As part of its financial results, Pick n Pay has announced a number of new changes coming to its Smart Shopper programme.The first major announcement is that Smart Shopper members will soon be able to earn points when they refuel at BP service stations.

This will also extend to purchases made at BP’s forecourt Pick n Pay Express convenience stores, with the full service expected to launch later this year.

“We are always looking to improve the Smart Shopper programme to make it more accessible and valuable,” said John Bradshaw, Pick n Pay’s head of marketing.

“Our customers have told us they want more opportunities to earn points through their everyday spend, so we were excited to extend our partnership with BP to offer them this value.”

Pick n Pay added that its Smart Shoppers will soon also be able to use their points directly at BP forecourt till points.

This means that customers will no longer have to switch their points to cash at the Smart Shopper kiosk or online first.

Other enhancements to the programme include the introduction of the cardless swipe functionality. Customers who have forgotten their Smart Shopper card at home, or choose to go card-less, can now scan the QR code from the Pick n Pay mobile app at the till point.

“Innovation is key to Smart Shopper’s success, and we’re really thrilled with these two new developments,” said Bradshaw.

Food wastage 

Pick n Pay said that it also remains committed to cutting down on food wastage.

Citing WEF figures Andre Nel, GM of Sustainability at Pick n Pay, said that there are various stages in the food value chain in South Africa that generate food waste – with retailers accounting for 20% of this wastage.

“As a food retailer, we are very aware of this issue. By dealing more comprehensively with waste management, we’re able to make a real difference,” he said.

He noted that in 2015 Pick n Pay set various goals to deliver significant shifts in waste reduction by 2020 – including diverting 20% of its food waste from landfill.

Nel said that Pick n Pay has partnered with various organisations to meet this goal, including a longstanding partnership with FoodForward SA which saw the donation of over 1,600 tonnes of surplus edible food for redistribution in its previous financial year.

He added that Pick n Pay has also partnered with the Philippi-based Waste to Food social enterprise project, which makes use of technology to convert excess organic waste into high-grade compost, through a combination of in-vessel composting and vermi-composting.

The compost is then sold at Pick n Pay stores.

“In a short space of time the project has already helped some of our stores divert an additional 10-20% of food waste from landfill,” said Nel.

After an initial trial period where the compost was sold in only a few stores, customers in the Western Cape can expect the first batch of high-grade Waste to Food compost on the shelves of many more stores from mid-November 2018, said Nel.