Waitrose is understood to be the latest grocer to have left The Refill Coalition.
While it is unknown as to when the upmarket retailer officially left, a Waitrose spokesperson told The Grocer that it remains in “close contact” with The Refill Coalition and it will be looking into other ways that it can have a “big impact on reducing packaging.”
Waitrose was one of the original supermarket members in 2020, alongside Morrisons, M&S and Ocado.
However, the only remaining supermarkets now include Ocado and Aldi, which launched a new pilot in its Solihull store last week.
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Other partners include supply chain company Chep, GoUnpackaged and Innovate UK.
The solution looks to re-imagine how key food staples such as pasta and grains, and household items such as home and personal care products are supplied – allowing customers to bring their own reusable containers to buy loose products.
Prior to its parnership with The Refill Coalition, Waitrose was the first UK supermarket to offer its customers in-store refill stations in 2017 when it launched the Unpacked initiative at its Oxford store.
It later rolled this out to its Cheltenham, Abingdon and Wallingford stores in 2019.
Speaking of Waitrose, a spokesperson for The Refill Coalition said: “Waitrose have been very engaged partners in the development of the system so far and we are sad that they are unable to be part of the initial in-store launch.
“The success of the in-store launch this week, and the progress towards the online launch in early 2024, shows the commitment of Coalition partners to drive change within industry. We are in discussions with, and would welcome, other retailers that want to join and help drive a scalable solution for refills”.
