Save Me Collections

What is a ‘Save Me Collection’?

You can now see a tag called 'Save Me Collection perk’ on collections on the Volunteer Hub.

This label means that you can share the food collected at your discretion. You can share or keep as much of the food as you’re comfortable with, following the outlined steps to document what you’ve kept.

This perk is generally applied to collections that have historically been harder to get covered by a Food Waste Hero, such as: 

• Late night collections (10pm or later)
• Collections from stores that tend to have only small quantities of surplus food
• Collections from locations without many Food Waste Heroes nearby

Why has Olio introduced this ‘Save Me Collection’ perk?

At Olio, we are always working on new ways to make sure as much surplus food as possible is saved and redistributed. Currently, around 20% of collection slots go unclaimed. There are many reasons why a collection might not be claimed, but one thing we’ve consistently heard from our community is that greater flexibility could help.

In particular, being able to keep more — or even all — of the food collected, without the need to invite others to their home (especially late at night), could encourage more people to claim these otherwise unclaimed slots. With this solution, we hope to make it easier, safer, and more appealing for volunteers to step in and help rescue food that may otherwise go to waste.

What should I do with the food I want to share?

For the food you want to share, follow the usual process:

• Add the items to the app as normal, selecting the collection slot
• Share the food as widely as possible by following our tips and tricks for getting requests

Remember that best-before items can be shared beyond the best-before date, just use your best judgment on quality.

What should I do with the food I choose to keep?

If you decide to keep any (or all) of the items, follow these steps to help us track the impact of the food saved:

1. Take a single photograph showing all the food you’re keeping
2. Add a listing in the app using this photo
3. In the listing, select the correct collection slot from the drop-down menu
4. Enter the number of items in the quantity section
5. Title your listing with the business name and “Save Me Collection” (e.g., “Sainsbury’s Save Me Collection”)
6. Mark the listing as “picked up” immediately by going to the hamburger menu > “My Listings” > “Someone is collecting this”

Why do I need to add a listing for the food I’m keeping?

Creating a listing and marking it as picked up helps us track the amount of food saved and provides valuable data to our business partners. This ensures transparency and allows us to report on the positive impact of food waste reduction. 

It also ensures  you are not incorrectly penalized by our Missed Collection automation.

Does the ‘Save me Collection’ perk apply only to one-off collections?

Yes and no.

For most slots, the ‘Save Me Collection’ perk applies only to the specific one-off collection you claim that is tagged with the “Save Me Collection” label. This means the permission to keep more — or all — of the food applies only to that one date and time, not to future collections from the same location.

However, there’s one exception: if your collection is scheduled for 10pm or later, then all your weekly slots will automatically include the ‘Save Me Collection’ perk. In that case, the perk is applied consistently, and you’re able to keep the entire collection every week.

Does this perk apply to all businesses?

No. While most of our business partners are likely to adopt the ‘Save Me Collection’ perk— as their main goal is to prevent food waste — we cannot guarantee that every partner will choose to have this applied to their collection slots.

To avoid any confusion, please always check that the slot has the ‘Save Me Collection perk’ tag displayed.

Will this perk lead to less food shared on the app?

Not at all. The ‘Save Me Collection’ perk is only being applied to collection slots that have a high chance of going unclaimed — meaning the food from these slots would likely have gone to waste and never appeared on the app at all.

By offering Food Waste Heroes the option to keep a bit more of the collection, we hope to encourage more people to claim these harder-to-fill slots. In many cases, Food Waste Heroes may still choose to share a portion of the food on the app — potentially leading to more food being available overall than if the slot had gone completely unclaimed.

What if some Food Waste Heroes abuse the ‘Save Me Collection’ perk to avoid sharing food?

We are able to track how the ‘Save Me Collection’ perk is used through our system and monitor patterns of behaviour across the platform.

Based on our ongoing analysis, we will continue to improve our monitoring systems and introduce any additional checks or automation needed to ensure the policy is not being misused. Our aim is to strike the right balance between saving as much food as possible and maintaining fairness and trust across the community.