Peter Beckius steps up as sole CEO at Matsmart-Motatos

Peter Beckius, ex GANT and H&M, who since close to two years has shared the CEO role at Matsmart-Motatos with founder Karl Andersson now assumes full responsibility for the group. Karl Andersson will continue working operatively focusing on supporting the Management Team, as he also moves on to take a seat in the Board of Directors.

Matsmart-Motatos, the Swedish-based D2C e-commerce business tackling global food waste, sells food and consumer products at low prices to price sensitive and sustainably conscious customers online. Today, the company announces Peter Beckius stepping up as sole CEO of the business.

Karl Andersson’s and Peter Beckius' time together as Co-CEOs has meant opening up two new markets, the UK and Austria, while doubling the German business. Under their leadership, Matsmart-Motatos has also deployed its largest investment to date, building a new warehouse and automating the Nordic warehouse operations. The latter leading to the Swedish home market showing positive bottom line figures since the first quarter 2023. 

Peter Beckius comments: Karl and I share many of the same values and our joint leadership has served our business well during two extremely intense years. It makes me very proud to say that we are now moving steadily towards profitability on group level. Ultimately, this means we have built a scalable platform for the food industry to tackle the 500 billion dollar challenge associated with production losses and waste, costing our planet a significant share of global emissions. The route we’re on is worth getting up in the morning for.

Karl Andersson adds: our business comes from real time grass root observations of our food system’s inefficiencies. And I will say our greatest accomplishment since we pulled together the initial insights to a business plan has been convincing people to join us on our mission. Amazing people have tirelessly built our business through our nine years of operations. We couldn’t have a better team. One of the great personalities entering our company is Peter. I feel our business is in safe hands as I am leaving the CEO position to him going forward.     

As Matsmart-Motatos continues to grow, Karl Andersson will dedicate more of his time to advocacy around the vital role of commercial solutions in the food systems reform with key public and investor stakeholders. 

Karl Andersson continues: the relevance and need for sustainable solutions that the broader consumer groups can actually afford has never been greater. And the sense of urgency around the global goals is materializing quickly as public policy follows suit. Take for example the suggested amendment of the EU’s Waste Framework Directive. We can be a part of the solution for the global food and FMCG industries and we are also proof to consumers and politicians alike that sustainable offers don’t always have to come with a premium price. 

Meanwhile going forward, the organization under Peter Beckius has a clear path to success. 

Peter Beckius explains: we are turning our focus towards our customers, asking them how we can help simplify their life. Good prices are essential to people in times of high inflation, and we want to develop our offer to give our customers the opportunity to shift an even bigger share of their monthly shop to sustainable bargains with us. Another one of our near time milestones to support group profitability is repeating the transition to warehouse automation for our German and Austrian markets. This leap will give us twice the efficiency - or half the costs in a market that is projected to become our largest within the next 18 months.  

Matsmart-Motatos’ company mission is about making more people discover saved food. In 2022 the e-commerce recirculated over 25 000 tonnes of food and consumer products, worth over 19 000 tonnes of CO2e.  

Peter Beckius concludes: The next two years will be about concentrating our efforts on improving the business rather than expanding aggressively. That being said, we will always be ready for new exciting opportunities when they arise. And we will continue to question the status quo in the industry. One thing we will never let go of is the "everything is possible" attitude that Karl has carved into the foundation of our business.

Hanna Thofelt Lindström
Head of Communications and Impact
+46763161207
hanna.thofelt.lindstrom@motatos.com

About Motatos
Matsmart-Motatos was set up in Sweden in 2014, in response to the global issue of food loss and waste. Approximately one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Matsmart-Motatos allows consumers to purchase food, grocery, and general household items which would otherwise risk being thrown away by FMCG producers. Factors such as overproduction, incorrect packaging, seasonal trends, and short expiry dates all contribute to a surplus of items which cannot be sold in time. Matsmart-Motatos saves these products, selling them at low-cost to consumers online, and delivering directly to customers’ doorsteps. The Matsmart-Motatos assortment range is wide and varied, ranging from popular pantry items such as breads and jams, to beauty and health products, pet foods, and games and toys. Since founding, Matsmart-Motatos has raised around 120 MEUR in capital and saved over 60,000 tonnes of food and consumer products.

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