Iceland Foods and Olio are to roll out their Lucky Dip bag food redistribution scheme nationwide, in a major “step forward” for the supermarket’s food waste efforts.
The retailer began trialling the ‘mystery bags’ – which contain at least eight good to eat but close to sell-by-date products – in five of its London stores in September 2024. It ramped up the trial in June this year, adding seven more stores in Manchester.
Lucky Dip bags will now be available in more than 950 Iceland and Food Warehouse stores from 7 October. Priced at £2, shoppers can reserve the bags via the Olio app before collecting them in store. The bags contain baked goods, fruit and veg, chilled meat and deli lines.
Expanding the service to the majority of its stores, Iceland is also the first retailer to partner with Olio for a full “end-to-end” food waste solution, across all three channels offered by the food redistribution charity: discounting, collection and redistribution.
Olio’s volunteer food waste heroes first began collecting surplus, close to use by groceries from Iceland stores for redistribution in 2022.
In August of this year, the partnership was expanded with the full rollout of a new “reduction feed”, which saw Iceland’s discounted groceries listed on both Olio and the deals app Gander, making them easier for shoppers to find.
“Our Lucky Dip bags have already proven a great way for families to save money without compromising on quality,” said Iceland director of product, process and sustainability Stuart Lendrum.
“By taking the scheme with Olio nationwide, we’re making sure every Iceland shopper can unlock fantastic value for just £2 a bag.
“This national rollout marks a huge step forward in our mission to cut food waste and help people save money, making Iceland the first retailer to offer a truly end-to-end solution from discounting to redistribution,” Lendrum added.
Iceland has donated the “equivalent of 9.3 million meals” through the Olio partnership since 2022, it claimed.
October marks the start of Olio’s ‘Save More, Waste Less Campaign’, through which the charity aims to raise awareness around how people can access ore free and discounter food from businesses in their area.
“We’re so excited to announce this latest layer of our partnership with Iceland Foods, and we’re looking forward to rolling out Lucky Dip nationally across its stores,” said Olio CEO and co-founder Saasha Celestial-One.
“It’s fantastic to see Iceland adopting innovative new approaches to selling more discounted food – and showing such commitment to fighting food waste across their stores at the same time.”
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