As Southeastern Grocers works to tackle food waste, the grocery company has seen results through its partnership with technology firm Upshop.  

Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, rolled out Upshop’s solution for expiration date management in 2021 and since the rollout, Southeastern Grocers has seen “significant reductions” in food waste, according to a Monday press release. The technology has also allowed Southeastern Grocers to increase store efficiencies and track the effectiveness of markdowns. 

The software gives Southeastern Grocers employees notifications and workflow guidance around expiration date management tasks. As a result, the workers are proactively rotating soon-to-expire products and removing items from shelves as needed.

Upshop said Southeastern Grocers is using data analysis and insights derived from the system for its SKU rationalization efforts across departments. That information has been particularly useful in the frozen, dairy and packaged meat departments, according to the press release. 

Southeastern Grocers said in its 2023 Environmental, Social & Governance report that using expiration date management has allowed the company to “significantly reduce food waste and ensure that our customers have access to fresh, high-quality products while reducing our environmental footprint.”

By better managing product expiration, Southeastern Grocers is working to address food waste prevention — a key sustainability area for the grocery industry. 

FMI — The Food Industry Association, which is increasingly urging grocers to make more food waste prevention efforts, earlier this year backed a proposal for a national food waste and organics recycling strategy. The strategy, which is in development by the Environmental Protection Agency, USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, seeks to reduce food loss and waste, increase recycling of organic materials and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA website.

Along with the partnership with Upshop, other sustainability efforts by Southeastern Grocers include partnering last year with Relocalize on producing and distributing ice cubes to reduce water waste and trucking carbon dioxide emissions. The grocer has also been expanding electric vehicle charging station availability at select neighborhood stores.