Tesco: What to expect from collections

• Why are Food Waste Heroes collecting surplus food from Tesco?
  • Tesco is working with local charities to distribute as much of their surplus food as possible. However, in some areas and stores, there are no charities available to collect any surplus food. Tesco and Olio have partnered so that Olio Food Waste Heroes can come to the rescue and ensure that as much good food as possible gets saved from the bin!

• Why is the food not going to charities?
  • The majority of Tesco's surplus food is going to charities. However, in some areas and stores, there are no charities available. To avoid the food going to waste, Olio Food Waste Heroes come to the rescue and collect the surplus food instead. Whenever a charity is able to take on collection days currently assigned to Olio, they will take precedence and replace Olio. If this happens to a Food Waste Hero's slot, they will be notified immediately in their group chat.

• How do I know if my local Tesco is taking part?
  • If you cannot see any collection slots from your local Tesco store on the Olio Volunteer Hub under 'Available Collection Slots', it's either because the store is being serviced by a charity or all available slots have already been claimed by other Olioers. Additional one-off collection slots may become available between 07:30pm - 08:30pm on the Volunteer Hub if the assigned charity can no longer make it. Check out this FAQ for more info.

• How much food would I collect from my local Tesco?
  • The amount of food varies on each collection from store to store, and day to day. If it was the same amount each day, Tesco would stock less in-store... Luckily, the store will estimate the amount and type of food before each collection. However, please note this is an estimation and might change depending on whether the store sells any of the food last minute. Please remember that you do not have to accept all food that is offered to you in your Tesco collection. If there is too much food, or the food is of a low quality then you are free to refuse any items.  
  • Tesco estimates the amount of food in ‘number of trays’. A tray generally refers to one of Tesco’s green plastic boxes used for home delivery and you might have seen them in-store in the produce section.

• What type of food could I collect?
  • You can expect all types of food, and sometimes non-food items as well, like flowers or cleaning products! If you need a refresher on handling different food types please consult the Inductions and Documents sections on the Volunteer Hub or speak to your Squad Captain.
  • If your collection is in the afternoon or evening you should generally expect a mix of ambient and chilled items, depending on that day's surplus. 
  • If your collection is in the morning then you should expect ambient products only (i.e bakery items and whole fruit and veg)
  • Please note that for morning collections you will receive food with a ‘Best before’ date of the previous day. These are absolutely safe for you to share with your neighbours via Olio, as long as they look/smell safe to eat. Do not share anything on Olio that you wouldn’t eat yourself.
  • If you receive any food past its use-by date or notice that the store is only donating bakery items please report this to OLIO following our guidance here.

• Can I approach my local Tesco store to sign them up to Olio?
  • Collections from Tesco are organized centrally by Olio. Please do not approach a store and inquire about Olio. Instead, please check on the Volunteer Hub for any new slots becoming available.

• Will my local Tesco store take part in Olio in the future?
  • This depends on whether there's a charity collecting from your local store in the future. To be notified of new collection slots becoming available in your neighbourhood, please sign up as a Food Waste Hero and enable 'Notifications' for new collection slots on the Volunteer Hub. Participate in reducing food waste and helping your community with Tesco food collections through Olio!