Lidl working with Olio food sharing app to further cut waste

Lidl has begun working with food sharing app Olio to distribute more surplus to communities from 20 stores in London and northern England.

The trial adds Olio’s network of ‘food waste heroes’ – volunteers who collect unsold edible food – to Lidl’s existing redistribution work with Neighbourly.

Olio’s food waste heroes can collect products including chilled food, meat, fish, poultry, and bakery items. Once listed on the app, local users can arrange to pick them up for free.

Lidl already works with redistribution platform Neighbourly across its store estate. The supermarket has donated the equivalent of 50 million meals since 2016 through the partnership, which involves Neighbourly collecting edible surplus from stores each day and redistributing it to local food banks and community groups.

Lidl said the new work with Olio could redistribute another 5,000 tonnes of food annually if scaled nationwide. It said it was a step towards its target of reducing food waste by 70% by the end of its 2030 financial year, against a 2016 baseline.

Read more: Lidl launches new food waste initiative and raises target

Other supermarkets to work with Olio include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and Iceland.

Lidl is one of a number of supermarkets to have been targeted this year by a social media activist posting daily videos of food in wheelie bins behind stores. The discounter has been looking anew at how it can further reduce food waste after communicating directly with the activist, who goes under the handle Food_waste_inspector_.

“We believe that no good food should ever go to waste,” said Lidl GB head of sustainability Matt Juden. “While we have already made massive strides in reducing our surplus, this extension of our Neighbourly-managed programme allows us to have even more impact.

“It ensures that we are reaching every corner of the communities we serve, making sure edible food stays on plates and out of the bin.”

Read more: Are supermarkets doing enough to tackle household food waste?

Olio co-founder Saasha Celestial-One said: “We’re looking forward to working together to maximise the amount of edible surplus that can reach local communities from Lidl stores, and making sure as little food as possible goes to waste.

“We’re excited to see the impact of the trial, and we know our volunteers will be thrilled to have the chance to rescue Lidl food via our app.”