October 2022 digital edition

FINLAND
Tech co-op given state funds for digitisation project
The Finnish government has awarded a
€3m (£2.6m) grant to Findynet Cooperative
for a pilot project aiming to build a selfsovereign
identity network.
The initiative seeks to further encourage
Finland’s digitisation while supporting
the emergence of investments in new
digital services. The co-op will use the
money to develop a common and secure
network of verified data to stimulate
electronic transactions.
Such a network would allow individuals
and organisations to share information
such as certificates, electronic receipts,
credit information and proof of
professional qualifications in a way that
protects their privacy while boosting
trust in transactions. Furthermore, digital
wallets developed by different service
providers would be interoperable and
work seamlessly for both organisations
NORWAY
Coop Norway
reduces food waste
through partnership
with Too Good to Go
Retailer Coop Norway says it has
distributed 550,000 bags of surplus food
using the mobile app Too Good to Go.
The co-op began rollout of the initiative
in autumn 2021, enabling customers
to buy food items cheaply that would
otherwise be thrown away. It is part of the
retailer’s plans to reduce food waste by
30% by 2025.
“It has quickly become a very popular
offer among our customers, and it feels
good to know that the goods are being
sold and eaten,” said Håvard Jensen,
director of Chains at Coop Norge.
“Our customers, who are also our coowners,
are concerned with sustainability
and are becoming increasingly aware of
throwing away less food.”
Jensen described how the collaboration
with Too Good To Go is expected to
reduce the co-operative’s food waste by
approximately 6% in 2022. “This is just
one of several important steps on the
way to our vision for zero food waste,”
he added.
Image: GettyImages
and individuals. Users would also be able
to manage their own data and decide what
information they share about themselves
with different parties.
“We are very happy to have received
this government grant, which allows us to
Near the shop’s closing time the leftover
food is packaged by Coop Norway
staff in surprise bags and made available
in the Too Good To Go app. Customers can
then buy the bags for around one third of
the full price.
“The customers appreciate that they
can get a full range of groceries. A bag can
contain baked goods, fruit and vegetables,
fish and meat, dry goods, cold cuts and
dairy products that we are not allowed to
sell at full price due to shelf life, cosmetic
defects or the like,” said store manager
Joakim Nilsen for Extra Iseveien in
Sarpsborg, the Coop Norway grocery store
to have sold the most bags through Too
Good To Go.
All 804 Coop Norway stores have a
profile on the Too Good To Go app.
A social enterprise, Too Good to Go
was founded in Denmark at the end of
2015 by a group of friends seeking to
reduce food waste. Since then a number
of co-operative retailers have joined the
initiative, including the Southern Cooperative,
the Midcounties Co-operative,
the Central England Co-operative and the
Heart of England Co-operative in the UK,
Coop Netherlands, the Dill Pickle Food
Co-op in Chicago and Coop Denmark.
“Together with our app users, the Coop
[Norway] stores make a big effort to ensure
continue our long-term work with public
and private sector actors and build a trust
network covering all of society,” said
Markus Hautala, chair of Findynet and
head of digital identity at Tietoevry.
Findynet is a co-operative of nine
public and private sector organisations:
Kela, Posti, Tietoevry, OP group, Nixu,
Nordea, Vastuu Group, Finanssiala
and Technology Industry. Its customers
are public and private sector service
providers that utilise the network and
provide digital wallet services to end
customers.
The self-governing identity network
would also be compatible with the EU’s
eIDAS Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014,
which regulates cross-border electronic
identification and electronic trust
services. eIDAS is being amended to
regulate European wallet applications.
p Customers can buy the bags for around one
third of the full price (Image: Coop Norway)
that the food they have left at the end of
the day is eaten and does not end up as
waste”, said Johan Ingemarsson, general
manager of Too Good To Go.
“The environmental benefit of the
550,000 bags of surplus food saved so
far corresponds to 1,375 tonnes of CO2
equivalents. With this, we have saved the
world from emissions equivalent to flying
271 times around the world.
16 | OCTOBER 2022