UK’s second largest supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s has recently launched an initiative allowing customers visiting its more than 1,400 branches, access to labelled charity food items such as tinned fish, meat, vegetables, fruit juice and dried or UHT milk for donation after checkout.
As per sources, the supermarket will be expanding its year-round food gathering scheme to encourage more suitable, long-lasting donations to help feed people in hunger or in need. Moreover, it has teamed up with hundreds of charity partners across the UK which will distribute the essential foodstuffs to local communities in time for Christmas.
Incidentally, as part of the same initiative involving Sainsbury’s subsidiary Argos, customers will also be able to donate new toys in stores until 16 December 2018.
Reportedly, The Help to Brighten a Million Christmases campaign, which is being introduced during the festive season, aims to attract at least 1 million donations of foods and toys, marking it as the largest scheme of its kind in the country. The eye-catching labels were the idea of a group of teenagers working on a summer social project in Exeter, who noticed customers spotting food bank donation baskets after they had already finished their shopping.
As a part of the NCS (National Citizen Service) initiative, which aims to promote communal and social unity, the teenagers made a shelf-edge label to prompt customers during their shop by marking appropriate items. After successfully discussing the idea with Sainsbury’s Exeter branch manager, the labels were implemented in store and recorded thrice as many donations than before.
Claudine Blamey, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Sainsbury’s, said that the firm is excited to expand Sainsbury’s food donation initiative as well as to launch Argos’ toy donation program. It has been a delight to work with NCS graduates to roll out their label initiative to all its stores and help reach its target of 1 million donations, Blamey said.
