 5,700 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Lincolnshire Co-op is also making use of the first version of Retail Insight’s Waste Trim feature which analyses historical data, sales patterns and expiration dates to highlight and identify products or ranges that are regularly wasted. 

These insights allow it to optimise stock assortment, minimise overstocking on frequently wasted items and, ultimately, reduce food waste. 

Looking ahead, Lincolnshire Co-op will roll-out an enhanced version of Waste Trim as it continues to drive down food waste and its associated environmental impacts.

Craig Adamson, Head of Food at Lincolnshire Co-op, comments: "The WasteInsight platform has been instrumental in our efforts to reduce food waste.”

“Retail Insight’s Waste Trim feature will help revolutionise our approach to inventory management and has significantly contributed to our sustainability goals. We look forward to realising further benefits with the enhanced version of the tool.”

Jessica Westwell, Customer Success Manager at Retail Insight, says: "Working with Lincolnshire Co-op has been a great experience, and we are thrilled to continue supporting them in their journey towards reducing food waste."