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Olio runs a free app that connects neighbours and local businesses so they can give away surplus food and household items instead of throwing them out.
Olio is a free app that helps neighbours and local shops give away things they don't need instead of tossing them in the bin. The main thing people use it for is food — a loaf of bread going stale, a batch of tomatoes from the garden, or a supermarket with sandwiches nearing their sell-by date. You snap a photo, post it, and someone nearby claims it and picks it up. No money changes hands.
The business works like a giant, hyper-local lost-and-found for excess stuff. Around half of all food thrown away in the UK comes from homes, and shops chuck out tonnes of perfectly good food because it's about to hit a date label. Olio puts those two problems together: people with too much and people who can use it. Beyond food, the app also handles household items — clothes, books, kitchen gadgets — anything that would otherwise go to landfill. It's free for everyone to use, which keeps the whole thing growing through word of mouth. So how does a free app survive? Olio makes money by partnering with businesses. Food retailers and brands pay Olio to help them cut waste — running "Food Waste Hero" programmes where volunteers collect surplus from stores like Tesco TSCO and distribute it through the app. Olio also offers paid services to local councils and companies that want to reduce waste and track the impact. The free app is the engine; the paying partners are the fuel. It's a bit like a neighbourhood noticeboard that costs nothing to use but earns money by helping big organisations look good and waste less.
Olio was founded in 2015 by Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One, two friends who quit their corporate jobs to tackle food waste. The company is privately held and has raised venture funding, including a Series B round, to grow beyond the UK into other markets. It has been honest about the hard part: a free app used by millions is expensive to run, and turning a profit while keeping the core free is the central challenge. The bet is that as councils and retailers face tougher rules and higher costs for waste, they'll pay for a tool that solves it.
Saved answer · last researched 15 Nov 2026