By ISN Magazine
LONDON, UK – 6 August 2026 – Lidl GB has taken another major step in the fight against food waste by dramatically expanding its partnership with food-sharing app Olio and community platform Neighbourly. Following the outstanding success of a pilot programme in 20 stores, the supermarket is now extending evening surplus food collections to almost 200 stores across Great Britain.
The initiative is a fantastic example of how retailers, technology and local communities can work together to tackle food waste while helping families facing the rising cost of living.
The pilot has already prevented around 1,200kg of food waste every week, proving that surplus food can quickly reach people who need it rather than ending up as waste. Lidl now plans to roll out the programme nationwide before the end of 2026.
Through the Olio app, local volunteers known as Food Waste Heroes collect surplus food from Lidl stores at the end of the trading day whenever local charities are unable to make evening collections. Fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled meat, fish, poultry and Lidl’s popular bakery products are then redistributed free of charge to local families, shelters and community organisations.
Once the scheme is fully operational across the country, Lidl expects it to redistribute around 5,000 tonnes of surplus food every year—equivalent to almost 11.9 million meals.
The expansion also supports Lidl GB’s ambitious target of reducing food waste by 70% by 2030, demonstrating that sustainability and social responsibility can go hand in hand.
The programme is already making a real difference in communities throughout the UK. Buzzee Beez Pre-school in Harlow, Essex, says the evening collections have become an important source of support for more than 50 local families, helping those struggling with living costs while reducing perfectly edible food going to waste.
Volunteers are also seeing remarkable results. In York, one Food Waste Hero collected around 25kg of strawberries, 12kg of bananas and several additional crates of food during a single collection, while volunteers in London have redistributed food to mosques, churches, children’s centres, the YMCA and emergency service workers.
Georgina Hall, Director of Corporate Affairs at Lidl GB, said the retailer was grateful to its store colleagues, charity partners and volunteers whose commitment is transforming surplus food into valuable community support. She added that the nationwide expansion could soon enable communities to rescue nearly 12 million meals every year.
The initiative builds upon Lidl GB’s long-standing Feed it Back programme with Neighbourly, which has already donated more than 50 million meals since 2016 by connecting every Lidl store with local charities and good causes.
Under Olio’s model, Food Waste Heroes collect the food free of charge. Volunteers may keep up to 10% of the rescued food for their own household, while the remaining items are shared with neighbours through the Olio app, ensuring surplus food reaches as many people as possible.
ISN Magazine Comment
This is one of the most inspiring retail sustainability initiatives we have seen this year. Lidl GB has shown that reducing food waste does not require complicated solutions—only strong partnerships, committed volunteers and a willingness to innovate. By combining the strengths of Neighbourly and Olio, the retailer has created a practical model that benefits the environment, supports local communities and provides millions of meals that might otherwise have been lost.
At a time when food prices remain high and many households continue to feel financial pressure, programmes like this prove that supermarkets can play an important role in building stronger, more resilient communities while moving closer to their environmental goals.