What is the Sainsbury’s collection process?
Sainsbury's stores operate a two-step collection process each day:
🌙 Evening Collection
15 minutes before closing
For use-by items
☀️ Daytime Collection
12:00–17:30 the following day
For best-before items
This two-step process ensures:
Charities have priority access to best-before food during the daytime.
Food Waste Heroes can collect later and redistribute same-day use-by food before midnight.
❗ Important guidelines for evening collections
During the evening collection, store colleagues should only donate:
Same-day use-by items
Any best-before items that were not collected the previous day
You should not be offered same-day best-before items, as these need to be safely stored for the following day’s collection. If you are offered them, please politely decline so that the next day’s volunteer does not miss out.
What can and can’t be collected?
🌙 Evening Collection (15 minutes before closing)
✅ You can collect:
Ready-to-eat food (cut fruit, sandwiches, ready meals)
Bagged salad leaves
Meat & poultry
Any item with a use-by date (excluding floral & plants)
Any remaining best-before food that is 1+ day past its best-before date*
👉 Please gently remind store staff of this process if needed, so no charities miss out on food at the next day’s collection.
☀️ Daytime Collection (12:00–17:30 the following day)
You can collect best-before items, including:
Ambient grocery (including eggs)
Chilled items (e.g. cheese, yoghurts)
Fresh produce
Floral & plants
Bought-in bakery items*
In-store packaged bakery items with allergen labelling*
👉Loose bakery items without allergen information must never be donated (daytime and evening collections).
How will Sainsbury’s communicate if there is food to collect?
Sainsbury’s confirms daytime and evening collections in two different ways:
🌙 Evening Collection (15 minutes before closing)
For evening collections, store colleagues use Olio Collect - Olio’s system that allows businesses to:
View their collection schedule
Confirm whether food is available
Once the store confirms, a message is automatically sent in Squad Chat to let Food Waste Heroes (FWHs) know whether there is:
✅ Food available
❌ No food available
If you don’t receive a confirmation message:
This means the store has not confirmed whether food is available.
In this situation:
❌ We do not recommend attending the collection
📊 You do not need to report this to Olio as we monitor this data weekly and follow up directly with stores that are not engaging with the system.
☀️ Daytime Collection (12:00–17:30 the following day)
Daytime collections are confirmed automatically.
After the store closes and finishes its evening waste process, Olio gets a notification and generates a confirmation message for volunteers.
Because this process is automated, you should always see a confirmation for day time collections. If you don’t receive a confirmation message, please let us know so we can investigate.
How will my collection be packaged?
Store colleagues should not provide your collection in refuse/bin bags. We know this sometimes happens, and we’re sorry if it has. They are welcome to provide spare cardboard produce trays instead.
If your collection is given in bags, please follow this guidance:
🟡 Yellow bags
These are used for loose bakery items, which are not eligible for donation. Please politely decline these items in line with Sainsbury’s guidance.
🛍 Any other refuse/bin bags
Ask a store colleague whether the bagged food is intended for donation.
If yes, ask them to unpack the items so you can collect them in your own bags.
Store colleagues may provide cardboard produce trays instead.
If any items are visibly unfit for donation, please decline them.
🙏 If a store is regularly providing collections in refuse bags, please report this so we can escalate it with Head Office.
As a Food Waste Hero, can I claim both collections (daytime and evening) at a store and only collect once?
We ask that you don’t do this. The purpose of having both a daytime and an evening collection is to help stores get into the habit of preparing food for two separate collections each day.
Daytime collections are intended primarily for charities, and stores are instructed to keep best-before food stored overnight so it’s available the next day. If a Food Waste Hero collects all the food in the evening, there may not be anything left for the daytime charity slot, which could disrupt the schedule and prevent food from reaching charities who rely on it.
If a charity doesn’t attend the daytime slot, or if a Food Waste Hero is specifically covering that slot, the food can then be collected. But as a general rule, please only collect the slot you’ve claimed.
This approach helps keep food circulating efficiently and fairly while supporting both stores and the charities that rely on daytime collections.