Tesco in Fareham joins up with Olio to stop thousands of meals going to waste
Tesco in Quay Street has partnered with food sharing app and social enterprise Olio to help reduce food waste.
The partnership follows a three-month trial, held earlier this year, at 250 Tesco stores.
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Hide AdThis trial saw 195,000 portions of food saved, 4,200 people fed and the equivalent of 93,000 meals saved.
One of the first to take part in the trial was Tracie Lindsey, from Fareham, who was the local point of contact for those who downloaded the app.
Tracie, 50, said: ‘This is a great new project to get involved in and it means my food is shared with lots of different people – local families, work colleagues, charity helpers, the elderly, family and friends.
‘The scheme has brought a great community spirit to the area and it means I now have a new project to focus on which gives me a chance to do something good and worthwhile in my spare few hours.
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Hide Ad‘The Tesco guys are great and Olio is an amazing project which allows people from all walks of life to do their bit for preventing food waste, regardless of their financial circumstances.’
Anyone downloading the app is able to see food items nearing their expiry date and available to be collected in their area for free, via a non- contact pick-up.
The scheme works with the help of Olio’s 8,000 local volunteer Food Waste Heroes who visit Tesco stores to collect the surplus food.
The food is taken back to their homes, with the items immediately uploaded onto the Olio app, ready to be re-distributed free to those living nearby, as well as to community groups.
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Hide AdClaire De Silva, Tesco head of communities, said: ‘We are very proud of our food waste work. Right now we want to make sure that any surplus food is being managed and people who need it have access to it.
‘The results of our initial trial were very positive and have allowed us to further roll out the partnership in our commitment to make sure no good food goes to waste.’
In return for their efforts, Food Waste Heroes are allowed to keep 10 per cent of what they collect from stores.
Olio is registered with the Food Standards Agency, which ensures that all food collected is safe for human consumption.
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Hide AdTessa Clarke, Olio co-founder, said: ‘Our partnership with Tesco means that more people than ever before will be able to benefit from access to surplus food.
‘They’ll also be joining our community of neighbours who not only support one another but also believe that every little counts in the fight against food waste.’
Tesco, which employs 460,000 colleagues at its 6,809 shops, said tackling food waste has been a major part of its sustainability strategy since 2009, when it made a commitment to stop sending food products to
landfill.
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