What is Olio, how does it work, and is it any good?
With food prices still eye-wateringly high, many people struggle to be able to put food on the table, as food costs have put such a strain on family finances .
Luckily, there is some help out there, which can not only save a family money on food but also make a positive impact on reducing food waste.
I have spoken about Too Good To Go many times before, which is a way to buy excess/ unsold food at a reduced cost from restaurants, supermarkets, coffee shops and local shops by purchasing a reduced-price 'magic bag'. But there's another food waste reduction app called Olio, which is a local sharing app which is totally free to use and offers those people in need the opportunity to obtain food that otherwise would go to waste for absolutely free, making Olio one of the best food waste apps in the world.
Olio facilitates sharing surplus food and household items, ensuring that good resources do not go to waste. Users can easily give away items they no longer need or request food and goods that others are offering for free, fostering a sense of community and generosity. With a mission to reduce environmental impact while helping individuals save money.
How does Olio work?
Olio has a team of 'food waste heroes', and these Olio volunteers, on a daily basis, collect leftover food from various supermarkets and other food businesses at the end of the day, this food is close to its expiry date/use-by date, but is still good to eat, and most of the time can be frozen to be used at a later date, or is fresh produce that can't be sold, but is still perfectly fine to eat - for example, a bag of vegetables that is at its sell-by date, but may still last many days if stored correctly.
Olio has teamed up with larger businesses such as Tesco, Iceland and Sainsbury's, among others, as well as smaller independent businesses and local stores to help distribute food that might otherwise have gone to landfill and, in return, distribute the food to those people who really need it.
The Olio volunteers, the backbone of this initiative, will collect all the surplus food and then take it to a distribution point, which is very often their own home, sometimes food banks, a public location, or a community group. The volunteers will then upload what they have been able to collect to the app, and Olio users in the local community can browse the app and select what they'd like to collect from the pick-up location.
You can sign up to become an Olio food waste hero and help distribute the excess food as well, if you can commit to the time it takes to collect the food and distribute it. Volunteers can also take 10% of the items they collect, but must take this from a selection of products; they can't take just the best products such as the expensive items such as ready meals or meat!
The benefits of Olio to the consumer
All the food is offered for free, which means that this excess food can be a really handy addition to the weekly shop as it has zero cost to the family's finances.
A friend of mine messaged me recently about Olio, saying the following, which shows what a big difference Olio can make to a family and food budget:
Today, I got bread, veggies, noodles, chicken, sausages, snacks, sweet pastries, etc… Enough for a couple of days' meals for a small family. Since starting to use it, my cousin has hardly had to spend any money at all on grocery shopping.
The free food will vary daily, but you can expect to find a wide range of food available, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, milk, meat, and ready meals; pretty much a selection of what you find in your local grocery store, so likely something for everyone, and as products change on a daily basis, depending on what surplus stock is made available, so app users can enjoy a varied selection of products!
Olio is for anything edible, whether it's loose, raw, cooked, opened, unopened etc. There are guidelines, but generally speaking, if it’s food you would eat, then it’s okay to share on OLIO.
You can share food that is past its Best Before date. This date refers to a product's quality and shelf life, not safety. You are not allowed to share food that is past its *Use By date.
*The 'best before' date is found on frozen, dried and canned food; it simply indicates when a food is at its best. It is safe to buy, share or eat food after the 'best before' date. The government has actually considered scrapping 'best before' dates to help prevent food waste because it often gives a misleading impression that food is no longer suitable for consumption.
** The 'use by' date is found on fresh, chilled, and perishable items. It is illegal for a business to sell food or for OLIOers to hand over food after the 'use by' date, as it could be harmful to health.
How big is Olio?
Olio has a global community of 8 million users worldwide and some 122,000 Olio volunteers. As of August 20024, 184 million portions of food have been saved from landfill and shared with users who need it, which is an amazing amount of food to be saved and used by those in need, which has had an environmental impact equivalent to taking 702 million car miles off the road, saved 27 billion litres of water, and prevented 206k tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions.
Olio is a free app that exists to tackle the enormous problem of food waste. It does this by connecting neighbours and volunteers with local businesses so that surplus good food can be given away, not thrown away. It can also be used to give away other spare household items you may have that might benefit other people in the local area.
You might have electrical equipment, plates and cutlery, toys, clothes, shoes, furniture, books and many other items that you don't need and might otherwise throw away, that you offer to local people, for free that they will find helpful. As of 2024, some 12 million non-food items have been given away, which saves adding to landfill as well as saving people money! You'll find these items on the free section of the non-food part of the app.
To use Olio to offer non-food items to others, which is a free service, you simply snap a photo of your item and add it to the app. Neighbours then receive an alert, can browse through the listings and request what they want, and then pop round to pick it up.
It's a great way to make use of somebody else's excess food and non-food items and can save you a fair amount of money. The area I'm located in has a significant app user base, with dozens of freebies added every day. Although I've never requested any of the freebies, I've offered several excess food items to anybody who wanted them. These have always been taken, which is excellent, as it's meant I've helped someone put food on the table, and also saved food from being thrown away and wasted, and that's a good feeling all round...
Sell your stuff
There is also a section on the app where you can sell unwanted pre-owned products as well, in a similar way to Gumtree or eBay, where you can sell products that you don't need to earn some extra money from things you have lying around the house, and have people come and collect the items from you. It's free to sell via Olio and the buyer pays you cash on collection.
Borrow stuff
The app's borrow section allows you to borrow items from members of your local community and then return them once you've finished with them. Those people lending items might only lend to Olio-ers who have a rating of 4 stars or above and have shared 5+ times on the app to avoid items disappearing!
Deals section
With Deals, you can find yellow sticker items from participating local supermarkets such as Budgens, Cooperative, Morrisons Daily, Nisa and Spar – listed on th app helping you shop smarter and save money on your grocery bill by seeing what yellow sticker items are available at your local store, from the comfort of your sofa!
Wanted section
The app has a wanted section where people can advertise for items that they need. This is a great way to connect people who may need something with people who have that item and are happy to give it away.
Olio stands out as a remarkable solution to the pressing issues of food waste and financial strain faced by many households today. By facilitating the sharing of surplus food and non-food items within local communities, Olio not only helps families save money but also contributes significantly to environmental sustainability. The app's success is evident in its global reach, with millions of users and volunteers working together to save millions of portions of food from landfills and reduce carbon emissions.
Olio's innovative approach to sharing resources reflects a broader vision of a sustainable future where community collaboration replaces the traditional, wasteful consumption model. As we continue to face economic and environmental challenges, platforms like Olio offer a practical and impactful way to make a difference.
You can download the OLIO app on their WEBSITE for free.