An ongoing trial by supermarket chain Asda has received the support of several big name brands including Coca-Cola, Mars and Nestlé who have joined the trial in at their flagship store in Leeds. The trial, launched at the end of 2020, is looking to understand how best to encourage refill participation amongst as many customers as possible.
More than 50 new brands have joined the trial at the chain's store in Leeds including Yorkshire Tea, Napolina, Tilda and Kellogg's with products designed to help customers to reduce, reuse or recycle plastic packaging. An example of the trial coming to life is the inclusion of pre-filled one-litre glass bottles of Coca-Cola Original and Zero Sugar, which can be returned to the store when empty and deposited into a reverse vending machine in return for 20p off your shopping, while Coca-Cola cleans and reuses each bottle.
"We have always said that working in partnership with other like-minded businesses will be vital if we are to persuade people to shop more sustainably," explained Asda director of commercial sustainability Susan Thomas.
"We are very pleased to secure the backing of some of the UK's most recognisable consumer brands, which means we can offer customers even more of their favourite products in refillable format."
The refill zone has already proved to be extremely popular with customers since opening in October 2020, with several products outstripping packaged sales and many shoppers travelling from outside the local area to shop sustainably. Following the addition of the 50 new lines, customers will now have a choice of 76 different products in refillable format at the store.
This follows last month's news from the supermarket chain of a major expansion of the refill trial which include a four more stores being included in the trial and a number of new supplier partnerships. Amongst these four new locations will be Asda's biggest refill store to date, opening in York this November - a site that will feature 18 bays of dispensers and over 70 branded and own-label products in refillable format.
Find out all the latest news from Asda over on its corporate website here.