Electrolux is expanding and commercializing its partnership with startup Karma – who rescue unsold food from being wasted – by offering new smart Karma refrigerators to up to 45 Swedish grocery stores, making it even easier for consumers in Sweden to buy food that would otherwise be thrown away.
Electrolux and Karma began their partnership last year, and have been piloting a prototype refrigerator in six Swedish supermarkets to store unsold food for consumers to buy at the end of a working day for a lower price via the Karma app. Following the success of the pilot, in which supermarkets saw an average uplift in sales of 30% of surplus food that would otherwise be wasted, an upgraded refrigerator is being launched in Sweden today, with the ambition to install them in 45 stores across Sweden by the end of this year.
Grocery store owners have been exclusively invited to an event at Electrolux headquarters in Stockholm today to hear from Karma about the benefits of the new upgraded refrigerator, now equipped with a new integrated system from Qlocx that enables consumers to unlock the fridge straight from the Karma app on their phones, freeing up store staff’s valuable time.
Meanwhile, Electrolux and Karma have begun a new pilot testing public reaction to a refrigerator installed at Stockholm’s central underground station ‘T-Centralen’. If successful, the ambition is to install more in public spaces across Sweden to make it even easier for consumers to pick up food on their way home.
Electrolux digital innovation director Tove Chevalley said: “Our goal is to make sustainable eating a preferred choice by 2030, and expanding our partnership with Karma is a positive step forward in making this happen. Our pilot was a great success and now we’re ready to roll out upgraded smart refrigerators to more supermarkets in Sweden – and hopefully soon to public spaces – helping to reduce the amount of unsold food going to waste. We are so happy to be working with Karma to encourage better and more sustainable living.”
Hjalmar Ståhlberg Nordegren, Karma’s CEO and co-founder shares, “At Karma, we’re passionate about galvanizing the first zero food waste generation and with Electrolux as a partner we’re able to reach more people and rescue more food faster than ever. As a hardware solution that lowers the staff impact within restaurants and grocery stores and at automated pickup points, the smart Karma fridge is creating a smoother process for all involved. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to partner with Electrolux on our food saving mission to protect the planet.”
About Karma
Karma is a Swedish startup that connects surplus food from restaurants, cafes and grocery stores to consumers for a lower price. In February 2018, Karma launched in London and one year later, setup a third market in Paris. To date, Karma has reached 150 Swedish cities, working with 5,400 retailers, attracting 760,000 app users and rescuing 550 tons of food. For more info about Karma, please visit: www.karma.life.
