Tesco partners with OLIO to offer free food for local community
Tesco has partnered with food sharing app OLIO to minimise food waste and feed local communities for free.
The innovative scheme, which allows app users to find free food items nearing their expiry date, was trialled at 250 supermarkets during 2020.
After saving 195,000 portions and feeding over 4,000 people, the programme is now being rolled out nationwide.
The partnership builds on Tesco’s existing food surplus donations programme and Community Food Connection scheme with FareShare, which sees 2 million meals donated every month to UK food charities.
More than 8,000 OLIO ‘Food Waste Heroes’ scoop up soon-to-expire food from Tesco stores and take it back to their homes, before uploading the items onto the app.
This food is then re-distributed free of charge to neighbours and community groups.
App users can collect items from an agreed, contact-free collection point.
Tesco Head of Communities, Claire De Silva said: “We are very proud of our food waste work and our Community Food Connection scheme with FareShare helps thousands of charities every week.
“Right now we want to make sure that any surplus food is being managed and people who need it have access to it.
“The results of our initial trial were very positive and have allowed us to further roll out the partnership in our commitment to make sure no good food goes to waste.”
Olio Co-founder, Tessa Clarke said: “Our partnership with Tesco means that more people than ever before will be able to benefit from access to surplus food.
“They’ll also be joining our community of neighbours who not only support one another, but also believe that every little counts in the fight against food waste.”
Download the app or visit the Olio website for more information.