Whole Foods Market enlists Olio for food waste prevention push across London stores

Local sharing app, Olio, is launching a partnership with Whole Foods Market, supporting the Amazon owned retailer with food waste prevention at its stores in London.

Olio has been brought in after a six-week pilot scheme at its Kensington location.

This saw the former’s team collect over 1,200 kg of edible food from Whole Foods Market – the equivalent of 2,800 meals – with the store feeding 439 local households and avoiding 5,000 kg of CO2 emissions.

Whole Food Market’s London stores have committed to giving Olio’s volunteers any remaining organic produce that is not taken by its local charity partners at closing time.

They then use the Olio platform to help redistribute perishable food - including baked goods, delicious salads, deli counter items, meat, poultry and ready meals - to local households for free.

Tesco has redistributed 88% of surplus food across its UK business, surpassing its own target of 85%, which was set in 2016. This was thanks largely to the grocery giant’s relationships with partners including @FareShareUK and @Olio_ex #foodwaste #tesco https://t.co/J8kiJAv027

— Retail Technology Innovation Hub (@RTIH_RetailTech) May 26, 2023

Tessa Clarke, Co-founder and CEO at Olio, says: “We’re delighted to announce this partnership with Whole Foods Market. Olio users will be very happy to see another retailer taking steps to be even more sustainable and reduce food waste.”

“Plus, users living nearby to any of the Whole Foods Market stores will be delighted that they can now access high quality natural and organic produce through the app for free. This is positive news for those feeling the hardships of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the recent food inflation increases that have caused grocery bills to skyrocket.”

“Whole Foods Market is a fantastic partner for us and a great example of a retailer working hard to save perfectly good produce from going to waste.”

​​Launched in 2015, Olio now has more than seven million users worldwide, and a UK network of over 90,000 volunteers.

Alongside Whole Foods Market, it also has partnerships with retailers and caterers such as Tesco, One Stop, Iceland, Pret a Manger, Compass Group, Restaurants Associates, Chartwells and Eurest.

Shaun Coombes, Executive Leader of Operations at Whole Foods Market, comments: “This partnership builds on our purpose ‘to nourish people and the planet’. It is now more important than ever to pull together to tackle food waste, and we are constantly exploring new ways to ensure we are delivering against this mission.”

“This new partnership with Olio is one more step forward to ensuring any left-over perishable food ends up in the hands of those in the community who need it, rather than in landfill.”