Deliveroo teams up with Co-op and Pret A Manger to deliver food to families in need
Deliveroo is teaming up with Co-op and Pret A Manger to launch a new campaign to deliver food to families in need in the UK.
The food delivery company will deliver surplus food, juices, healthy snacks, cereals and fresh fruit and veg to food redistribution organisations Felix Project and FareShare, who will then distribute it to frontline charities, food banks and vulnerable families.
Deliveroo will collect unsold food from firms such as Co-op, Pret A Manger, and several fresh fruit and veg suppliers, such as London-based Sheringhams and deliver it to schools, holiday clubs, youth organisations, food banks, local charities, and COVID emergency food hubs in a bid to tackle food poverty in the UK.
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The first deliveries started on Monday (26 October) as the half-term school holiday began with collections from 11 Co-op stores in London. This will expand across London and to other parts of the country in the coming weeks.
The company has also received hundreds of thousands of donations of juices, healthy snacks and cereals, which will be distributed by Fare Share across Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, and secured commitments from food suppliers to deliver fresh fruit and vegetables as the UK heads into the winter months.
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The move comes amid footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign and commitment to end child food poverty in the UK.
Rashford is calling on the government to implement three recommendations from the National Food Strategy to expand access to Free School Meals, provide meals and activities during school holidays to prevent children going hungry during the holidays, and increase the value of and expand the Healthy Start voucher scheme. The campaign has received widespread public support and a parliamentary petition launched by Rashford has reached 1 million signatures.
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The UK government has received widespread criticism for its decision not to provide 1.4 million disadvantaged children in England with £15 ($19) a week in food vouchers during the holidays.
Deliveroo, along with FareShare and Co-Op, is a member of Rashford’s Child Food Poverty Taskforce, supporting his calls to provide food over the holidays for children on free school meals.
