Asda announces new food waste partnership with Olio app

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Source: Asda

Asda has announced a major new partnership with food sharing app Olio, in a shake-up of the way it handles “back of store” food donations.

The supermarket giant today announced a new three-way collaboration, which will see Olio join its long-running partnership with food redistribution giant FareShare.

It said the partnership would ensure surplus food, which was just past its best before date but still edible, would be collected from more than 200 of Asda’s stores when local charity support may not be available.

Asda said FareShare’s local food charities would still be prioritised in receiving donations, with Asda aiming to double the amount of food it redistributed.

The partnership with FareShare and Olio will be across superstores and supermarkets, with a separate programme to be trialled for Asda’s Express convenience sites.

Asda becomes the latest in a string of retailers to work with Olio, with Tesco having been the first to sign up to the app in 2020.

The addition of Olio as a food redistribution partner for Asda will see more than 680 donation slots added to the supermarket’s back of store donation scheme over the coming weeks. This would help stores to redistribute food where charities aren’t available to collect, and ensure any surplus food can be donated to those in need, it said.

Asda marked 10 years of its partnership with FareShare last November, having provided 16,000 tonnes of surplus food from its stores and depots, the equivalent of over 38 million meals.

“Redistributing surplus food continues to be a priority for our business, and we are proud to be continuing the progress we’ve made to date,” said Asda chief commercial officer Kris Comerford.

“Through our continued work with FareShare, we will continue to prioritise local charities in ensuring they receive food donations first and foremost, while our new partnership with Olio will help us to prevent surplus food from going to waste.

“Increasing the number of donation opportunities and how we work with charity partners means we can provide even more support to local communities – while at the same time reducing food waste.”

Olio co-founder Saasha Celestial-One said: “We’re thrilled that Asda has introduced Olio to 266 of its stores alongside FareShare, to make sure that even more Asda food gets redistributed to local people. We feel incredibly proud to be working with another retailer that’s making meaningful commitments to fighting food waste and feeding communities – especially at a time when so many in this country are struggling to feed themselves and their families.”

Katie Sadler, head of FareShare Go, added: “We’re incredibly grateful to Asda for supporting our mission to ensure no good food goes to waste. This partnership will continue to ensure charities continue to have access to food throughout the week and, where they aren’t available, Olio’s Food Waste Heroes can step in to collect unsold surplus instead of letting it go to waste.”