Food Waste is Worse Than You Think - Interview with Olio CEO & co-founder Tessa Clarke

In this interview, we sit down with Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio, a community-powered platform built to redistribute surplus food and household items at scale. Growing up on a dairy farm in Yorkshire, Tessa developed an early understanding of the effort behind food production and a deep aversion to waste. That mindset later collided with a very common problem: moving house with a fridge full of perfectly good food. Knocking on neighbours’ doors with a newborn and toddler in tow, she realised there had to be a better way to share surplus – and Olio was born. Since launching in 2015, Olio has grown from a 12-person WhatsApp experiment into a global platform with over 9 million users, 135 million meals redistributed, 15 million household items rehomed, and around 300,000 tonnes of CO₂e prevented. To date, Olio has raised around €45 million in funding. Alongside neighbour-to-neighbour sharing, Olio now works with major partners including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Pret and Compass Group to safely redistribute surplus food at scale. In the conversation, Tessa reflects on moving from senior corporate roles at Dyson and Wonga to building a purpose-led startup, the power of volunteer-driven models, and why household food waste – which accounts for around half of global waste – remains one of the hardest challenges to solve. Key Points - How growing up on a dairy farm shaped Tessa Clarke’s views on food, work and waste - The moment that sparked Olio – and how a few sweet potatoes led to a global platform - Lessons from scaling a purpose-led startup from a WhatsApp group to millions of users - Why household food waste is harder to tackle than supply-chain waste - The role of community, volunteers and trust in making circular models work at scale - Where Olio’s peer-to-peer model fits within the wider European FoodTech ecosystem