Wasteless uses AI to eliminate food waste and help the climate

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 2021 -- One third of all the food we produce globally is wasted. The environmental impact of the resources embedded in food waste is significant. Food waste represents 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions, making it the third largest single emitter. If food waste was a country, it would be third behind the US and China as a producer of greenhouse gases. These problems are active and growing.

Wasteless, the turnkey solution for supermarkets to reduce food waste and increase profit, has recently reported a nearly 40% reduction in food waste at hundreds of test stores. This amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in additional profits for the average supermarket chain and a significant environmental relief. 

The Wasteless solution involves dynamically pricing perishables, so products become less expensive the longer they sit on the shelf. Wasteless heightens the profitability of retailers while simultaneously decreasing consumers’ spending as well as substantially decreasing food waste and helping the environment. It’s a win-win-win situation for everyone.

Wasteless’ mission is to reduce food waste in retail by 80% while still enabling companies to make a profit, because -- let’s face it -- financial costs are often a major deterrent that prevents companies from conducting business more sustainably. Driven by an AI-enabled dynamic pricing engine, Wasteless’ technology automatically optimizes the price of perishables as they near their expiration date. This helps supermarkets extend the sales viability of products that normally end up in the dumpster. If the typical supermarket chain has around $30 billion in annual sales, then food waste amounts to about $960 million. Unsold food is hiding substantial revenue and margin increase potential.

Wasteless sets prices dynamically with AI-assisted precision, and electronic shelf labels give shoppers a sense of transparency. This creates a new dimension of attractive and practical sustainability. Consumers get to decide if they want to pay more for a longer shelf life. If the product is going to be used within a couple days, why pay extra when the cheaper item appears to be just as fresh and healthy? In the future, we will wonder why perishables ever had ‘constant' prices in the first place. 

After conducting proof-of-concept and pilot projects at chains that operate hundreds of stores across Europe, Wasteless is reporting a 39% decrease in food waste, as well as a 1.2% average increase in profit margins. To put these figures in context, supermarket retailers typically report, at maximum, 3% profit margins as normal; groceries are a tough place to make profits, and a 1.2% profit margin increase is a major windfall. Additionally, a 40% decrease in supermarket waste amounts to more than $365 million recuperation for an average chain with around 100 stores.

Stores that have been testing Wasteless’ system report more than 80% adoption and participation rates from customers. This means that people are not only able to understand the system, they are also deciding that sustainable shopping makes sense. 

For a typical supermarket chain with around 100 stores, with each store handling around 100 SKUs in the perishables sections, Wasteless’ technology: 

• Reduces carbon emissions by 1,900 tons, the equivalent of taking 400 cars off the road

• Saves 750 tons of waste from the landfill, the equivalent of 50 dump trucks filled to the brim

• Rescues 3 million meals, enough to feed 4,200 people

• Saves 3.5 billion liters of water, the equivalent of 1,400 olympic swimming pools

• Recovers and sells 2.2 million products by applying dynamic markdowns

Wasteless integrates its technology with existing sales systems, introducing improved barcodes as well as electronic shelf labels for all perishables. Consumers are offered additional price points as a product gets nearer its expiration date, effectively eliminating the “hunt-for-freshest” shopping habits. Retailers benefit from Wasteless taking the guesswork out of markdowns and reducing the labor involved with inventory control. The Wasteless system also automates pricing updates on the shelf, within retailer apps, and at checkout.

“The success of our program, in terms of revenue increases and sustainability, speaks to the longevity of these partnerships,” said Oded Omer, Founder and CEO of Wasteless. “We are very excited by these initial reports and we firmly believe we can eventually deliver an 80% reduction in food waste for our partners’ stores.”