Coronavirus: Arla and 2 Sisters pledge food to NHS staff and vulnerable people

• Arla has redirected dairy products originally destined for foodservice to FareShare and Food4Heroes

• 2 Sisters has delivered food to NHS trusts across the UK, as well as local charities and food banks

Major food manufacturers Arla and 2 Sisters have donated free meals and products to vulnerable people and frontline NHS staff amid the coronavirus crisis.

Arla has redirected dairy products originally destined for foodservice to food charities FareShare and Food4Heroes.

The dairy co-op will also provide 40,000 bottles of Cravendale a week for 12 weeks to the Magic Breakfast schools partnership, which focuses on feeding schoolchildren.

“To ensure Arla milk isn’t wasted, we are redistributing them to where they are needed most; to those being shielded, those on the frontline at our hospitals, and the children who are in need of nutritious products to help stay healthy at this time,” said Jonathan Dixon, VP of foodservice at Arla Foods UK.

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Meanwhile, 2 Sisters Food Group, which includes Fox’s Biscuits and Holland’s Pies, has delivered food to NHS trusts across the UK, as well as charities and food banks in the vicinity of its factories.

Staff at its Cavaghan & Gray ready meals factory in Carlisle also decided to donate produce they had been given as a ‘thank you’ from their management team to food banks in the city.

“It is simply amazing that our local teams have decided to give something back to the communities in which they work,” said CEO Ronald Kers. “Whether it’s Fox’s Biscuits for many NHS trusts or care homes, or a local food bank or other charity organisations, it’s really humbling to see our colleagues rallying in such challenging times to say a simple ‘thank you’ to those that need it most.”