Tesco tackles food waste problem with Olio tie up
Tesco is teaming up with food sharing app and social enterprise Olio in a drive to reduce food waste in stores across the UK.
This follows a six month trial, held earlier this year, at 250 of the retailer’s stores which had the most food surplus and which saw a high rate of pick up.
It resulted in: Nearly 195,000 portions of food being saved; Nearly 4,200 people being fed; The equivalent of 93,000 meals being saved.
Those downloading the app will be able to see food items nearing their expiry date available to be collected in their area for free. The scheme works with the help of Olio’s 8,000+ local volunteers who visit Tesco stores to collect surplus food nearing its sell by date.
The food is taken back to their homes, with the items then uploaded onto the Olio app, ready to be re-distributed free to those living nearby as well as to community groups. App users can then pick items up, from an agreed collection point and, because of social distancing measures currently in place, these can be left in a front garden or wall outside someone’s house.
Tesco Head of Communities, Claire De Silva says: “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.”
