🥫 This Supermarket Celebrates A Happy Hour Every Day
And it's not what you think it is
Today’s sustainable snapshot👇🏽
This Supermarket Celebrates A Happy Hour Every Day
Quiz Time!
Startup of the Week: Tastewise
5 Brands That Are Making Bean-Free Coffee
News That Lifted My Spirits This Week
🥫 This Supermarket Celebrates A Happy Hour Every Day
S-market, a Finnish supermarket chain with 900 locations, has implemented an innovative solution to combat food waste through a strategic pricing system.
The initiative involves a two-tier discount approach: first, reducing prices by 30% during the day for items nearing their sell-by date, and then offering a steeper 60% discount during a designated 'happy hour' at 9 PM. This has multiple benefits:
🌍 Reduces environmental impact by preventing food waste and selling products that would otherwise be discarded
💰 Makes quality food more accessible by offering discounted prices to budget-conscious customers
📈 Benefits the business by allowing cost recovery rather than complete loss through charity donations
As of 2019, the initiative has proven successful, with many shoppers eagerly awaiting the final price reductions.
Note: I could not find any latest update on this. If you have ever used it, let us know about the experience in the comments below. Also, have you seen anything like this in your city?
⌛ Time for the quiz of the week
As the world uses more AI, we need more servers and storage systems. To house these servers and storage systems, we need more data centers. And to make these data centers, we need more cement, one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases. To tackle this problem, this tech company has agreed to purchase low-carbon cement from a cleantech startup, Sublime Systems, for its data centers. This low-carbon cement has 90% lower emissions than traditional kiln-made cement.
Answer at the end of the newsletter. No one (including me) can see your response, so feel free to vote. 😉
✨ Startup of the Week: Tastewise
Wasted…When we think of food waste, most of us think about the food that we waste. That perishable food that has gone bad because we forgot to freeze it. Or probably the leftover food from our plates in restaurants. But the problem of food waste is much bigger than that. There’s also unsold food from retailers and supermarkets. Food that had expired before consumers bought it. Or probably new food products that companies launch, but they couldn’t find the right consumers for them. All that also adds up to the problem.
FoodGPT…Tastewise is using AI to solve a subset of this problem. It helps food brands, manufacturers, and restaurants make data-driven decisions to help reduce food waste.
But how does it do that…The company analyzes billions of social media posts, trillions of online recipes, and tons of reviews, grocery, and restaurant data to gather insights. It uses this data to give real-time insights to companies about what consumers really want. This helps these brands formulate accordingly rather than iterating and waiting for the customers to respond. Using AI just makes the entire process faster!
They must be doing something right since brands like Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Campbell’s have partnered up with Tastewise.
Something for everyone…Restaurants can use this solution as well. It would help them figure out the emerging food trends, popular dishes, and ingredient preferences. This allows them to quickly fine-tune their menus, leading to less food waste, more sales, and better profit margins.
☕ 5 Brands That Are Making Bean-Free Coffee
But why do we need bean-free coffee? Well, I thought of writing, but this image does a better job at that:
🇳🇱 Northern Wonder: Made from ingredients such as lupin, chickpea, malted barley, and chicory. Available in a caffeine-free option.
🇺🇸 Voyage: Bean-free coffee made from water, roasted chickpeas, rice hulls, caffeine from green tea, and natural flavors.
🇺🇸 Minus: Instant beanless coffee that is plant-powered, has 86% less carbon emissions & uses 94% less water than traditional coffee.
🇸🇬 Prefer: Bean-free coffee made from rice and soy.
🇺🇸 Atomo: Using ingredients like carob and sunflower seeds to recreate the taste, aroma, and ritual of coffee.
😹 News That Lifted My Spirits This Week
1️⃣ Climate Lawsuit Sets Legal Precedent Despite Dismissal
While a German court dismissed a Peruvian farmer's lawsuit against energy company RWE for climate change damages, the case marks a significant legal milestone. The ruling established that climate science can be used to determine legal liability for emissions-related damages. Legal experts note that this precedent-setting decision confirms that major greenhouse gas emitters can be held accountable for their climate impacts, even across international borders. This development could empower other affected communities to pursue climate justice through legal channels.
2️⃣ A Battery Revolution Helping Our Planet
A significant shift is occurring in electric vehicle technology as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries gain prominence over traditional cobalt and nickel-based alternatives. According to recent IEA data, these environmentally friendlier batteries have grown from less than 10% market share in 2020 to nearly 50% by 2024. This transition is particularly beneficial for rainforest conservation, as it reduces the demand for cobalt and nickel, which are primarily mined in the rainforests of DR Congo and Indonesia. The IEA expects this positive trend to continue, marking a significant step toward more sustainable electric vehicle production.
3️⃣ Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Protects Wilpattu National Park
In a significant environmental victory, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has concluded a 15-year legal battle by blocking plans to upgrade a road through Wilpattu National Park. Despite political pressure, including an election pledge to reopen the road, the court prioritized environmental protection over development. While the proposed road would have shortened travel times, it posed serious threats to wildlife through habitat fragmentation and increased risk of roadkill. This ruling exemplifies how judicial systems can safeguard environmental interests against development pressures that could harm protected areas.
Give that 💚 a little tap if this edition helped you learn something new about sustainability and climate change. Have a good weekend, and see you next week :)