After a successful trial at the new-look Hedge End store in Southampton Marks & Spencer has made the decision to expand its ‘fill-your-own’ scheme.
The grocer will open a refillable section in a second store in Manchester city centre this month, which allows customers to replenish their own food containers from loose products including coffee, pasta and rice.
The news comes after M&S revealed that 25 of the 44 fill-your-own products outsold their packaged alternatives in the Southampton trial.
Top sellers included chocolate crunch cereal, whole porridge oats, basmati rice, milk chocolate raisins and Fiorelli pasta.
The refill scheme was launched in the Hedge End store in December after the retailer’s research found three-quarters of consumers were trying to cut down on the amount of packaging they use.
The research also found that 38% of consumers felt the key problem with fill-your-own schemes was finding retailers that offer them.
Some 18% also said that the need to carry around containers was an issue. Sales of reusable containers have increased by 38% in the Hedge End store, according to M&S.
M&S director of food technology Paul Willgoss said: “Our fill-your-own concept is one area we’re focusing on as part of our action to reduce plastic packaging and support our customers to reuse and recycle.
“We’re keen to better understand refill across the entire store process, from behind-the-scenes operations to working with our customers to encourage behaviour change.”
Marks & Spencer has been trialling new concepts across its retail network over the past year. Its Clapham Junction store features a pizza oven and a fresh herb farm in partnership with German vertical-food company Infarm.
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