Waitrose has been on the receiving end of some harsh criticism from shoppers who have branded an in-store food bank promotion as "tone deaf."
The outrage was sparked after the premium supermarket was spotted advertising one of its vegan Bouillon Vegetable Stock Powder with a label that described it as being "perfect" as a food bank donation.
Despite the good intentions, the promo was heavily criticised in a Twitter thread by the Alchemic Kitchen, an action-based project that aims to create a system change by addressing food access and injustice.
The organisation claimed that the promotion did not help anyone who struggled with food access and that it was "tone deaf to the realities of people having to access food aid.
Sharing the in-store food bank promotion to Twitter, The Alchemist Kitchen, North West wrote: "Dear @waitrose, please have a word with your in-house marketing team. Describing a product as “Perfect for the food bank” is at best tone deaf to the realities of people having to access food aid. Normalising this helps no one."
Other shoppers were quick to agree with the organisation, as the post has since received a whopping 241 quote retweets with many annoyed at the "normalisation" of food banks.
"It is quite disgraceful that food banks have become so normalised that they have become a marketing slogan. Shame on you @waitrose, No prosperous society should have food banks", slammed one user.
"@waitrose try campaigning against the government policies that create the need for foodbanks", wrote a second.
"'perfect for food banks' eh @waitrose. The only thing perfect for food banks is universally good pay and decent benefits that will lead to the closure of all food banks. The normalisation of food banks makes it ok to keep wages and benefits low", fumed a third.
However, many other shoppers were also quick to defend Waitrose's promotion, as many did point out that multiple supermarkets have always advertised food bank donations in-stores as a reminder to customers. The Alchemic Kitchen has since reiterated that they had no issue with the intent, rather the language that was used.
A spokesperson for Waitrose told the Daily Record: "While no one should have to use a foodbank, they provide a vital service and we're suggesting items our customers could donate to the collection points we have in our shops, should they wish.
"We and our customers really want to make a difference and that’s why in addition to our foodbank collection points, we also make an annual donation to the Trussell Trust of over £200,000 and continue our work with Fareshare, having donated more than 14m meals worth of food to date."
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