OurCoop has announced that it reached the milestone of saving 5.4m grocery items from waste within its partnership with social enterprise Olio.

The major co-operative which launched in January 2026, merging Central Co-op, Midcounties Co-op and Chelmsford Star, now operates 400 OurCoop food stores that are partnered with the food redistribution app.

As part of the collaboration which launched in 2024, staff members are able to inform local volunteer teams when food is available for redistribution at the end of the day to help tackle food waste and food insecurity.

The Olio volunteers then collect the grocery items from the store before listing them on the app for households to collect free of charge. The food is redistributed to people in financial hardship who are often using food banks alongside Olio.

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Social change manager at OurCoop, Hannah Gallimore, said: “Partnerships like these are so important to us as a society that has community and sustainability at the heart of everything it does.

“By working together, not only are we limiting food waste wherever we can, but we’re also helping households that need it most by putting meals on the table – together with Olio, we’ve saved an impressive 4m meals and shared them in our local communities.”

This system allows surplus food to go from the convenience stores’ shelves to local dinner tables in less than 30 minutes. According to the business, since the start of the partnership with Olio in 2024, OurCoop has saved over 1,600 tonnes of excess food.

COO and co-founder of Olio, Saasha Celestial-One, said: “Teaming up with OurCoop has allowed us to make real progress in tackling food waste and food insecurity.

“The combined effort of our dedicated Food Waste Heroes and OurCoop’s store teams allows us to stop food from going to waste unnecessarily and redirects items to households in need. We’re really proud of the achievements and are passionate about continuing to make a difference together.”