With Smartway, Monoprix Tunisia launches the country’s first zero waste initiative.
Food waste is a major issue in Tunisia. Every year, Tunisian households waste the equivalent of 572 million dinars (over €171 million) worth of food (source: the French National Consumer Institute). Meanwhile, paradoxically, nearly 500,000 people in the country are undernourished.
Monoprix Tunisia has already taken action to address this issue and is reaffirming its commitment by entering into a strategic partnership with Smartway, a company that supports retailers in their fight against food waste.
By the end of 2024, Monoprix Tunisia plans to deploy Smartway’s AI-based intelligent solutions in its 85 stores. These solutions will assist in-store teams in identifying products nearing their expiry date, determining the best discounts to apply, and taking proactive steps to ensure accurate ordering. The challenge is to balance important concerns for the planet, people, and store profitability. Consumers will also have the opportunity to discover Zero Waste sections, a first in Tunisia.
Monoprix Tunisia, a pioneer in the fight against food waste in stores
Monoprix Tunisia is already committed to combating food waste, but in-store teams currently spend hours detecting and removing products nearing their expiry date from the shelves. These daily operations are extremely time-consuming, prone to errors, and often result in an excessive number of products being discarded.
To accelerate progress and achieve its ambitious targets in the fight against food waste, Monoprix Tunisia has partnered with Smartway, a company that has been helping retailers combat food waste for 12 years. More than 2,000 stores worldwide have already adopted Smartway’s Food Waste Management System, enabling the retailer to quickly deploy these solutions and maximise performance at every level. Smartway’s unique artificial intelligence guides in-store teams to optimise the entire food waste management process and monitor performance as part of a continuous improvement approach. To date, Smartway has saved more than 300 million products from going to waste.
Starting in September, Smartway will deploy its solutions for Monoprix Tunisia, automatically detecting products nearing their expiry date using the ‘GPS Short Date’ system and discount them by printing a unique label for each product. Thanks to AI, the optimal discount rate is automatically calculated and adjusted based on various criteria, such as the weather, the day of the week, and previous sales of the product, etc.
Launch of Tunisia’s first anti-waste section
All stakeholders will benefit from the solution’s artificial intelligence. The store will reduce its food waste and increase its net income, while staff, guided in handling products nearing their expiry date, will become more reliable and efficient, with intervention time reduced by 75%. Monoprix Tunisia aims to reduce in-store food waste by 50%.
Consumers will also benefit. In a context of rising living costs, Monoprix Tunisia aims to offer a tangible solution by providing discounted products daily. Products nearing their expiry date will be centralised in dedicated areas, a new concept in Tunisia that will help preserve the cost of living while also benefiting the planet.
Smartway, a driving force for change at Monoprix Tunisia
With twelve years of experience in the food retail sector, Smartway is well-positioned to support Monoprix Tunisia’s strong commitment to CSR and to guide it toward a smooth ecological transition, as well as a necessary corporate transformation based on three key pillars.
Firstly, fostering a company culture that emphasizes greater responsibility around food waste, leading to more loyal and committed teams.
Secondly, a technology and data-driven overhaul of processes, providing businesses with real-time visibility into the effectiveness of waste management.
Finally, a significant increase in profit margins, achieved through better product management and a substantial reduction in food waste.
“We are honoured to have been chosen by Monoprix Tunisia to jointly launch another concrete action to combat food waste in Tunisia. We were particularly impressed by the team’s commitment to taking action. From in-store teams to general management, we have observed a unified determination to drastically reduce food waste as quickly as possible. This partnership marks our first deployment in North Africa and Africa as a whole, and we are delighted to contribute to addressing this critical issue.”
Paul-Adrien et Christophe Menez, Co-founders of Smartway
Press contacts
Smartway : Presse & Cie – Laetitia Munoz – 06 20 49 90 39 – lmunoz@presse-cie.com
About Monoprix Tunisia
The SNMVT Group has been operating the MONOPRIX Tunisia brand since 1933.
Listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange, the Group manages a network of 85 supermarkets across Tunisia. Through its subsidiaries, the Group also handles logistics and transport activities, as well as operating an industrial bakery and butchery.
Monoprix Tunisia is a major player in the country’s retail sector. With a rich history, a spirit of innovation, and a commitment to environmental responsibility, the brand continues to raise the standards of customer experience by offering quality products through its own brands and differentiated services, particularly by leveraging digital and data technologies.
About Smartway
Food stores throw away as much as they earn! We can no longer tolerate such waste as more and more consumers are in need. Fortunately, food stores can now address this issue while also improving their profitability.
Committed since 2012, Smartway has introduced Zero-Waste sections and created the first-ever Food Waste Management System to optimise the path of food products nearing their expiration date.
With Smartway, Sustainable is profitable: we support large food retailers transform their business model.
“Working daily to reduce waste together.” smartway.ai
