Reducing Food Waste by 10% by Increasing Store Associate Engagement

At our September 2025 meeting of the food waste group, we learnt how retailers in the working group are combining technology (algorithms, devices), motivation (competitions, recognition), and culture (training, leadership, donations) to win the “hearts and minds.” of store leaders and associates.

This matters because it not only reduces costs and environmental impact of food waste but it also boosts associate pride, morale, and retention.

From the meeting, we heard ten ways that retailers are increasing store leaders and associate engagement to reduce food waste and why it matters:

#1: Linking Engagement to Waste Reduction

Research showed that stores with the least engaged staff had ran at nearly twice the food waste rate (3.3% Vs 1.6%) and if the stores in the lowest quartile could increase their engagement, food waste could be reduced by 10%. Click here for this research report.

Why it matters: It demonstrates that investing in staff morale and involvement has a measurable effect on waste outcomes and profitability.

#2: Donation and Redistribution Programs

Many of the retailers in the group encourage associates to divert unsold food to donation partners or low-price resale channels.

Why it matters: Store associates feel pride and morale improves when food is donated rather than trashed, while communities benefit from reduced food insecurity.

#3: Healthy Competition Between Stores

Some retailers track and compare donation performance between stores, creating friendly competition.

Why it matters: This adds a motivational and value-based incentive for store associates to push harder on food waste reduction.

#4: Real-Time Feedback on Impact

One of the retailers is now using apps on mobile devices that show staff how many kilos of food and how much money they just saved after markdowns.

Why it matters: This creates immediate feedback and turns routine markdown tasks into a meaningful action, reinforcing positive behaviour.

#5: Algorithms and Dynamic Pricing Tools

Most retailers are now using automated markdown algorithms to simplify decisions and reduce repeated tasks.

Why it matters: Dynamic markdowns reduces workload for associates, builds trust in systems, and helps staff see that their effort leads to measurable sell-through improvements.

#6: Training and Micro-Learning

A couple of retailers had introduced short training modules on food waste, one of them were linking food waste to an elephants’ weight for a more impactful visualisation of the problem.

Why it matters: These training approaches helps engage both the “head” (financial/environmental costs) and the “heart” (visual, emotional impact) of staff, making the issue tangible.

#7: Connecting Staff with Beneficiaries

One retailer highlighted that when colleagues meet local charity partners collecting food, they feel personally connected to the outcome.

Why it matters: This personal connection builds empathy and pride, making food waste prevention more than just a compliance task.

#8: Leadership Support and KPIs

Several retailers had successfully embedded food waste reduction into corporate KPIs and reinforced it from the CEO down.

Why it matters: This shows employees the company takes waste seriously, creating accountability and aligning associate actions with corporate values.

#9: Crowdsourcing Ideas from Frontline Workers

One retailer is launching a programme asking frontline associates to share their own waste-reduction ideas, then recognising and scaling the best ones.

Why it matters: This helps empowers store associates, demonstrating how the business values their expertise, and is supportive of peer-driven innovation across stores.

#10: Making Waste Reduction Visible to Customers and Staff

Stores display boards showing how many meals or donations associates’ efforts created.

Why it matters: The public recognition motivates staff, strengthens community reputation, and reinforces that small daily actions add up.

The group meet annually to swap notes on the latest thinking on this aspect of all food waste reduction programmes, and the ongoing challenge to engage store associates in the context of stores having multiple other priorities, and for many retailers, very high staff turnover, which is often above 60% for the retailers in the working group.

Click to learn more about the food waste working group and upcoming meetings.