Olio, an app used worldwide and brought to Jersey in 2017, is designed to prevent unwanted food that is close to its sell-by date from going in the bin. Food is collected by volunteers from shops and a description of it is posted on the app.
The food is then collected by the customer at no cost.
The app has been used by thousands of Islanders in Jersey over the past two years, with the number of users jumping significantly in the past 12 months.
Elis Joudalova, who brought the scheme to Jersey, said: ‘Over the year we were going to have a look to see how many people had signed up. It was to see really if we had hit the 10,000 mark because we wanted to celebrate that milestone.
‘We opened it up and we were really shocked to see it is at 12,000.
‘To hit 12,000 now is great; it shows people use the app and it is well liked.’
Over the Christmas period, extra pallets of food were received from Waitrose, after freight was stuck on the Commodore Clipper due to a fault with the ship’s ramp, preventing it from reaching the shop before its sell-by date.
Ms Joudalova added: ‘Shopping for people these days is very expensive and this just helps.
‘It will never replace the shopping people have to do, but it saves them going to the shops for certain things.
‘It started with just me and lots and lots of other people are now involved to help.’
