Gander and Solum Partner to Combat Food Waste via ESL Tech
Gander and Solum have announced a strategic partnership to automate markdown pricing using electronic shelf labels. This collaboration helps retailers optimize sell-through of short-dated products and significantly reduce in-store food waste.
Content: ## Automated Markdowns Drive Retail Sustainability
South Korea-based electronic shelf label (ESL) tech leader Solum has officially partnered with Gander in a strategic move to help retailers optimize in-store pricing and reduce food waste. By integrating Gander’s expiry-based pricing intelligence with Solum’s ESL infrastructure and SaaS platform, the duo aims to ensure the right price is applied at the right time, directly at the shelf edge.
The partnership focuses on eliminating the manual burden of markdowns. By connecting real-time expiry data with automated shelf updates, retailers can reduce manual interventions, allowing store staff to focus on higher-value tasks while maintaining consistent pricing across large store networks.
Seamless Integration for Store Efficiency Gander’s technology identifies short-dated products and applies optimized, rule-based markdowns based on specific retailer parameters. Key benefits of this integration include:
Real-Time Execution: Expiry-led pricing decisions are automatically synchronized with Solum’s Newton ESL platform.
Operational Simplicity: Removes the complexity of manual price tagging for reduced-to-clear items.
Data Visibility: Provides retailers with clear insights into waste performance, compliance, and sell-through rates.
Demand Activation: Promotes reduced items across multiple consumer-facing channels to accelerate sales.
A Step Forward for Green Retailing The official launch of the partnership is set for the Retail Technology Show 2026 in London. With Solum already serving major UK clients such as Waitrose, Spar International, and various Co-op networks, the collaboration marks a significant expansion of sustainability-driven tech in the grocery sector.
"Through our partnership with Solum, grocery retailers can turn every markdown decision into instant, accurate shelf-edge execution," says Stacey Williams, Business Development Director at Gander. "We are helping retailers improve sell-through and protect margins without adding operational complexity."
Mark Duckworth, Country Manager for UK & Ireland at Solum, added that the collaboration represents an "important step forward" in delivering solutions that reflect the evolving sustainability needs of the modern market.
