OurCoop has prevented 5.4million grocery items from being wasted in the last two years with Olio, marking a milestone in the retailer’s journey to reduce food waste across its estate.  

OurCoop, which launched in January 2026 bringing together Central Co-op, Midcounties Co-operative and Chelmsford Star, now has 400 OurCoop Food stores partnered with food redistribution app, Olio. 

The partnership allows colleagues to alert local volunteers when food that would otherwise be wasted is available for redistribution at the end of the day, helping to tackle waste and food insecurity. Olio volunteers then collect the goods from local stores, before listing them on the Olio app for households to collect free of charge.

“By working together, not only are we limiting food waste, but we’re also helping households that need it most by putting meals on table,” Hannah Gallimore, Social Change Manager at OurCoop, said.

Since the start of the partnership in 2024, OurCoop has saved over 1,600 tonnes of excess food from being wasted and has prevented 7.1million kilograms of CO2 emissions – equivalent to removing 26million+ car miles from the road.

“Teaming up with OurCoop has allowed us to make real progress in tackling waste and food insecurity,” said Saasha Celestial-One, COO and co-founder of Olio. “The combined effort allows us to stop food from going to waste unnecessarily and redirects items to households in need.”