Miwa equips German drugstore chain with digital refill shopping modules for loose food products

12 Mar 2024 --- Czech start-up Miwa Technologies is supplying Dm-drogerie markt shops in Germany with modules that minimize packaging waste when selling various loose food products of the chain’s private label “dmBio,” including pasta, rice, muesli, flakes and nuts. 

The Miwa modules contain 12 different bio-quality food products, which customers can pour and digitally weigh via an automatic dispenser into reusable backup containers. For Dm, these will be the first products sold by weight. 

Miwa refill stations are currently being opened in 15 Dm shops in the German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, where the pilot operation will occur. 

“The largest German drugstore measured by turnover, Dm-drogerie markt, is our second major client in Germany to whom we supply our packaging minimization solution after the recent start of cooperation with Rewe. As Dm customers value quality food and sustainability, they are an ideal target group for us. Cooperation with Dm is at the same time the largest pilot project we have implemented so far,” says Miwa’s executive director Mirek Lizec. 

One capsule saves almost 2,000 pieces of disposable packaging during its life cycle.“One of our goals at Dm-drogerie markt is to avoid packaging. After all, the best packaging material is one that is never created and does not need to be recycled. And the easiest way to reduce the amount of packaging waste is to offer our products unpackaged,” says Kerstin Erbe, Dm’s managing director responsible for Product Management and Sustainability. 

“Introducing these new DmBio shopping modules is, therefore, the next logical step that will bring us experience in this area. At the same time, we fulfill the wishes of our clients and enable them to have a personalized shopping experience.” 

Economic and ecological advantages
As part of the launch of this new service, Dm prepared a marketing campaign with information for customers in the regions. The campaign includes postcards, a newsletter and information in the customer magazine, on the website or on Instagram.

Miwa’s solution, available in several European retail chains, is based primarily on reusable, standardized capsules — circulating between shops, the service center and manufacturers — and on the maximum use of smart data. 

One capsule saves almost 2,000 pieces of disposable packaging during its life cycle, highlights the drugstore chain. Also important for retailers is that the mentioned system does not disturb existing logistic-operational processes — it offers an economic and ecological advantage, says Dm. 

Customers can take reusable back-up containers upon arrival or bring their own container, which first gets weighted on the module, ensuring they only pay for the weight of the selected product. 

Shoppers then select the desired product on the integrated display and gently push the container onto the dispenser. The container starts to fill, and the display shows the current weight and price of the product in the container. 

Finally, the module prints a price tag that the customers stick to the container and take to the checkout. The reusable backup containers can then be returned at Dm shops or reused on the next purchase.

By Natalie Schwertheim