Tesco launches surplus marketplace to help suppliers slash costs and cut food waste

The Tesco Exchange service, which is available to more than 3,500 Tesco suppliers, matches suppliers who have too much of a product, with other suppliers at the grocery giant who can make better use of the excess.

In the same way that consumer marketplaces work, suppliers can advertise surplus stock for sale on Tesco Exchange, post requests for things they need and agree sales between each other. They can also set alerts for when items they need are posted.

Surplus or waste can occur in food supply chains for many reasons, including long periods of good weather, which can result in growers having more produce than they need. In addition, food manufacturers often have by-product that can be used by others.

One of the first listings 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 could be used by a livestock farm as cattle feed.

The opportunity for the Tesco Exchange platform has been highlighted by Tesco and WWF’s recent report about on-farm food loss, which found that 3 million tonnes of UK food waste perishes before making it off the farm.

The move is the latest in an ongoing programme led by Tesco to help suppliers tackle waste. By working directly with global suppliers, it has helped to collectively reduce food loss and waste by 78,000 tonnes.

The supermarket aims to halve food waste in its operations by 2025 and reach net zero across its entire value chain by 2050.

Retail Gazette