Emergency support from Tesco has provided more than 730,000 meals to the Trussell Trust as it struggles to cope with soaring demand due to the cost of living crisis.
Tesco has supported 29 food banks across the UK most in need of food donations, providing more than 730,000 meals.
The emergency support comes on top of the retailer’s food donation scheme Community Food Connection in support of food redistribution network FareShare.
Last week the Trussell Trust revealed last week that more than 760,000 people used one of its food banks for the first time in the past year, as the cost of living crisis saw an “unprecedented” rise in food poverty.
It provided almost three million emergency food parcels to people facing hardship between April 2022 and March 2023, with more than a million of them for children. It’s the highest number of parcels food banks in the charity’s UK-wide network have ever distributed in a single year and represents a 37% increase on last year.
“When the Trussell Trust told us it had food banks struggling to meet demand, we wanted to find a way we could help them quickly and easily,” said Tesco UK distribution and fulfilment director Andrew Woolfenden.
“We have a great partnership with the Trussell Trust through our stores and this was a chance for our distribution colleagues to be involved in helping communities.
“They are brilliant at planning the logistics to make these donations easy for food banks so they could receive exactly what they needed most free of charge from Tesco.”
Trussell Trust CEO Emma Revie added: “Over the last year there has been a 37% increase nationwide in the number of food parcels that our network has distributed and this is putting a significant strain on our network as they are struggling to source enough food to meet this level of need.
“Tesco’s generosity has been a much-needed lifeline for the food banks who benefited from this initiative. Not only have the donations ensured that there is enough stock to provide parcels to everyone who needs it, Tesco’s logistical support has given food banks a chance to catch their breaths after the toughest winter yet.
“We are extremely grateful to Tesco for once again responding to the needs of our network and helping us to provide urgent support to people in communities across the UK, while we work towards our long-term goal of ending the need for food banks.”
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