Too Good To Go, a social impact company and the largest marketplace for food surpluses, decided to use artificial intelligence to help grocery retailers get rid of surpluses. The company has launched its Too good to go surplus management platform that should enable groceries, from hypermarkets to convenience stores in Europe and North America, to free themselves from excess stocks.

In other words, artificial intelligence monitors and supports the redistribution of food surpluses by constantly monitoring the store inventory, and therefore the warehouse: according to the company it is the only system of this type currently in circulation. The platform incorporates in a single interface five modules that include management of expiration dates, recommendations, smart discount, market and donations. This gives supermarket partners a customizable solution to define their food surplus management strategy. 

Platform algorithms can produce and display a list of upcoming products on portable devices used by store staff: the list is organised according to the location on the shelves and can be presented daily or weekly, depending on the shelf life of the product. The system also provides recommendations on how to manage each product, using pre-set and customizable rules and preferences determined by the retailer.

"In Too Good To Go we collaborate with some of the biggest names in global food distribution, such as Carrefour, Auchan, Spar, Aldi, Coop and many others -emphasizes Mette Lykke, ceo of the marketplace-. With the introduction of the new platform, we can now also support their in-store inventory management, helping them make a significant difference both in their profits and in reducing food waste".

"The processes of checking expiration dates and discounts in the store can be laborious, expensive in terms of resources and prone to errors, especially on a large scale -adds Sophie Trueman, managing director of Too Good To Go UK-. Too Good To Go Platform’s modular approach puts operations in the center of the store, allowing for easy customization and leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to bring efficiency to daily routines". 

"The artificial intelligence platform -adds Trueman- processes large data sets to optimize discount levels and apply discount rates at the Sku level (Stop keeping unit, is the number used by companies to track inventory, ed), improving revenues from discounted products close to maturity". 

Available globally, the Too Good To Go platform supports plug-and-play deployment and also offers integration options that allow retailers to seamlessly connect to their systems.