Tesco is introducing robots to the shop floors of 600 Express stores across the UK, following in the footsteps of Morrisons and Asda. The supermarket has partnered with cleaning technology company ICE (Industrial Cleaning Equipment) to roll out the autonomous machines.
Robots to Handle Cleaning Tasks
The robots will take over cleaning duties, allowing shop floor staff to spend more time helping customers and managing stock. The high-tech devices use data tracking and reporting systems to monitor performance and ensure cleaning tasks are completed efficiently.
Partnership with ICE
ICE Chief Executive Mark Bresnihan commented: “As long-standing pioneers in cleaning technologies, ICE is delighted to partner with Tesco on this project. We are providing not just our industry-leading autonomous machines, but also the comprehensive training and service support required to make this a success. Together, we are showing how data-driven automation can work hand-in-hand with retail teams to improve cleaning standards.”
Broader Sustainability Efforts
Separately, Tesco is calling for collaboration to help farmers adopt low carbon fertilisers at scale to improve UK food security and create stability for British farmers. UK CEO Ashwin Prasad will discuss how innovations such as UK-produced low carbon fertilisers could reduce emissions and help farmers weather supply chain shocks, while highlighting barriers to adoption.
Prasad said: “We want to support our British farmers in rolling out innovation – it can help increase economic growth, build resilience and improve efficiencies on farm. But too often promising technologies struggle to move from trial to everyday use on farms. Low carbon fertilisers are a clear example. They have real potential to reduce environmental impact, strengthen the resilience of UK food production, and keep a reliable supply of British products on our shelves, but scaling them will require greater availability, clarity on price and the confidence that farmers can plan their use over the long term.”
Tesco is also running the Tesco Agri-tech Challenge to find innovations that will help shield farmers from future supply shocks.
