Lidl GB has thrown its weight behind one of the most ambitious surplus food redistribution trials yet seen on the British high street, drafting in the consumer food-sharing app Olio alongside its long-standing charity partner Neighbourly in a move that could keep millions of additional meals out of the bin each year.
The German-owned discounter, which has been one of the fastest-growing grocers in Britain over the past decade, will switch on the new three-way model on Friday 15 May across 20 stores in London and the north of England. If the pilot delivers as hoped, Lidl expects a nationwide rollout by the end of 2026 — a step change that would see more than 5,000 tonnes of edible surplus, equivalent to roughly 11.9 million meals, redirected annually from landfill to people who need it.
The partnership is unusual in that it knits together two of the most prominent names in British food redistribution for the first time. Neighbourly, the Bristol-based social impact platform that already manages Lidl’s “Feed it Back” scheme, will continue to coordinate the pipeline. Olio, the London-headquartered app that has built a community of more than nine million users globally around the idea of sharing rather than binning leftover food, will plug its volunteer “Food Waste Heroes” into Lidl’s evening collection slots as a second tier behind charities.
In practical terms, registered Food Waste Heroes will arrive at participating stores after trading hours to collect chilled lines, including meat, fish and poultry, as well as Lidl’s popular bakery range. The food is then offered, free of charge, to neighbours through the Olio app — extending the reach of the redistribution network into the evenings, when charity partners traditionally find collections hardest to staff.
It is also a clear signal that the discount sector has no intention of being outflanked on sustainability. Lidl has already smashed its previous food waste target, cutting waste by more than 40% ahead of schedule, and has since raised the bar to a 70% reduction by the end of FY2030. According to WRAP, the government’s waste advisory body, only around 7% of retail and manufacturing food surplus in the UK is currently redistributed, leaving a significant prize for any retailer prepared to crack the logistics.
Matt Juden, head of sustainability at Lidl GB, framed the move as the next logical step in a programme the supermarket has been refining since 2016. “At Lidl GB, we believe that no good food should ever go to waste,” he said. “While we have already made massive strides in reducing our surplus, this extension of our Neighbourly-managed programme allows us to have even more impact. It ensures that we are reaching every corner of the communities we serve, making sure edible food stays on plates and out of the bin.”
The pilot also lands at a sensitive moment for retailers who collect surplus only in the evening. Recently concerns were raised by charities about Tesco’s evening-only collection policy, and Neighbourly’s chief executive Steve Butterworth was at pains to stress that the Lidl model would not crowd out third-sector partners. “Our mission has always been to ensure as much edible surplus food as possible goes to those in our communities that need it most,” he said. “By expanding the programme to evening collections and including Olio’s Food Waste Heroes, we are providing Lidl with a robust additional redistribution layer. This isn’t about diverting food away from charities, it’s about opening up new streams of chilled and fresh produce for them, while ensuring nothing goes to waste if a charity can’t make it.”
For Olio, the deal marks another significant institutional endorsement of a model the start-up has been quietly scaling since 2015. Co-founder and chief operating officer Saasha Celestial-One described the tie-up as a chance to push more surplus into hyper-local hands. “We’re delighted to be joining forces with Neighbourly and Lidl,” she said. “We’re looking forward to working together to maximise the amount of edible surplus that can reach local communities from Lidl stores, and making sure as little food as possible goes to waste. We’re excited to see the impact of the trial, and we know our volunteers will be thrilled to have the chance to rescue Lidl food via our app.”
The political and regulatory backdrop is also shifting in favour of redistributors. Ministers have signalled growing impatience with the volume of edible food still going to waste, with Labour recently backing a £15m rescue fund aimed at supporting food redistribution organisations and helping them invest in the logistics and technology required to handle bulkier, more perishable donations. Pilots like the Lidl-Olio-Neighbourly trial slot neatly into that direction of travel, demonstrating how the private sector can plug the gap without waiting for primary legislation.
Lidl GB has now donated more than 50 million meals through Feed it Back since 2016, linking every one of its UK stores to a local good cause. With the Olio extension layered on top, the discounter is making a calculated bet that combining the efficiency of a national charity partner with the long tail of a consumer-led app can finally close the awkward last-mile gap in surplus redistribution — and turn what is still one of the grocery industry’s most stubborn problems into a marker of competitive advantage.
