Pandamart partners sharing app OLIO to give away edible, surplus food to S’poreans for free

Homegrown online grocery platform pandamart — a brand under food delivery giant foodpanda — announced today (March 10) that it is partnering free-sharing app OLIO.

Under this partnership, pandamart will give away unsold food, which includes perishables that are nearing expiry date and canned goods with minor packaging defects.

These will be collected by OLIO’s volunteers on fixed days and times, uploaded onto the OLIO app, and then redistributed to local households and community groups for free.

Instead of throwing away surplus food, pandamart kills two birds with one stone with this partnership by minimising food waste as well as doing public good.

This sustainable initiative was first trialled in pandamart Whampoa in December 2021. In just three months, the partnership has redistributed close to 400kg of food, which translates to over 900 meals for 180 local families — this is the impact made by only one pandamart store.

Besides feeding many families, the results also translate to approximately over 1,700kg of carbon dioxide emissions avoided, and over 295,000 litres of water saved.

The initiative was recently extended to another two pandamart outlets at Tampines and Bukit Batok, and will be expanded to include all 15 pandamart stores by the end of this year.

Fostering a positive sharing and sustainable culture

Unfortunately, food waste remains one of the biggest waste streams in Singapore. It accounts for about 11 per cent of the total waste generated and in 2020, it generated over 660,000 tonnes.

With this partnership however, foodpanda hopes to prevent edible food surplus from ending up in landfills.

“While we try our best to ensure that the supply we procure at pandamart coincides with our customers’ demand, it is inevitable that we will have excess food that will not get sold. Instead of throwing them away, we can reduce food waste by redistributing them, and our partnership with OLIO allows us to do easily and efficiently do so,” said Laura Kantor, marketing and sustainability director at foodpanda Singapore.

“Minimising food waste is one of the key pillars that shape our sustainability agenda at foodpanda, and we are keen to play a bigger part in supporting Singapore’s plan towards becoming a Zero Waste Nation.”

According to foodpanda, more than 100,000 individuals in Singapore are already using OLIO to counter the “throwaway culture” by sharing food and non-food items such as furniture, clothing and school essentials, with others in their immediate community.

When it comes to sharing food, users are encouraged to be considerate and ensure any edible items given away are something they would be comfortable consuming themselves too. Typically, half of all food listings in Singapore are collected within half an hour.

“Singaporeans are eager to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle and the traction we’ve seen from the trial with pandamart is great testament to that. We’re incredibly excited to build on this pioneering partnership so we can support as many people and businesses as possible to become zero food waste,” summed up Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of OLIO.

Featured Image Credit: foodpanda