Revolutionary NI anti-food waste app receives accolade from Global Retailer Network

Northern Ireland pioneered reduced food app, Gander, has been recognised as one of the 30 most innovative companies dealing with food waste in the world by global retailer network, ECR Retail Loss.

As part of ECR Food Waste Innovation Challenge 2022, which includes hundreds of global retailers, the ECR network worked with start-up monitor Co:Cubed to identify the 30 most highly rated food waste reduction innovations to prevent, re-use or reduce retail food waste globally.

The judging panel, which included food waste experts from more than 30 retailers from around the world, worked to whittle the top 30 down from a long list of more than 100 highly rated innovators.

Mobile platform Gander displays ‘reduced-to-clear’ food products in real time, providing retailers and consumers with a perfect solution to escalating grocery bills and a simple way to play their part in food waste reduction. It aims to dispel the perception that reduced prices mean reduced quality and less versatility, whilst allowing retailers to use key data to monitor and adapt to consumer behaviour.

To date, the app has partnered with a number of retailers, who have reported improvements in sell through rates of yellow labelled goods. Data from Gander’s proprietary Ganderlytics analytics platform has also shown that consumers who engage with the app have seen an average saving of 56% on their weekly food shop.

Through its initial partnership with Henderson Technology, the app has achieved 166,000 downloads and has 86,500 weekly user events in Northern Ireland alone.

Highlighting the cost-of-living crisis and the importance of not wasting food, Stacey Williams, Gander’s head of customer engagement and business development, said: “We are delighted to receive this accolade from ECR Retail Loss. Gander’s technology is a world first and it is an honour to take our place amongst the most highly rated food waste apps across the globe.

“We aim to shine a spotlight on the issue of food waste and ensure that shoppers can access real time data on the availability of reduced food in store.

"As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, it has never been more important to ensure that consumers have access to data that can help make their weekly food budget go further.”

Looking to the future by supplying more data and encouraging other retailers to get on board, Stacey added: “Equally, we hope to provide retailers with the data they need to streamline processes, inform policies, and increase profits, whilst reducing food waste.

"Our model has been successfully introduced to retailers across the UK, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, and we hope to continue to expand our footprint, and place real time information in the consumer’s hand.”

During an Innovation Showcase Finale on Wednesday, November 30, 10 of the top 30 most innovative companies selected as part of the ECR Food Waste Innovation Challenge 2022, will be invited to pitch their innovation to food waste experts and judges online.