{"id":11602,"date":"2025-07-02T16:37:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T15:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/startupvalley.news\/uk\/?p=11602"},"modified":"2025-10-24T08:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:57:16","slug":"tessa-clark-olio-food-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/startupvalley.news\/uk\/tessa-clark-olio-food-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"Tessa Clark on Olio, Food Waste and Sharing Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Throwing away food means throwing away resources \u2013 and, ultimately, a piece of our future. Tessa Clarke understood that from a young age. Growing up on a farm in rural North Yorkshire, she saw first-hand the effort that goes into producing every bite we eat. But the real turning point came years later: newborn in one arm, a box of uneaten food in the other, and no easy way to give it away before moving house. That frustrating moment planted the seed for what would become OLIO \u2013 an app that\u2019s now a global force in the fight against food waste<\/a>. In this interview, Tessa opens up about her journey from corporate life to impact entrepreneurship, the tough lessons she\u2019s learnt along the way, and why inspiring people to share might just be more powerful than preaching about climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start at the beginning \u2013 what sparked your interest in tackling food waste in the first place?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>I\u2019m a farmer\u2019s daughter from North Yorkshire, England, and so I grew up respecting the hard work that goes into producing the food we all eat every day. As a result of my upbringing I also have a strong connection to the environment, and recognise how crucial it is for humanity to live in equilibrium with nature. That combined with studying social & political sciences at Cambridge University, followed by an MBA at Stanford University probably meant that I was destined to harness the power of business to undertake systems change work in the environmental space – it just took me two decades to figure that out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was there a \u201clightbulb moment\u201d?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Absolutely. It happened when I was moving back to the UK after living overseas, and on moving day the removal men told me I had to throw all our uneaten food away. I couldn\u2019t bring myself to do that and so bundled up my newborn baby and toddler and set out onto the streets clutching my food, hoping to find someone to give it to. I failed miserably. So I went back to my apartment and when the removal men weren\u2019t looking, I smuggled the non-perishable food into the bottom of my packing boxes. That was when I realised that there really should be an app to make sharing my food a lot easier than this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at your childhood, were there any early influences that shaped your values around sustainability and community?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Growing up on a farm instilled in me a deep respect for food, nature, and hard work. My parents were also from the post-war generation, and so with rationing still strong in their minds, I was brought up with a very frugal approach to life and had the words \u201cwaste not, want not\u201d frequently ringing in my ears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve worked in corporate roles before Olio – what made you take the leap into founding your own company?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong> I spent nearly two decades in corporate strategy and general management across retail, media, and financial services – roles that looked great on paper, but that left me uninspired. I spent many years wanting to do something entrepreneurial, but two things stopped me: I didn\u2019t have an \u201cidea\u201d, and I didn\u2019t have the self-belief to get started. Both of those problems were solved when I uncovered the problem of food waste when I was moving country, and when my co-founder Saasha agreed to join me on the crazy entrepreneurial journey. So my advice now for anyone looking to get started is to find a problem you\u2019re passionate about, and find a co-founder to join you on the journey – if you can.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What personal traits or habits do you think have been essential for you as a founder?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Perseverance and adaptability have been critical – founders must embrace a test, measure, learn, iterate mindset. I\u2019ve also built a daily structure to support my mental and physical resilience, which involves booking out the first hour of the day for exercise, and ensuring that I get plenty of sleep and eat healthily. That means that when the challenges start to pile up I feel energised to tackle them, not overwhelmed. I\u2019m also deeply motivated by our mission, which means that failure isn\u2019t an option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olio has grown into a global movement \u2013 how do you keep the original spirit alive as the team and user base expand?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Two things have been crucial for this. The first is to ensure that everyone we work with – whether it be employees, partners or investors, are not just \u2018mission aligned\u2019 – they\u2019re \u2018mission obsessed\u2019. This is a much higher bar, but is crucial to keeping the mission alive. The second thing is to make sure that our company values of \u2018inclusive\u2019, \u2018caring\u2019, \u2018resourceful\u2019, and \u2018ambitious\u2019 are used for everything – hiring, performance reviews and operational decision making. If you get those two things right then everything else follows on relatively smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were some of the toughest challenges you faced in the early days of Olio \u2013 and how did you push through them?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>One of the hardest challenges was gaining traction with no marketing budget. To help solve that we launched an Ambassador programme<\/a>, recruiting passionate volunteers to help spread the word, and today, over 50% of our monthly sign ups join us due to word of mouth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a personal level, the first year running Olio remotely with a new baby and toddler, whilst having to do consulting work to bring in the money, and no childcare support, was totally unsustainable. So I learned to create structure in my day to keep me sane. Over the years I\u2019ve learned that entrepreneurship is a series of marathons, not a sprint, so resilience is key.  <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could go back to day one of Olio, what would you do differently, knowing what you know now?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>I\u2019d do two things different, and both require a mindset shift. The first thing I wish I\u2019d realised earlier is that there\u2019s no such thing as a silver bullet. I spent too much time and emotional energy hoping that the next feature, the next hire, the next marketing campaign or the next raise would unlock hockey stick growth. The reality is that growth comes from layering on thousands of lead bullets, day in, day out. The second thing I\u2019d have done differently is to drop my idealism a lot faster. The reality is that whilst people, or companies should<\/em> do X, Y or Z, the reality is, behaviour change is incredibly hard to unlock, and so it\u2019s much better to meet people where they are. Giving a tangible example of this: we have had to stop talking so much about the climate and environmental impact of food waste, and instead we now focus on what\u2019s in it for you. For individuals it\u2019s about how good it feels to share and support your local community; for businesses it\u2019s all about the business case and so that\u2019s required us to build out additional products so our clients can generate more revenues from their surplus food, before they redistribute it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are some myths or misunderstandings people have about food waste or sharing apps like Olio?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>A major misconception is that most food waste happens at supermarkets. In reality, in countries like the UK, over half of all food waste happens in the home, while retail accounts for just about 2%. People are shocked when they hear that. The other big misconception is that \u201cno-one will want it\u201d. And that couldn\u2019t be further from the truth: a typical food listing is requested within 30 minutes of being added to the app, and a typical household item is requested within 4-6 hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re leading a mission-driven team \u2013 what\u2019s your approach to hiring and building culture around shared values?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>From day one, we\u2019ve embedded our four core values – \u2018inclusive\u2019, \u2018resourceful\u2019, \u2018caring\u2019 and \u2018ambitious\u2019 – into every hiring process and performance review. These values shape our culture, more than anything, and define who fits well at Olio. We\u2019re also a remote first business, so we probe hard when interviewing to ensure that a remote first approach really is the candidate\u2019s preferred way of working.  <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What have you learned about yourself through the process of leading a growing company?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>In common with many founders I\u2019m sure, I\u2019ve learned that I can tend to focus too much on everything we haven\u2019t yet achieved, and so I don\u2019t celebrate the victories easily or often enough. I\u2019ve also had to learn to stop feeling guilty about the fact that Olio is an unashamedly founder-led business, with direct founder involvement in all areas of the business. This doesn\u2019t mean micro-managing, but it does mean we have a laser focused attention to detail and a high quality bar for delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you handle tough decisions as a leader \u2013 especially when mission and business priorities collide?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>At Olio we see our mission and financial objectives as being mutually reinforcing, rather than at odds with one another. That\u2019s because we\u2019ve worked hard to create a business model where our revenue – through the service we provide to businesses helping them reduce food waste – supports our impact, and vice versa. We\u2019re unapologetically a for-profit company, and a B Corp, because we believe that profit with purpose is the route to longstanding success. When we have had to take tough decisions – such as restructuring the company for example – I\u2019ve learned that investing time into really explaining the context and history as to how we are where we are, is absolutely crucial for bringing the team along with you. This ensures they understand and buy into the decisions you\u2019ve made, and helps the organisation to \u2018bounce back\u2019 much more quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability is at the heart of Olio \u2013 but how do you avoid \u201cgreen fatigue\u201d or performative eco-talk?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>First we make sure to use very tangible \u2018green\u2019 language. So rather than talking about tonnes of CO2e emissions saved for example, we convert that into how many millions of car miles we\u2019ve taken off the road, which is far more relatable. Second, we make sure to talk about our social impact just as much, if not more, than our environmental impact, because we find that\u2019s what motivates people. For example, people love to know that we\u2019ve facilitated over 50 million doorstep connections, and that 65% of our community has made friends via the app, three-quarters say that sharing has improved their mental health and 84% say it\u2019s improved their financial well-being too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you balance idealism with pragmatism when building a business that\u2019s also trying to save the world?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>This is something we haven\u2019t been great at to be honest. We saw an enormous – arguably existential – problem facing humanity; we came up with a brilliant solution that works incredibly well, and we expected the whole world would rapidly adopt it. In practice we\u2019ve experienced the the power of existing incentive structures, how the profit motive tends to trump all else, and how tough driving behaviour change can be. Once we figured this out though, we\u2019ve been very pragmatic because we recognise there\u2019s no point in being perfectly idealistic, but also perfectly dead – as that generates no impact at all. So our strategy is to ensure we stay true to our mission and values at all times, whilst doing whatever we can to meet people where they are. Because some impact is ultimately a lot better than no impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond food, Olio now supports sharing other items too. Where do you see the future of the circular economy heading?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>We believe neighbourhoods should become the new marketplace. There are about a billion idle items within a ten-minute walk of your home, and our vision is to unlock access to those by providing a simple, safe and fun way to be connected to your neighbours. Through lending, sharing, and swapping, we\u2019re expanding beyond food into the broader reuse of other household items too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you personally hope to be in five years \u2013 and what\u2019s your vision for Olio by then?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>We\u2019re celebrating 10 years of Olio this year, and if there’s one thing I\u2019ve learned, it\u2019s how beguiling – but ultimately misleading – 5 year projections are in such an unstable and rapidly changing world! However, as always, we\u2019re working towards a world in which millions of people are connected so the world\u2019s most precious resources can be used and shared, not thrown away. In order to do that we\u2019ve expanded the C2C proposition beyond food sharing to non-food sharing, and in time we\u2019d like to layer on rental too. And on the B2B side of things we continue to move up the waste hierarchy by helping businesses to sell more of their surplus food before they redistribute it; and we\u2019re continuing to explore other parts of the value chain. And of course, we\u2019re actively working to expand the Olio model into international markets, with us having seen organic sharing activity successfully take place in over 60 markets so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you see Olio as a model for tackling other global challenges, like fashion waste or local resilience?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Yes. The core model – connecting local communities through technology, combined with volunteer networks and business partnerships – is absolutely applicable to categories other than just food. And we know we\u2019re providing an enormous increase in local resilience, by optimising waste out of the system. In fact we\u2019ve had a couple of international Governments approach us as they\u2019re looking to increase their country\u2019s food security, and they know that solving food waste can be a very powerful lever in that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What role do you think tech and innovation will play in building more sustainable communities?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Tech is essential: location based services, mobile interfaces, algorithms matching supply and demand – all are core to enabling the optimal utilisation of local resources. We also put a lot of energy into harnessing AI and automations to scale our operations. But just as important are the values and policies with which we manage our community, to ensure that the P2P interaction takes place in a way that\u2019s trusted, friendly and reliable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to solve a big, global problem?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Stop looking for big ideas. Start with a real problem you’re obsessed with solving. Test, iterate and learn. Stay mission-focused, and scale wisely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you stay grounded and motivated when the work feels overwhelming?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>I build structure into my life, and re-energise not just through exercise, sleep and nutrition, but also by looking at the impact we\u2019re having every day on a very human level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally: what\u2019s one thing people can do today \u2013 right now \u2013 to live more sustainably?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Clark: <\/em><\/strong>Perhaps the simplest thing I\u2019d say is to start with your plate, and don\u2019t waste food. Globally food waste accounts for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and in \u2018developed\u2019 countries over half of all food waste takes place in the home. By stopping wasting food you\u2019re having a huge ripple effect – on water, soil, biodiversity, carbon and community. And beyond food, I\u2019d encourage absolutely everybody to have an approach to life which is about sharing more, and wasting less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo\/Source:<\/strong> Olio – Annabel Staff<\/p>\n\n\n\n