Olio Reviews 2.493

Brilliant app brilliant community that is passionate about reducing food waste and amazing volunteers

Good response from the team’s customer service,
Sorted my issue out .

I’ve always loved what Olio stood for — helping people share food and cut waste. I even tried to help more in the past but couldn’t because there were already local supporters in my area. Now suddenly they’ll let anyone be a “supporter” as long as you pay.

I already use my own time and fuel to give food away for free, and now they expect people like me to pay a subscription just to use basic features like the map or instant notifications. It’s honestly disappointing to see an app built on kindness turn greedy.

Love this app great savings to be found and also lots of free food which is great and doesn’t go to waste. Also met some lovely people on the way also picked up a few odds & ends which is great happy days 👌

A brilliant company who help surplus food find homes in need, thanks to it's collectors.

The most amazing app for receiving free food! Unlike another Toogood food saving app, with this one you can choose which items you want, so you never end up with things you’d throw away. Great for your wallet and great for the environment.

The Flaw in Olio’s Food Collection System

There’s a huge flaw in the Olio collection system that Sasha and Tess have ignored for years and it’s damaging both volunteers and the integrity of the whole initiative. They seem to have no effective plan to fix two serious problems that have persisted nationwide:

1. Food diversion by supermarket staff.
In many stores, chilled food items are regularly being kept back by staff, leaving only lettuce, bread, or low-value items for volunteers to collect. This isn’t an occasional mishap. It’s become the default situation in some locations, and it’s been going on for months or even years.

2. Fraudulent collections and volunteer mistreatment
In smaller shops, staff often scan food items for Olio collection but then deny having any food when volunteers arrive. Volunteers waste their time, fuel, and energy, and sometimes face hostility, while the bags of food are later quietly handed to staff’s friends or relatives instead, as noticed in the car parks in the dark. This is not a rare event. It's happening in several places, as staff seem to have learnt this method seems to have no accountability.

Despite countless complaints, Olio’s leadership has done nothing meaningful to stop the system being abused like this. And why would they? Olio receives £25 per collection, regardless of whether food is actually passed on to volunteers. The supermarket benefits in terms of avoiding landfill tax, the supermarket staff benefit from getting items for free or passing them on to their relatives, Olio still gets paid, and only the volunteers lose! But Olio doesn't care for the volunteers who are facing this frustration, wasted effort, and no proper complaint process.

The current system is one-sided and broken. Apologies from support staff don’t solve anything because there’s no mechanism to verify what’s truly happening. And they know it!

The only way to fix this is through two-factor accountability. Every food item scanned by the supermarket staff for Olio should have to be matched digitally with the food actually handed over to a verified volunteer. This would close the loophole and staff would find it impossible to commit thefts or fraud.

Until that happens, the system will remain wide open to abuse. Supermarket staff who commit fraud will continue to be rewarded, and volunteers, the very people who make Olio possible, will continue to be disrespected and demoralised.

At first I couldn't sign in to the app but with some percvrence I did sign i

Free food is controlled by the organization that has key people in specific areas.
A couple of FWH are millionaire house owners and wealthy professionals, getting the best of free food, blocking all those who request the food.
A real scam. There are some fishy groups who coordinate efforts to ban certain people, so to keep control of the best collections, then they choose not to give food to those who ask: they can do that because one of the rules of the app is that Food collectors or FWH as they call themselves, can choose who to give the food to.
This is how the special groups keep the best foods and grow fatter and fatter. Let's face it: how can anyone get to size 20 in few months after starting collecting with Olio?
There's nothing you can do either, it's all controlled by Olio itself.
What a scam.

Very few people are honest, but they don't last long, they end up being banned if you smile the wrong way or wear the wrong colour on a Tuesday.
Olio will probably respond to this post like it has done with others in the past, but it's all a game hiding a much darker motive.

Great company , trying to abolish food waste from supermarkets.

Absolutely shocking. Booked a lucky dip rescue bag from Iceland 29 hours in advance. Turned up to find that had been sent an email 30 minutes before collection that it had been cancelled. I had already set off and this is a store that the carpark is privately run and I had to pay for parking. DELETED THE APP.

Olio has such a positive mission of doing good to avoid food waste. They take into account volunteers feedback through surveys and questionnaires. As a volunteer I have received good support from the customer service team when I have had issues and I appreciate their help. I'd definitely recommend Olio whether you want to volunteer or request items yourself.

Found this by searching for ways to help my local area. Olio FWH's collect end of day food and give away FREE to locals. who have to go to the persons house to collect. All done on the app. Very secure way. No details given out. Give away is done through app.

It's been amazing requesting and listing saving surplus food from going to waste. It's also so helpful to know my personal impacts. The only thing I would say is that the ads are annoying when trying to request items but all in all the app is easy to navigate.

It's helpful.

The best app I've seen. It helps so many people who are struggling financially and olio give them free food !!!

Its great that this Company are encouraging us to help one another

I am happy this company is helping others in any which way they can, I was happy to help others with free items today 😊

Olio has been very good in my opinion. I've donated lots and I've received lots. The app is also very good at flagging Olioers who are not courteous or serious about giving or receiving goods. I always recommend Olio to people who have not heard of it, and I also try my best to share it with my social media. Thank you, Olio! :)