Aldi is to donate £250,000 to charities and community groups this Christmas in an emergency winter food bank fund.
The donation will build on Aldi’s work with food redistribution platform Neighbourly, which sees the discounter donate surplus food from stores to charities and community groups across the country.
Aldi said today it would also introduce new signage in stores this Christmas highlighting to customers the most in-demand items at food banks, as selected by the organisations themselves.
New logos on shelves from early December will be used to highlight items such as baked beans, teabags and toiletries as needed in donation points in stores. Cereal, rice and pasta are also among the most-needed donations.
Food banks have been warning of unprecedented demand this Christmas as growing numbers of people struggle to make ends meet in the cost of living crisis.
Ahead of last week’s autumn budget, food bank network The Trussell Trust called for urgent government action to tackle a “tsunami of need” hitting charities across the country. The group said 1.3 million emergency food parcels had been provided by its network of partners to people in need between April and September, a third more than in the same period in 2021 and nearly double pre-pandemic levels.
Aldi said its new commitment came after 72% of Neighbourly charities told a survey they would need more food to meet increased demand this Christmas.
“We know that Christmas is already a particularly challenging time for many, but this year is understandably going to be even tougher for a lot of households,” said Aldi UK corporate responsibility director Liz Fox.
“That’s why we’re more committed than ever to doing what we can to give back. We want to make food accessible for all and hope both our additional funding and donation drive will help to make a real difference.”
Neighbourly CEO Steve Butterworth said: “The cost of living is impacting communities up and down the country, and the charities we support are expecting to see demand increase even further over the coming months.
“Without the support of the public and businesses like Aldi, we’d be unable to help those in need. Within our network there are many charities and community groups that will be able to put this funding to good use, to support families that are struggling.”
Charities and community groups interested in working with Aldi should contact Neighbourly at aldi@neighbourly.com.
Last week, Tesco and Asda both launched initiatives in support of the UK’s biggest food redistribution organisations. Tesco embarked on its biggest-ever food collection initiative in stores across the country while Asda said it would donate one million meals before Christmas to support vulnerable people.
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