France made headlines last month when it announced it would forbid food waste by supermarkets. Instead, it will go toward charities and food banks. While we still may be a long way of from a similar law here in the UK, one UK-based startup is doing their bit to combat wastage.
That's why OLIO is our pick for this week's Startup Snapshot. We spoke to co-founder Saasha Celestial-One to find out more.
1. What's the idea, in one sentence?
OLIO is a free app that connects neighbours with each other and with local shops and cafes so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away.
2. Tell us about the business?
Tessa Cook and I co-founded OLIO last year. We're good friends whose families have both experienced the scandal of food waste close up: Tessa is a farmer's daughter, so is very passionate about food waste, given that essentially a third of her family's hard work is discarded every day, while I'm the daughter of Iowa hippies and grew up rescuing and repurposing food.
We met in 2002 while studying for our MBAs at Stanford Business School, after which we each went on to build successful careers at various consumer-facing businesses. Now we are two 'mums on a mission' - entrepreneurs balancing busy family lives with a desire to change the world for the better.
The idea for OLIO came about when Tessa moved back to England from living overseas. On moving day she found herself with some perfectly good food that she couldn't bring herself to throw away. So, she went out onto the streets to find someone to give this food to, but with no luck.
In that moment she thought, there has to be a better way - why not a mobile app? And so the idea of OLIO was born. However the first people she shared this idea with thought she was absolutely crazy! And it was only when she described the idea to me and saw my eyes light up that we both realised we just had to bring OLIO to life. And so the food sharing revolution - and adventure - began in North London in July 2015.
3. What kind of funding do you have?
We have raised seed funding from a Silicon Valley venture capital firm whose investments include Facebook and Spotify.
4. What kind of marketing do you do?
As with any startups trying to do something completely new, one of our main challenges has been generating buzz about the app without the luxury of a marketing budget.
We've managed to do that through a combination of community events (potlucks, live food swaps, rescued food giveaways), social media and our amazing ambassadors (grass roots volunteers who help spread the word about OLIO in their local neighbourhood).
We've been lucky enough to get some fantastic publicity over the past few months, and we were also delighted to be chosen as one of the 'Best New Apps' in 2015 in the App store.
5. Do you have a customer base already?
We have steadily built a large and loyal customer base, first in London, and now across a number of UK cities, and we're continuing to work hard every day to grow the number of people sharing food on OLIO.
So far 30,000 have downloaded the app, and approximately 4,000 items of food have been shared!
6. What's your team like; do you have a mentor?
I don't have a mentor per se, but I do have an informal network of people I turn to for advice, including previous managers, good friends and, above all, my dad.
The OLIO team is absolutely fantastic, and Tessa and I feel we have struck gold with each of them. In addition to the two of us there are seven full-time team members, most of whom reached out to us initially in a volunteer capacity, passionate about seeing OLIO succeed. We are also supported by a team of advisors, interns and of course our ambassadors (over 1,000 volunteer requests and counting) who lead the charge on the ground.
7. What particular problem do you aim to solve?
Food waste is a significant problem! Globally, a third of all food produced is wasted, and in the UK, households - which are responsible for half of all food waste - bin £12.5bn of edible food per year, at a cost of £700 to the average family.
Food waste is also costly for local stores and governments, and ranks as one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. OLIO seeks to address these problems by combining cutting-edge mobile technology with the power of the sharing economy and an engaged local community.
As for what's next, we're building a scalable platform that others can take and use in their own local communities. That short journey to date has taken us from one neighbourhood in North London, to London-wide, then across the whole country.
Hopefully it won't stop there. We've had people from all over the world reach out to us, so in time we plan to take OLIO overseas. Ultimately, once we've reached true scale, we believe there's no reason for any household or local food shop not to be sharing food on OLIO.
8. Finally, what advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
First, make sure you pick a problem that's your problem to solve - something you're passionate about and well equipped to tackle.
Next, start small, trial, experiment - and only then, scale. Definitely try and figure out a low-cost way to test a proof-of-concept (we used a WhatsApp group), so you don't waste lots of money building something people don't want. Finally, do things that don't scale - for example, every weekend last spring we were delivering letters door to door and signing people up to OLIO at farmers' markets - this way we had 2,000 early adopters ready to go before we were even live.
Do you have a good idea for a Startup Snapshot? Comment below (log in or sign up!), or email us on [email protected].
That's why OLIO is our pick for this week's Startup Snapshot. We spoke to co-founder Saasha Celestial-One to find out more.
1. What's the idea, in one sentence?
OLIO is a free app that connects neighbours with each other and with local shops and cafes so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away.
2. Tell us about the business?
Tessa Cook and I co-founded OLIO last year. We're good friends whose families have both experienced the scandal of food waste close up: Tessa is a farmer's daughter, so is very passionate about food waste, given that essentially a third of her family's hard work is discarded every day, while I'm the daughter of Iowa hippies and grew up rescuing and repurposing food.
We met in 2002 while studying for our MBAs at Stanford Business School, after which we each went on to build successful careers at various consumer-facing businesses. Now we are two 'mums on a mission' - entrepreneurs balancing busy family lives with a desire to change the world for the better.
The idea for OLIO came about when Tessa moved back to England from living overseas. On moving day she found herself with some perfectly good food that she couldn't bring herself to throw away. So, she went out onto the streets to find someone to give this food to, but with no luck.
In that moment she thought, there has to be a better way - why not a mobile app? And so the idea of OLIO was born. However the first people she shared this idea with thought she was absolutely crazy! And it was only when she described the idea to me and saw my eyes light up that we both realised we just had to bring OLIO to life. And so the food sharing revolution - and adventure - began in North London in July 2015.
3. What kind of funding do you have?
We have raised seed funding from a Silicon Valley venture capital firm whose investments include Facebook and Spotify.
4. What kind of marketing do you do?
As with any startups trying to do something completely new, one of our main challenges has been generating buzz about the app without the luxury of a marketing budget.
We've managed to do that through a combination of community events (potlucks, live food swaps, rescued food giveaways), social media and our amazing ambassadors (grass roots volunteers who help spread the word about OLIO in their local neighbourhood).
We've been lucky enough to get some fantastic publicity over the past few months, and we were also delighted to be chosen as one of the 'Best New Apps' in 2015 in the App store.
5. Do you have a customer base already?
We have steadily built a large and loyal customer base, first in London, and now across a number of UK cities, and we're continuing to work hard every day to grow the number of people sharing food on OLIO.
So far 30,000 have downloaded the app, and approximately 4,000 items of food have been shared!
6. What's your team like; do you have a mentor?
I don't have a mentor per se, but I do have an informal network of people I turn to for advice, including previous managers, good friends and, above all, my dad.
The OLIO team is absolutely fantastic, and Tessa and I feel we have struck gold with each of them. In addition to the two of us there are seven full-time team members, most of whom reached out to us initially in a volunteer capacity, passionate about seeing OLIO succeed. We are also supported by a team of advisors, interns and of course our ambassadors (over 1,000 volunteer requests and counting) who lead the charge on the ground.
7. What particular problem do you aim to solve?
Food waste is a significant problem! Globally, a third of all food produced is wasted, and in the UK, households - which are responsible for half of all food waste - bin £12.5bn of edible food per year, at a cost of £700 to the average family.
Food waste is also costly for local stores and governments, and ranks as one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. OLIO seeks to address these problems by combining cutting-edge mobile technology with the power of the sharing economy and an engaged local community.
As for what's next, we're building a scalable platform that others can take and use in their own local communities. That short journey to date has taken us from one neighbourhood in North London, to London-wide, then across the whole country.
Hopefully it won't stop there. We've had people from all over the world reach out to us, so in time we plan to take OLIO overseas. Ultimately, once we've reached true scale, we believe there's no reason for any household or local food shop not to be sharing food on OLIO.
8. Finally, what advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
First, make sure you pick a problem that's your problem to solve - something you're passionate about and well equipped to tackle.
Next, start small, trial, experiment - and only then, scale. Definitely try and figure out a low-cost way to test a proof-of-concept (we used a WhatsApp group), so you don't waste lots of money building something people don't want. Finally, do things that don't scale - for example, every weekend last spring we were delivering letters door to door and signing people up to OLIO at farmers' markets - this way we had 2,000 early adopters ready to go before we were even live.
Do you have a good idea for a Startup Snapshot? Comment below (log in or sign up!), or email us on [email protected].
