Olio x FareShare 200 million meals campaign

Why did you decide to launch your 200 Million Meals campaign? 

  • Every year, UK businesses throw away 2.4 billion meals of perfectly edible food.
  • Meanwhile, millions are struggling due to the cost of living crisis, and food waste continues to be a leading contributor to the climate crisis. That just doesn’t make any sense!
  • That’s why we're launching a campaign to rescue and redistribute 200 million meals in the next 12 months.


How did you settle on your 200 million meal target?

  • In 2021, FareShare and Olio collectively rescued and redistributed 144 million meals.
  • We’ve chosen 200 million meals as it’s a 38% increase on last year, which feels like an ambitious - but achievable - target for the next 12 months.


How are you tracking the meals that you save through the campaign?

  • Olio and FareShare already regularly report on the total number of meals saved through our existing partnerships, so we’ll be reviewing that data on a weekly basis from the start of our campaign.


How many people would 200 million meals feed over one year?

  • 200 million meals would allow us to provide 182,648 people with 3 meals a day for one whole year.


How do you work out how many meals have been donated? 

  • WRAP recommends the use of 450g as an ‘average’ meal size.
  • With that in mind, we’ll calculate the weight of all the food we collect and redistribute through FareShare and Olio partnerships over the course of the next 12 months, and divide it by that number to work out our total meals saved.



How will the meals we save reach local families? 

  • Olio helps turn unsold food into meals for local families by redistributing it through our app. Volunteers list each item of food on the app, and neighbouring users get in touch to organise a doorstep collection.
  • FareShare mostly works with charities and community groups - with audited cooking facilities - who use businesses' surplus food to cook hot meals on-site for members of the local community.


Does this mean Olio is only for people in need?

  • Absolutely not! Olio always has been, and always will be, for absolutely everybody. We exist to make sure that good food is eaten not thrown away, and it's really, really important that whoever wants the food requests it, because most of the food coming onto the app is perishable and needs to be claimed quickly.
  • Whilst there are lots of people who find Olio incredibly helpful when they're having a tough time financially, what they tell us over and over again is that they love Olio precisely because it's for everyone, and there's no stigma associated with using it. You can read more about Olio and food poverty here.


Why did you choose Max Le Manna as your campaign spokesperson?

  • Max La Manna is an award-winning low-waste chef and passionate sustainability advocate.  These credentials made him the perfect choice for our campaign ambassador. 


I have a business with surplus food - this sounds like a great initiative! How can we get involved? 



I don’t have a business, but I really want to help! What are my options?

  • The number one thing you can do to help is to make some noise about our campaign on social media! Like, comment and share our posts so as many people can see what we’re doing as possible. You can also share your spare food on Olio (download the app here if you haven’t already), or donate to FareShare here. 


Can I approach businesses on behalf of Olio to encourage them to get involved?

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