Co-op trials major new platform to tackle food waste

Some of the UK’s leading businesses have joined forces to launch a new not-for-profit platform to help reduce food waste, Caboodle.

The digital platform is currently being trialled in Co-op’s food stores in Northern Ireland, Milton Keynes and London and is all set to go live next month across a further 2,500 food stores.

Caboodle, created by founding partners Co-op and Microsoft and supported by technology consultancy BJSS and Team ITG, enables supermarkets, convenience stores, cafés and restaurants to connect with community groups and volunteers to redistribute surplus food.

According to the environmental charity WRAP, around 1.1 million tonnes of food goes to waste across the food retail and hospitality sector annually in the UK. Whilst overall surplus food redistribution has trebled between 2015 and 2020, there are still 200,000 tonnes that could have been redistributed but has not.

Built on Microsoft’s Power Platform technology, Caboodle aims to create a single place where food retailers and businesses across the hospitality sector can connect with volunteers and community groups in every city, town and village in the UK, helping to share food when and where it is needed.

“The amount of good quality surplus food that’s not currently being redistributed is astounding,” Shirine Khoury-Haq, interim chief executive of the Co-op said.

“We’re currently trialling caboodle in over 100 food stores and the results we’re seeing so far are incredible. We’ll be rolling it out across our entire estate next month and hope that all other retailers and businesses within hospitality will see the benefit too.

“The more organisations use Caboodle the simpler and more effective it will be for volunteers and community groups to gain access to good food.”

The platform is open to charities and community groups of all kinds, from food banks and family support networks to youth groups, schools and more.

For food stores, cafes and restaurants, Caboodle will mean they’ll be able to share their surplus food online daily in an easier and more cost-effective way, using live notifications to alert charities when more slots are available.

Meanwhile, for community groups they’ll save time by having the opportunity to book and schedule slots, receive live notifications when new slots are available and gain access to volunteers easily via a digital noticeboard.

The platform is currently being trialled with support from environmental charity Hubbub through the Community Fridge Network.

Alex Robinson, Hubbub chief executive, said: “We’re pleased to be supporting the development of Caboodle by providing insight from communities and trialling the platform with our Milton Keynes Community Fridge. We’re passionate about supporting initiatives that help to reduce food waste and have a positive impact on the environment.”

Richard Smith, deputy head of food supply at The Felix Project, commented: “As a charity which has tested Caboodle and is already seeing the benefits, we know it will make a real difference to others like ourselves.

“The process for us is just easier and unlike other systems it works in a way that allows us to notify stores if we can’t make our collection slots – offering the slot to another group nearby saving food from going to waste at a time when so many are in need of it.”

Caboodle will also highlight volunteering opportunities through its online noticeboard. People who want to volunteer to help redistribute food can enter their postcode to find a local group they’d like to work with to make a difference.

“One of the best things about Caboodle is not just the impact it will have, but also that it came from a chance conversation between a Microsoft employee and a Co-op store manager about how to stop good food going to waste. Low code development using the Microsoft Power Platform, means anyone can turn great ideas into real solutions,” Clare Barclay, chief executive of Microsoft UK, commented.