In this classic episode, Richard and Kimon speak with Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio. Olio is a brilliant app that allows people to share food with their neighbors that might otherwise end up in the waste bin. Users take a photo of their food, which alerts people nearby with the app installed on their phone. As of 2022, Olio has more than 6 million users, with tens of millions of portions of food saved.

Tessa describes how Olio has shown many of its users how much demand there is for good but uneaten food. When people use the app, they first make an impact by reducing waste. Over time, users find that Olio connects them with their neighbors and the broader community. This ability to connect people with their community is the beating heart of Olio.

Tessa discusses the old paradigm between companies and charities, where companies are seen as capable of scaling without doing good, while charities are seen as doing good without the ability to scale. Olio’s goal, instead, is “profit with purpose.”

In the interview, Tessa describes the astonishing amount of food waste that occurs around the world, with special attention to the unbelievable amount of waste that happens in the UK alone.

Growing up, Tessa was relatively isolated on a small, family farm. This gave her an early passion for nature with an interest in issues facing our climate. She attended Cambridge University, where she studied social and political sciences. After graduation, Tessa worked as a consultant, unsure of her long-term goals.

After a few years, she moved into media, working in various general management roles in the digital space. Tessa worked at a large company, a mid-sized company, and a tech start-up, giving her experience at all stages of the business life cycle.

Olio began with a WhatsApp group of twelve volunteers who were interested in sharing food. After a successful trial period, Tessa and her co-founder, Saasha Celestial-One, met face-to-face with these volunteers and settled on creating an app.

Tessa and Saasha then went out and started setting up tables and booths outside well-trafficked areas to pitch Olio. Some of the volunteers agreed to become ambassadors, selling the idea of Olio alongside Tessa and Saasha. In just a matter of months, they created the app and launched it.

Since these early days, Olio has raised several rounds, hired more than a dozen employees, and grown a base of millions of users.

Tessa Clarke is the Co Founder & CEO of Olio Linkedin Olio is a free app that connects users with unwanted food (households or local businesses) with neighbours living nearby who would like it. OLIO has over 6 million users who have together shared 7 million portions of food. 50,000 volunteers who are spreading the word in their local communities.

Download the App and more information here https://olioex.com

Twitter https://twitter.com/olio_ex

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/olioapp/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/olio.app/

Linked https://www.linkedin.com/company/olio-the-food-sharing-revolution

You can watch the episode on YouTube here. 

The NBN Entrepreneurship and Leadership podcast aims to educate and entertain, sharing insights based on the personal stories of our carefully selected guests in the atmosphere of an informal conversation in a bar or over a cup of coffee.

About the NBN
The New Books Network was founded in 2007 as a podcast interviewing the authors of academic books, and has grown to the largest author interview podcast in the world publishing 12 podcasts a day in more than 90 specialist areas, with over a million downloads a month. Read about the founder Marshall Poe and the NBN here. In recent years it has expanded beyond its “author interview origins”. Historically NBN only did audio recordings. E&L is the first NBN podcast distributed on Youtube.

About Kimon Fountoukidis Twitter Linkedin

Kimon is the founder of both Argos Multilingual and PMR. Both companies were founded in the mid 90s with zero capital and both have gone on to become market leaders in their respective sectors. Kimon was born in New York and moved to Krakow, Poland in 1993. Listen to his story here,

About Richard Lucas Twitter Linkedin

Richard is a business and social entrepreneur who founded or invested in more than 30 businesses, including investments in Argos Multilingual, PMR and, in 2020, the New Books Network. Richard has been a TEDx event organiser, supports the pro-entrepreneurship ecosystem, and leads entrepreneurship workshops at all levels: from pre- to business schools. Richard was born in Oxford and moved to Poland in 1991. Read more here. Listen to his story in an autobiographical TEDx talk here,