Aldi is launching an Adult’s Breakfast Club to help millions of parents who are skipping breakfast to ensure their children have enough food to eat. 44% of parents from lower income families are skipping meals to ensure their children have enough food to eat, with breakfast being the most common one to miss.
New research from Aldi reveals that 47% of parents are now experiencing more financial pressure to feed the family compared to six months ago, with almost 2 in 3 admitting they are likely to go hungry so their little ones don’t have to. This has led to a third of parents buying less food now than they were 6-months ago, with some of the biggest cutbacks including key breakfast items such as butter, milk, and cereal.
To help ensure parents are getting the food they need, from today they will be able to access breakfast free of charge thanks to Aldi’s newly announced Adult’s Breakfast Club. The supermarket chain will donate 10 tonnes of healthy cereal and 5,000 gallons of milk and milk alternatives to foodbanks across the country, with the help of charity partner Neighbourly. It will also be doubling down on its existing donations to local schools during term time, as almost a third (31%) of parents surveyed said that they rely on their children being provided breakfast by their school.
With an estimated 2.1 million adults in the UK now using foodbanks, the outlook for the year ahead is not positive, with 16% of those surveyed estimating that they will have to start using them within the next 6 months. This is supported by findings from giving platform, Neighbourly, who surveyed a selection of charity professionals that work with some of the most vulnerable families in society on a daily basis.
Liz Fox, Corporate Responsibility Director at Aldi UK said: “We believe that having access to healthy food should be a right, not a privilege. The thought that parents are having to skip meals to ensure their children can eat is terrible. Our partnership with Neighbourly to donate surplus food from our stores helps to support the communities where we operate, but we want to be able to help parents too. We hope the Adult Breakfast Club will help provide everyday breakfast essentials to parents who otherwise would be going without.”
Steve Butterworth, CEO of Neighbourly, said: “We are now seeing the real-world effects of the cost-of-living-crisis, and this is what it looks like. Parents sitting with empty, or half-empty, plates at mealtimes to ensure their children have enough food. Creating a dedicated Breakfast Club to ensure these parents are getting the nutrients they need and deserve is a brilliant initiative and one we hope will make a tangible difference in our community.”
The Aldi Adult’s Breakfast Club will run from today with the supermarket chain donating 10 tonnes of cereal and 5,000 gallons of milk and milk alternatives to foodbanks across the country. Customers are encouraged to add to the existing donation by heading to www.aldi.co.uk/neighbourly – just £5 will provide 30 breakfast meals.
