Reducing food waste in France is a commercial opportunity. Discover how NOUS anti-gaspi turns surplus into shopper savings and what grocery retailers and suppliers can learn from its approach to loyalty, private label and supplier partnerships.
Food waste remains a challenge
Food waste is a particularly difficult challenge in Europe because it is large in scale, spread across the whole value chain and increasingly subject to regulatory targets. For grocery retailers, the issue combines environmental, commercial and consumer-behaviour challenges.
France generated 10 million tonnes of food waste in 2024, of this includes 3.9 million tonnes of edible food, equivalent to 56 kg per person according to SDES. French legislation targets a 50% reduction versus 2015 levels, with the target applying by 2025 to food retail and collective catering and by 2030 to consumption, production, processing and commercial catering.
France’s food waste policies and framework
The 2016 Garot Law was introduced in to combat food waste by preventing retailers from destroying edible unsold food and encouraging its redistribution to people in need. The law affected retailers with a sales area exceeding 400 m² to offer a formal donation agreement to one or more approved food-aid charities. Subsequently, the government has evolved this legislation to include two new adaptations including:
The 2018 EGAlim Law and 2019 implementing ordinance: to include collective catering operators preparing more than 3,000 meals per day and food manufacturers with annual turnover exceeding €50 million.
2020 AGEC Law (Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law): which includes food wholesalers with annual turnover exceeding €50 million.
About NOUS anti gaspi
NOUS Anti-Gaspi is a French grocery retailer specialising in rescuing food that would otherwise go unsold or be wasted, and reselling it to consumers at reduced prices. Its proposition is built around two objectives: helping food producers and manufacturers recover value from surplus products, and giving consumers access to good-quality food at more affordable prices.
NOUS Anti-Gaspi operates a circular food retail model by sourcing surplus, imperfect or unsold products from farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers and other suppliers that would otherwise risk going to waste. Reasons such as older packaging through commercial changes, surplus stock, packaging imperfections or short shelf life.
NOUS anti-gaspi by numbers
34 stores as of November 2026
Estimated €50 million turnover in 2025
Estimated 1,200 suppliers
Expansion plans: 70 stores by 2029
Creating an effective loyalty scheme
NOUS anti-gaspi operates a loyalty scheme called ‘AVEC NOUS !’, designed to reward customers for shopping at its anti-food waste grocery stores. Shoppers earn one point for every €1 spent, with opportunities to earn double points on NOUS private label products on Tuesdays and triple points on fruit, vegetables and bulk products on Thursdays. Once shoppers accumulate 500 points, these are converted into a €5 reward, which can be redeemed against future purchases.
Building a private label range dedicated to reducing food waste
NOUS anti-gaspi has developed its own private-label range, branded NOUS anti-gaspi, to tackle food waste further up the supply chain, rather than simply rescuing products that have already become surplus. The range was launched in 2020 and is developed in partnership with food manufacturers and producers. Rather than operating its own factories, NOUS works with existing manufacturers to create products using ingredients, raw materials and production outputs that might otherwise be wasted.
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Five key learnings from NOUS anti-gaspi
1. Make affordability part of the sustainability proposition
Shoppers should not have to pay a premium to shop more sustainably. Offering rescued and surplus products at attractive discounts makes waste reduction accessible to a broader customer base and creates a stronger commercial incentive to purchase.
2. An effective loyalty programme
The scheme aims to encourage repeat visits, increase customer loyalty and promote purchases of selected products, while reinforcing NOUS’s wider mission to reduce food waste by making surplus and rescued food more attractive and affordable to consumers.
3. Repurposing surplus resources to create a new private label range
Rather than dealing with waste only when products reach stores, manufacturers and retailers should identify surplus ingredients, production offcuts, overproduction and packaging issues at source. This creates opportunities to prevent waste across the value chain.
4. Build more flexible supplier partnerships
Develop relationships based on transparency, trust and flexibility rather than relying exclusively on fixed volumes and rigid specifications. NOUS demonstrates how working closely with suppliers can create additional outlets for unpredictable surplus.
5. Tackle food waste through collective action
NOUS anti-gaspi highlights the need for collaboration between farmers, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, charities and consumers. Waste arises throughout the value chain, from agricultural surpluses and manufacturing inefficiencies to packaging defects, rigid retail specifications, overstocking and household habits. Reducing it requires coordinated action across these stages, rather than isolated initiatives by individual businesses.
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