By Katherine Latham
Business reporter.
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It's difficult for families to estimate how much food they'll need this Christmas because of the uncertainties around Covid.
People should only buy the amount of food that they and their families really need this Christmas, according to the author.
"We want people to plan for Christmas in a realistic way."
She is the founder and boss of Olio, a popular UK app that allows members of the public and businesses to share food that would otherwise go to waste.
She says that Christmas is an "exploding time of the year" for Olio. There are a lot of surplus food.
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There is a chance that Covid will cause a big surge in the amount of food that goes to waste.
The problem is always at its worst during the Christmas season, when many households and hotels buy in more food for their celebrations.
Helen White is a special advisor on household food waste at Wrap.
Wrap estimates that two million turkeys and 74 million mince pies are wasted in the UK in December.
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In the UK, three quarters of the food we throw out is still good to eat.
The uncertainty about the impact of the new Covid variant, Omicron, may lead to more Christmas food waste than normal. Both homes and pubs will be unsure of how much food to buy for guests.
Olio hopes to help deal with any additional surpluses.
"If there's a wider shut down of hospitality, which would result in enormous quantities of food being wasted, unless it can be quickly redistributed, we're going to be ready to go this Christmas."
The app is free for households to use, but it charges a small fee for supermarkets and restaurants.
In September 2020 the two launched a UK-wide initiative, which is one of Olio's customers. Olio volunteers are known as Food Waste Heroes and they go to their local store to collect food that is nearing the end of its shelf life.
They distribute it to people in need and community groups. The programme now connects 35,000 volunteers with other companies.
More than five million meals have been stopped from going to waste because of our partnership with Tesco.
The system is half the price of paying for the food to be taken away as waste for the companies.
Members of the public who wish to share food with others can use the Olio app to make a listing. If another Olio user wants to come and pick it up, they can message the other person via the app.
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The Olio app allows users to give away food items.
"Olio's growth is a reflection of what's happening across society," says Ms Clarke who sees a real drive towards change.
Marija Rompani, director of ethics and sustainable at Waitrose, says that society has become too casual about throwing away food. Its customers are now looking to solve the problem.
Sweden's Karma is an app that helps firms reduce their food waste. Restaurants and cafes can list and sell their surplus food at a discounted price.
The idea of throwing away good food at the end of the day came about when Berling realized that restaurants in Stockholm were throwing away good food. He agrees that December is when food waste goes up.
He says that food waste is at its worst during the festive period. We don't know how Christmas will look for our restaurant partners.
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Restaurants can sell off food that would otherwise be thrown away.
One way that karma makes its money is through the use of money. "For every order made through the app, we charge the business a percentage of the transaction," says Mr Berling. A small fee is added to the order, paid by the consumer.
Businesses save food from being thrown away and get paid for it, the consumer gets great food for less, and both help save the planet. A true win, win, win!
More than six million food items have been saved from being thrown away because of the community of more than 10,000 businesses and two million users that the company has.
The data from the app shows that fewer people rescue food waste during the holiday period than at other times of the year. This is the sad truth, says Mr Berling.
The assumption is that at Christmas people spend more on food and less on bargains and doing their part for the environment.
New Economy explores how businesses, trade, economies and working life are changing fast.
FoodCloud, an Irish social enterprise that tackles food waste, found that people care less about the issue over the holiday period.
Iseult Ward says that they conducted research among 1,000 adults in Ireland. One third of people say they waste more food at Christmas than other times of the year.
It charges food retailers to give surplus food. Community groups are notified when excess food is uploaded by retailers.
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Iseult Ward says that it is not about stopping food waste, but how to effectively deal with it.
FoodCloud has partnerships with more than 200 companies. The app has redistributed more than 140 million meals across Ireland and the UK.
Ms Ward says that we shouldn't criticize the existence of food waste, instead we should try to tackle it. She says that there is a stigma around surplus food, but that waste occurs in the supply chain for many reasons.
She agrees that Covid could complicate things further this Christmas. Will it be a large family Christmas dinner? Will there be parties? Will we eat out more than we would at a normal Christmas?
She says that possible social restrictions and unease are likely to have a big impact on how consumers shop.
Christmas.
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Food.
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