The Abbey Close shop is the retailer’s third store in Oxfordshire to participate in the Unpacked trial
Image: The refillable zone at the store features a dispenser for dried products as well as detergent and washing liquid refillables. Photo: courtesy of Waitrose & Partners.
UK-based supermarket chain Waitrose & Partners has launched an Unpacked refillables trial at its revamped store in Abingdon, UK.
The Abbey Close shop, which is the retailer’s third store in Oxfordshire to launch the Unpacked trial.
Additionally, the refurbished store features a dedicated refillable zone, a new Waite and Rose café with additional seating, a dry-aged beef cabinet, an updated bakery area, updated self-serve checkouts, updated beer, wine and spirits department.
The refillable zone features a dispenser for dried products
Waitrose & Partners said that the store’s refillable zone features a dispenser for dried products, frozen ‘pick and mix’, coffee, wine and beer refills, as well as detergent and washing liquid refillables.
The dedicated refillable zone allows customers to choose from a selection of packaging-free products.
Intended to save unnecessary plastic waste, the trial is designed to help assess how customers might be prepared to adapt their shopping habits for packaging-free products.
Waitrose & Partners Abingdon branch manager Chris Andrews said: “Our Oxfordshire customers will have a big say in how we take the Unpacked concept forward and how our customers across the UK might shop in the future.
“It’s still early days in Wallingford, but Botley Road has been a huge success so we’re looking forward to seeing how shoppers in Abingdon now respond.”
Following the initial launch of the Unpacked initiative at Oxford Botley Road shop in June 2019, Waitrose received a positive response with over 90% of consumers expressing their willingness to continue shop Unpacked.
As a result, the supermarket chain has introduced the concept at stores in Cheltenham and Wallingford during the last two months.
The trials are part of the Waitrose & Partners’ commitment to eliminate 20% of plastic and all non-recyclable plastic from its own brand by the end of 2021. It also aims to make its packaging reusable, recyclable or home compostable by 2023.