Discount grocer Motatos will be bringing its online-only redistribution supermarket model to the UK this June, offering shoppers reduced prices on excess inventory from a range of wholesalers and distributors.
The Swedish retailer will be one of just a few online surplus stock supermarkets which already exist in the UK, such as Approved Food, and will allow consumers to buy “well-known products that would otherwise risk ending up in landfill”.
Known as Matsmart across Europe, the supermarket was established in Sweden in 2014 before it later expanded into Denmark, Finland and Germany.
A number of UK distributors have already come onboard, including Wholegood and Pricecheck.
Products on offer at the online supermarket will not include fresh, refrigerated or frozen lines. The focus will remain on ambient goods with categories including large pack, beverage, snacks, household, pets and beauty.
The products are often deemed unsuitable for other retailers due to changes in packaging, seasonal changes or short ‘best before’ dates.
Deliveries typically take between one and three working days, with fees based on the number of boxes needed to package the order. Higher value orders offer a number of ‘free delivery’ boxes.
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“UK shoppers are incredibly passionate about sustainability but they need easy and cost-effective ways to make sustainable choices that often come with a hefty price tag,” said UK country manager Christabel Biella.
Biella, who was previously supply chain director at Farmdrop, joined the company earlier this month and describes the retailer as having had “incredible success in other European markets.”
Andrew Jeeves – who also worked at Farmdrop before it fell into administration in December – has also joined as Motatos’ UK buyer.
Jeeves has reached out to a number of potential wholesale and supplier partners, saying that Motatos works with “all types of surplus stock or waste prevention opportunities in your supply chain including products nearing end of life, products with expired packaging and surplus materials.”
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