Interim Director of Retail Food Waste and Fresh Economics

Follow the product through its useful life

Establish where losses arise across ordering, receipt, storage, display, markdown and disposal. Validate the reliability of waste and stock records. Identify whether commercial incentives encourage excessive buying or whether conservative replenishment avoids waste at the cost of persistent gaps. Examine differences by category and store rather than imposing one solution across all perishables.

Implementation responsibilities

Lead agreed changes to ordering parameters, allocation, markdown timing and operating routines. Work with category teams on assortment complexity and supplier delivery patterns. Ensure store managers have usable information and the authority to act within defined limits. Where donation or recovery routes are considered, involve qualified specialists to confirm suitable handling and accountability.

Manage the programme's approved resources and coordinate commercial, supply-chain and store leaders. The director may change operating practices within delegation but cannot relax product-safety standards or make unauthorised contractual commitments. Material policy decisions require the accountable executive's approval.

Avoid false improvements in the waste measure

Train managers to interpret the balance between waste, availability and customer quality. Avoid rewarding a reduction in recorded waste if it results from weaker reporting or inappropriate sales. Use physical checks and customer evidence alongside system data. Recognise that seasonal and promotional changes may require different operating responses.

Evidence that fresh-category judgement is sound

Candidates should have led fresh-food retail operations or commercial programmes with direct accountability for results. They need experience working across buying, logistics and stores, including decisions where quality considerations constrained a financial opportunity.

The permanent team should inherit category-specific ownership, reliable measures and practical routines. Success means lower avoidable loss, dependable availability and fewer quality failures. The improvement must survive ordinary trading pressure and should be attributable to better decisions throughout the chain rather than a temporary reduction in stock or promotional activity.