Wakefern and Trigo trial a self-serve office convenience shop

What if you could buy your fresh produce groceries in your office, at an autonomous convenience store?

At some airports and select locations, this type of technology is available, but now at the Edison, N.J., offices of Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food Corp., this type of pantry has begun with the help of Trigo Vision, according to a news release.

Wakefern is the retailer-owned supermarket cooperative with banners including ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Fairway Market, Gourmet Garage and Dearborn Market. The cooperative has launched an autonomous convenience shop for associates to test at its company offices.

Learn more: About Wakefern

“Our Wakefern associates can shop The Pantry at work for groceries they need at home while simultaneously providing helpful feedback for us on the technology,” Charles McWeeney, Wakefern’s vice president of technology, innovation and strategy, said in the release. “The chance to evolve in the self-service space at retail is important and we hope to learn more about frictionless checkout and how we can potentially provide this cutting-edge and convenient technology to Wakefern member-owned businesses.”

Wakefern members and executives joined representatives from the Israel-based startup Trigo Vision to cut the ribbon on The Pantry, a convenience shop that uses artificial intelligence-based technology to let Wakefern associates shop and check out themselves. The Pantry is open only to associates from Wakefern office buildings and will serve as a learning environment as Wakefern explores Trigo technology for potential future use. The digital store uses Trigo computer vision with a series of cameras and shelf sensors that identify products selected by associates. The technology allows shoppers to move through the store seamlessly and independently. 

Wakefern associates can download and use an app linked to their ShopRite Price Plus account to shop the office Pantry for items such as snacks, salads, pantry staples, groceries and prepared foods.

Wakefern is the first U.S. company to test Trigo's technology, which is already deployed in several locations around Europe and the United Kingdom, according to the release. Frictionless checkout technology is being used in smaller formats to create a store within a store or convenience markets, and Wakefern plans to learn more about the technology as associates shop The Pantry.

“Trigo is proud to work with some of the largest grocery retailers in the world, so teaming up now with Wakefern to deploy and test important technology is a natural step,” Trigo co-founder and CEO Michael Gabay said in the release. “We can help them accelerate their growth within the market and pave the way for frictionless shopping in the future."

Both Gabay and McWeeney attended the Jan. 14-17 National Retail Federation Expo in Manhattan, where they talked about the recent launch of the test store at Wakefern.