"If we start moving our money, changing how we consume, we can have a massive impact."

Tessa Clarke is the co-founder and CEO of Olio, a platform that enables people to give away food and household items to neighbours instead of letting them go to waste. With over 8 million users across 63 countries, 130,000 volunteers, and partnerships with retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury's, Olio has become one of the leading voices in the fight against food waste and a powerful case study in how combining digital platforms with purpose can drive environmental and social change.

In this ChangeLeaders interview, Tessa shares her journey from growing up in Yorkshire farmland to fighting food waste through startup leadership, the mission behind Olio, and why businesses must rethink their role in society if we want a sustainable future.

Climbing the Ladder, Questioning the View

Tessa's path began on a farm in North Yorkshire. From early on, she learned the value of hard work, the importance of nature, and why food should never be taken for granted. But when it came to choosing a career, she wasn’t sure where to begin. After studying social and political sciences at university, she became a strategy consultant and then spent 15 years in corporate roles across retail, media, and financial services.

"I had a CV that looked great on paper," she reflects, "but I was finding myself uninspired. I had a growing entrepreneurial itch."

That itch eventually led to Olio—a company born from a personal moment of waste frustration, and one that has since become a rallying force for local action with global implications.

What is Olio? Turning Waste into Opportunity

At its core, Olio is a free app that connects people to give away food and household items to others nearby. It also facilitates volunteer-powered collections of surplus food from businesses like supermarkets and corporate canteens. That food is listed on the app and claimed by neighbours within hours. To date, more than 100 million meals and 14 million household items have been shared via Olio.

The environmental and social impact is profound: reducing food waste saves water and carbon while helping address food poverty. "The greenhouse gas emissions from just one kilogram of food waste are equivalent to landfilling 25,000 plastic bottles," Tessa explains. "We co-founded Olio to solve the climate crisis, but the social impact is just as powerful."

Challenges of Scaling a Purpose-Driven Business

Despite Olio’s success, the journey hasn’t been easy. Tessa highlights a series of challenges unique to impact entrepreneurship. "People assumed we were or should be a charity," she says. "We had to be very clear: we’re a business because that’s how we can scale."

Building the business model took time. There was no blueprint for monetising community redistribution. Today, Olio charges businesses a subscription for food collection and redistribution, providing them with impact data and brand benefits in return. The startup also faced challenges in measuring impact. "We started with just counting meals shared. Now we calculate carbon savings, water use, and soon we'll include social impact too. We started with just counting meals shared. Now we calculate carbon savings, water use, and soon we'll include social impact too."

As a female founder, Tessa has faced additional barriers. Women-led startups still receive only 2% of venture capital. "Despite that," she says, "being any type of diverse founder is a strength. We think differently, we challenge the status quo."

Changing the Role of Business in Society

Tessa believes that the business world is overdue for a fundamental shift. "We're trapped in this late 20th-century paradigm that says the sole purpose of business is to maximise shareholder returns. That model has given us climate breakdown, extreme inequality, and political instability."

She advocates for stakeholder primacy, a principle championed by the Better Business Act in the UK. "Business must align with people, planet, and profit. At Olio, that's our model. It's not just possible, it's essential."

For sustainability teams within large organisations, Tessa’s advice is clear: start with the human story. "Don’t lead with carbon savings—lead with feeding people. That’s what motivates employees, builds community trust, and gets buy-in."

She also urges companies to re-engineer their business models. "Most businesses are still based on extracting resources, packaging them, and throwing them away. That will not be viable in 10 to 20 years. Businesses that don’t adapt will lose their license to operate."

Olio’s Vision: Building a Hyper-Local Circular Economy

Olio is now expanding its offering for businesses with tools to reduce retail food waste through promotions and discounting. But the long-term vision is even more ambitious. Tessa wants to reinvent how we consume.

"There’s a billion items sitting idle within a ten-minute walk of your home. We want to unlock that," she says. Through peer-to-peer lending, borrowing, and renting, Olio aims to make neighbourhoods the new marketplace.

It’s a big idea, but one rooted in simplicity: share more, waste less, reconnect locally.

Final Reflections: A Call to Common Sense Action

As Earth Day approaches, Tessa calls for a reframing of how we talk about sustainability. "Let’s stop talking about net zero. Let’s talk about clean air, reliable energy, and vibrant nature. Things people understand and care about."

And for anyone feeling disheartened by the scale of the challenge: "Just look at TikTok. It grew from nothing through billions of small actions. The same is true for sustainability. Start with your plate. Don’t waste it."

—

About We Make Change

If you'd like to have a greater impact, find out how We Make Change makes impact easy for individuals and teams across the world.

This is part of our ChangeLeaders interview series with impact leaders sharing their journeys, learnings, and lessons. If you are a ChangeLeader we should interview, please email us at info@wemakechange.org.

Interview & Article: James Sancto & Laura De Alba