Three London Food Waste Apps That Cut Meal Costs in Half

Three apps let you eat in London without paying full price. Olio gives food away for free from neighbours and businesses. Too Good To Go sells surprise bags of surplus from restaurants and supermarkets for £3-5. Karma lets you see and reserve specific items at cut prices. Stack all three and you can eat properly for under £5 a day.

What each does

Olio is free food. End-of-day surplus from Tesco, Pret, Gail's, Itsu, and neighbours offloading bakery hauls. Sandwiches, salads, pastries, even ready meals. You reserve in-app, walk to the pickup point, take it for free. Best in residential areas like Hackney and Walthamstow.

Too Good To Go does surprise bags. £3-5 for food worth £10-15, contents are unknown until pickup. Restaurants and chains list bags around closing time. Pret bags are usually two sandwiches plus a snack. Gail's is pastries. Tesco is mixed.

Karma is the curated middle option. Browse specific items by photo and price, reserve, pick up. Usually 30-50% off the original price. Better for veggie and meat-specific food because you can see what you're getting.

All three are free apps. Live everywhere across London. Listings are heaviest 5-9pm.

How to use them together

1. Download all three. Set location. 2. Around 4pm, check Karma for tomorrow morning's listings if you want lunch sorted in advance. 3. Around 5-6pm, check Too Good To Go for evening bags. Pret and Gail's in Soho or the City sell out within 10 minutes of going live. 4. Around 7pm, check Olio for free items near you. Residential areas get the most listings. 5. Pay in-app where required, show the code at pickup. Olio is free, you just collect.

What's worth knowing

Too Good To Go at 6pm in central is the goldmine. Pret bags drop around 5:30pm, gone by 6pm, two sandwiches and a snack for £3.50. Soho, Covent Garden, City branches go fastest.

Karma beats Too Good To Go on choice. You see the exact chicken wrap from Tesco before you commit. Worth it for £2-3 more if you're particular about food.

Olio's residential bias means Hackney, Walthamstow, Peckham and Stoke Newington have the most listings. Central is thinner. Set the radius wide if you're in Zone 1.

Stack a free Olio salad with a £3 Karma dessert in one walk home for under £3 total. That's a genuine meal.

The catch: contents are unknown on Too Good To Go. Could be yesterday's doughnuts when you wanted protein. Karma fixes this by showing items. Olio is hit-and-miss, what's been offloaded that day is what's there.

FAQ

Are all three free apps? Yes. Olio is always free including the food. Too Good To Go and Karma charge for the food, not the app.

Do I need to pick up immediately? Most listings have a one-hour collection window. Miss it and the food goes to waste.

Is the food safe? Yes. All apps require sellers to confirm food is within best-before windows. Best-before is "still safe", not "spoiled".

What if my area has no listings? Olio is residential-heavy, Too Good To Go is business-heavy. Try both. If your area has neither, you're rural.

Quick facts

Apps: Olio (free), Too Good To Go (£3-5 bags), Karma (item-level discount) Best time: 5-7pm for central, evenings for residential Top pickups: Pret, Gail's, Itsu, Leon, Tesco Saves: £15-25 a week if you stack properly