Moscow, 07 November 2019 – X5 Retail Group (“X5” or the “Company”), a leading Russian food retailer (LSE and MOEX ticker: “FIVE”), announces an initiative launched by its Pyaterochka proximity stores to transfer unsold food and merchandise that has become unsaleable before the expiry date for recycling into animal feed. The chain plans to roll out this initiative across all its stores by April 2020, with ca. 70% of such items to be sent for processing.
The decision was made following a 10-month pilot project covering nearly all the regions where Pyaterochka operates. As part of the pilot, the chain was able to increase the volume of food sent for recycling to 2.5 kt a month, which is up to 30% of the potential waste from over 5,000 stores.
For this purpose, Pyaterochka launched a new business process for sorting, packing and sending a portion of unsold stocks to the project partners on a daily basis. The partners are ten companies from across Russia that collect fruit, vegetables, pastry and groceries that have become deformed and unsaleable before the expiry date, to turn them into animal feed.
As an active supporter of sustainable resource use, X5 is committed to waste minimisation. This is achieved, among other things, through more accurate inventory planning, which includes big data-driven demand modelling along with more frequent product deliveries, better adaptation of the product mix to customer needs and smaller MOQs negotiated from suppliers. On top of that, Pyaterochka labels and gives a discount of some 20–40% for close to expiry items.