Supermarkets are backing the government’s efforts to help households facing rising living costs.
Retailers including Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Amazon are supporting the government’s new cost of living campaign, Help for Households.
No 10’s cost of living business tsar, and former Just Eat chief, David Buttress agreed deals and discounts with several major businesses as part of the scheme to help families tackle mounting costs this summer.
Some deals are a continuation of existing campaigns by retailers, which the government wants to promote under the Help for Households campaign, while others are new initiatives.
As part of the scheme, Asda has extended its ‘Kids eat for £1’ offer, where children aged 16 and under can access a hot or cold meal for £1 in Asda cafés across the country, until the end of the year. It was initially rolled out as a summer offer.
It also launched the Essential Living Hub, a one-stop money advice saving website providing valuable information to customers struggling with cash management.
“Our latest Asda Income Tracker shows that families are on average £175 worse off per month compared to this time last year and many are finding it increasingly tough to make ends meet,” said Hayley Tatum, Asda chief corporate affairs and people officer.
“We want to do all we can to support families during these tough times which is why we’re pleased to support the ‘Help for Households’ initiative.”
Sainsbury’s is also bringing back its ‘feed your family for a fiver’ campaign, which helps customers with budget-friendly meal ideas featuring its own products. All recipes feed a family of four for less than £5.
“The rising cost of living is at the forefront of customers’ minds, so we are delighted that our feed your family for a fiver campaign is part of the initiative, helping people save money when it matters most,” said Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts. “We have invested over half a billion pounds since March 2021 to ensure the items customers buy most often are on the shelves at the best prices.”
Morrisons too has an initiative where every child can get a free meal from the kids’ menu or a chilled kids’ snack pack at its in-store cafés when a parent buys an adult meal with a value of £4.99 or over.
Meanwhile, Amazon has launched a new ‘help for households’ section to its website, which shows users how to access free or discounted products and services from Amazon. This includes low-price essential groceries, learning resources for students, as well as more information on how customers can save while shopping online.
The Association of Convenience Stores said it “strongly welcomed” the Help for Households campaign and was committed to working with Buttress to highlight how c-stores are supporting both customers and colleagues through the cost of living crisis.
“Many convenience store retailers are providing significant staff discounts and other benefits as part of extra support packages for colleagues in store, as well as doing everything they can to keep prices on the shelf in check despite rising costs in just about every area of their businesses,” said ACS CEO James Lowman.
These retail deals will aim to help families navigate four key periods – the summer holidays, back to school, autumn pressures and Christmas retail. They build on the £37bn package of Help for Households already being provided by government, which includes tax cuts and help towards energy, childcare and transport costs.
Earlier this week, ONS data showed that food and drink prices soared higher than the headline rate of inflation in June as sharp rises in input costs fed through to supermarket shelves.
Prime minister Boris Johnson and cost of living business tsar David Buttress are today (21 July) meeting with the business leaders involved in the campaign to thank them for their support and discuss new ideas for cutting living costs.
“We’re facing incredibly tough global economic headwinds and families across the country are feeling the pinch,” Johnson said. “Both the public and private sector have a role to play here – and that’s why it’s great to see so many leading UK businesses are now coming forward to offer new deals and discounts that will provide much-needed respite at the checkout.
“This won’t solve the issue overnight but it’s yet another weapon in our arsenal as we fight back against scourge of rising prices and inflation.”
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