How to convince a business to work with OLIO

How can I convince businesses to share their surplus food with OLIO?

What you are offering businesses is the opportunity to be zero-edible-waste for absolutely free! It’s great for the environment, the community, and for staff morale as no one wants to bin perfectly good food every day. What’s not to love about it? If a business isn’t ready yet, just move on and remember that it might take several no’s to get a yes, so keep persevering!

Take a look at our page on approaching business for all our tips and tricks, or share our Food Waste Heroes programme overview with the businesses you’re talking to.

Do I have to approach businesses in person?

We recommend that you approach businesses in person as it’ll give you the best opportunity to have an open conversation with a decision maker and get the relevant documents all signed on the spot. Just remember to try and visit at a quiet time during the day, often that’s between 10-11am and 2-4pm

If you’d rather approach the businesses over phone or email first, then that’s absolutely fine but just remember that the documents still need to be filled in and you should meet them in person to explain how it will work for them.

How do I answer questions from a business?

Take a look at our article on answering questions from a business to learn more.