Loop’s ‘waste-free’ e-commerce platform launches with P&G, Kroger, Walgreens on board

Loop, the “circular shopping platform” developed by recycling company TerraCycle, launched its e-commerce site Wednesday and announced Kroger and Walgreens as its founding retail partners at a press conference in New York City Tuesday. 

The list of vendors that have now developed multi-use packaging designed to be purchased, returned (via UPS), cleaned, refilled and resold has grown to roughly 25 including founding vendors Unilever, Mars, Nestle and PepsiCo and new additions Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble. Products currently listed on the Loop site require a $1 to $5 deposit for the package. Users will send packaging back to Loop to be cleaned via a partnership with UPS. 

Read the full story at www.SupplyChainDive.com.

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Impossible Burgers run short as manufacturer ‘spares no expense’ to double supply

After a massive increase in distribution, restaurant owners are frustrated by stock-outs of the Impossible Burger, a plant-based burger patty made by Impossible Foods, they told Eater. The company announced its limited partnership with Burger King would expand nationwide by the end of the year. 

Impossible Foods CFO David Lee told CNN the company is sparing no expense to increase production. The San Francisco-based manufacturer is hiring a third shift for its existing production line while targeting summer to open a second line that would double supply.

Read the full story at www.SupplyChainDive.com.

IBM’s blockchain for food gains major US grocer

Albertsons has joined the IBM Food Trust blockchain initiative in an effort to test the technology’s ability to track the provenance of romaine lettuce, according to a press release. 

The grocer plans to “pilot the solution to help overcome the obstacles that have existed when a traceback is initiated for a product like romaine and is evaluating ways to use the technology to highlight the provenance of its extensive Own Brands portfolio,” according to the release. The pilot will begin in one distribution center.

Read the full story at www.SupplyChainDive.com.

Chipotle’s supply chain turnaround is in full effect

Chipotle has built a new supply chain team and made several operational changes in order to stage a comeback after the restaurant chain’s food safety issues reappeared in the form of a norovirus outbreak in August, which reportedly sickened 700 people. 

Carlos Londono, the new head of supply chain, was tapped for the role in the spring of 2018. “Our new supply chain team is now fully in place and we set to find efficiencies later in the year by strategically reviewing this sourcing of all of our ingredients,” CEO Brian Niccol said on a recent earnings call.

Read the full story at www.SupplyChainDive.com.

How Bulletproof brews a transparent coffee supply chain

The supply chain has never been so marketable. Same-day delivery, 2-day shipping, recyclable packaging, sustainable sourcing, free trade, free returns — they all endear consumers to one product or retailer over another. But few brands are fundamentally built on the quality of their supply chain.

Enter Bulletproof. 

“We do definitely sell the supply chain and the purity of the products,” Keith Bone, VP of supply chain, quality and regulatory operations at Bulletproof 360, told Supply Chain Dive. “The simplicity of the products that we’re making and selling is a key component of the success we’ve seen to date.”

Read the full story at www.SupplyChainDive.com.

Walmart asks lettuce suppliers to trace products using blockchain

Walmart is turning to blockchain to trace leafy greens, an increasingly common move for any industry that needs to increase visibility from coffee to shipping containers.

“Suppliers will be required to capture digital, end-to-end traceability event information using the IBM Food Trust network,” according to the company. The letter to suppliers describes the software as both user-friendly and low-cost.

Read the full story at www.SupplyChainDive.com.

4 technologies tackling food waste in the supply chain

Food waste statistics are easily misunderstood. Between all the stakeholders, consumers contribute the largest quantity of food waste — 27 million tons per year or 43% of the total, according to Refed, a U.S. nonprofit tasked with reducing food waste.

That stat alone has led to educational campaigns and ugly produce delivery services encouraging consumers to waste less​ and change the way they think about fresh produce.

But a recent analysis by the Boston Consulting Group determined the role of private sector companies is the “most critical” in the fight against food waste. Supply chain infrastructure and efficiency alone could reduce the amount of food wasted by $270 billion (in value) of what the report estimates to be a $1.5 trillion problem by 2050.

Read the full story at www.SupplyChainDive.com.