Iceland partners with home and garden chain 'The Range' and is set to roll out shop-in-shop concessions in its stores.

Iceland and The Range: 'a strategic alliance'

Iceland has entered a strategic partnership with value-focused home and garden chain The Range and is set to launch shop-in-shop Iceland concessions in its stores.

The frozen food specialist will initially open concessions in three of The Range’s stores across Liverpool and the Midlands. The stores will stock Iceland's complete food range. If successful, Iceland concessions will be rolled out to The Range’s full estate, consisting of 158 stores.

The move will help to drive sales for Iceland and attract new shoppers through store presence in new locations.

The contrasting ranges of the two businesses will work to complement each other, providing a one-stop-shop for customers, with a total of 80,000 different products available under one roof.

Value at the heart

The two businesses, Iceland and The Range, have a strong value focus. Iceland claims that this is what makes the two chains ‘natural partners’.

Iceland Founder & Executive Chairman, Sir Malcolm Walker commented on the partnership, "The ethos of The Range - 'to bring our customers great quality products at the most competitive prices' - is absolutely identical to Iceland's, so I feel that we make natural partners in this new alliance".

The partnership follows the retailers recently announced positive sales growth, driven by the expansion of its Food Warehouse banner.

Want to know more?

Discover more about latest Iceland developments on the retailer homepage here.

Iceland has become the first major UK supermarket to sell plastic-free, biodegradable chewing gum and Waitrose is set to launch compostable coffee pods.

Iceland to launch plastic free chewing gum

Iceland has become the first UK supermarket retailer to launch plastic-free chewing gum, claiming that 85% of UK shoppers don’t realise that ordinary chewing gum contains plastic.

The launch aligns with Iceland's strategy to eliminate plastic from its private label packaging by 2023.

Waitrose set to introduce compostable coffee pods

Waitrose is set to become the first major retailer to introduce compostable coffee pods to its private label range.

The pods are set to launch in December 2018, and the four new Waitrose 1 capsules will be compatible with Nespresso machines.

The move is the latest development in its commitment to ensuring 100% of its private label packaging will be widely recyclable, reusable or home compostable by 2025.

Retailers are developing different ways to make coffee pods more environmentally friendly, one example of this is M&S's plans to use aluminium rather than plastic.

The announcement comes three months on from the retailer announcing its commitment to removing its disposable coffee cups from its stores by Autumn 2018.

Coffee buyer for Waitrose, Polly Astbury commented on the move, “We’re committed to finding environmentally-friendly packaging alternatives and are excited by this next step.”

Want to know more?

RA subscribers can read and download insight on UK action on plastic here.

Iceland has launched its Innovation Lab accelerator programme as it looks to partner with and invest in start-ups.

Helping small businesses to grow

Frozen food specialist Iceland has launched its Innovation Lab accelerator programme, designed to help start-up businesses grow.

The retailer has partnered with L Marks, the company that set up John Lewis’ health and wellbeing JLAB accelerator scheme, to run the programme.

Start-ups involved in the nine-week development scheme will receive validation of business ideas from the retailer, access to its expansive network and advice from its leadership team.

Focus on innovation: areas of interest for Iceland

The accelerator programme will also deliver new and exciting ideas to benefit Iceland's business.

The retailer has stated its areas of interest to be:

• Seamless customer experience: the retailer is open to finding new ways to help leverage existing customer data and drive personalisation
• Optimised supply chain: looking to improve ordering and logistics processes within its supply chain
• In-store processes: looking for new ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of internal communications
• Sustainability: Iceland is open to innovative solutions that will help it to deliver its ambitious commitments on sustainability

There is also a wildcard category which offers start-ups the chance to suggest new, unconsidered forms of innovation suitable for Iceland’s business.

Want to know more?

Read more on Iceland’s latest financial results and changing priorities here