Volunteers (Food Heroes) would collect food that, while edible, was about to go out of date, and then distribute it to people via an app in Guernsey or Jersey for free.
The pilot saw 4,133 items collected by volunteers, about 1,037kg. Louis Nicola from Olio said this is the equivalent to 12,952 car miles being taken off the road, in terms of the environmental impact of the food not being wasted.
The pilot was so successful that Olio has since grown its partnership to include more Channel Island stores and the organisation is looking for more volunteers.
“We’re trying to recruit more volunteers at the moment,” said Mr Nicola.
“In Jersey we’ve got quite high volunteer coverage, but in Guernsey it has been a bit more challenging.”
Food Waste Hero volunteers are now needed to help pick up food from Vazon, Market Street and St Sampsons in Guernsey.
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Head of Community & Sustainability at the Coop, Carl Winn, said the partnership has filled a gap in the Coop’s dedication to avoiding food waste.
“If we’ve got a product that’s going out of date today, we contact [churches, charities, and shelters] that’s our priority, but they can’t take everything and it’s difficult for them to come and collect and redistribute, so that’s where Olio plugs the gaps.
“50% of the people are using Olio because they have to, because they’re below an annual income of £10,000 and then there’s the other half of people that are using it because they just hate seeing food go to waste.
“There’s a very large number of people that that are using it, and it’s becoming more and more popular.”