Swedish online surplus grocer Motatos has announced it is exiting the UK with immediate effect.
The retailer sold ambient food and fmcg that might have otherwise gone to waste because of changes to packaging specification or short remaining shelf life.
Owner Matsmart-Motatos said today it had decided to consolidate the business to the Nordic regions, Germany and Austria.
Motatos launched in the UK in the summer of last year selling lines from big brands such as Heinz, Cadbury, Kellogg’s, Walkers and Typhoo, offering shoppers savings of up to 60% compared with other supermarkets.
For its arrival, the online redisitribution supermarket appointed Christabel Biella as UK country manager. Biella joined from Farmdrop – which ceased trading in 2021 after collapsing into administration – where she was supply chain director. Motatos UK buyer Andrew Jeeves also joined the business from Farmdrop.
It established partnerships with several UK distributors, including Wholegood and Pricecheck, and in September last year secured €38m in a fundraising round to “grow high potential markets”, namely the UK and Germany.
The company said its UK operation had recirculated over 1,000 tonnes of food and consumer products and had served more than 65,000 customers in the UK.
“It was not an easy decision to exit the UK market, especially in light of the positive reception we’ve had from customers and partners,” said Motatos CEO Peter Beckius. “As the market situation looks now however, it is extremely difficult to finance greenfield investments. Therefore, we have decided to put all our focus on developing our DACH and Nordic markets, where we have a longer presence.”
“We still have a lot of untapped potential in those regions and financial profitability within reach,” he added.
All outstanding orders to UK customers will be delivered. The stock remaining in Motatos’ warehouse has been acquired by third-party retailer Discount Dragon - which also specialises in surplus and short-dated stock - for an undisclosed sum. Discount Dragon is offering any former Motatos customer £10 off their first order.
The company told customers: “Although we believe in never saying never, we don’t have any immediate plans to return to the UK as of now.”
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