Half a ton of food "rescued" every week in Jersey

Monday 18 December 2017

A food sharing app, designed to stop good food being binned, now collects more than half a ton of supplies every week in Jersey, half of the full total collected anywhere in the world.

Fruit, vegetables, bread loaves and other groceries are all "rescued" weekly by local Olio volunteers, after Elis Joudalova started a food revolution in the island in May by doorstepping local shops and cafés to convince them to share their food surplus on the app.

Launched by Tessa Cook and Saasha Celestial-One in July 2015 in north London, the global app enables people to share unwanted items with fellow islanders. The collection is then arranged by private message, and all the food is given away for free. 

Zed Stott, store manager at Alliance Tesco, Mark Cilliers, the owner of Loaf, Roast and Big J and David Warr, owner of Cooper & Co, were the among first ones to sign up. There are now 30 businesses regularly offering their food surplus to be shared with the community, with new ones getting in touch every week. Recent additions include Miniotti, Thai Mini Market, St. Ouen's Tesco and Co-Op Locales, but Elis is now focusing on getting farmers involved.

Islanders quickly jumped on board and after just a couple of weeks, 730 were using the app to request items. The numbers have soared considerably since then and reached what Elis calls an "amazing" level, at 5,300.

She says: "I never ever dreamed of that! The beginning was a bit difficult, especially to get the name out there and the volunteers on track. But now everyone knows what they are doing, they are amazing and I have been able to delegate some tasks so that I can focus on other aspects. 

"It has been a very good start and I am excited for what comes next."

Elis's team of 40 volunteers picks up half a ton of food that would otherwise go in the bin every week.

While most of the pick-ups are scheduled at a time that suits businesses, sometimes they have to carry out "emergency rescues." A couple of weeks ago they collected 100 bacon rolls leftover from a function at Café Jac, and shared them with the Centre Point Trust.

Other charities regularly benefit from the food collected via Olio, including kids groups, the Grace Trust, the shelter, Revive and others. Elis says: "It is amazing to see how many people we have been able to help. Many are on the breadline and tell use how much it saves them. We are always trying to help more charities to make sure that all the food is shared between everyone. Every volunteer knows someone who knows someone and we get in touch with different structures we could help."

Jersey's Olio success story is so great that the founders regularly ask Elis for the secret of it. She says simply: "I think it has a lot to do with the volunteers and the work we have been doing but also with the fact that the community is so close and interconnected in Jersey. It is safer for people to go around ringing at people's doors. Jersey is the perfect place for it. Businesses here also have their own decisions making and there is less constraints than in the UK I think."

Elis hopes to make Jersey the first place without food waste. With the launch of a desktop version of the app, which will enable people who don't own smartphones to browse and request items, soon to be launched, more Islanders should soon be able to join the fight against food waste.

Elis says: "Why would we put all these things in the bin when it is such good food?"