Morrisons sets aside £10million of groceries to restock food banks left struggling during the coronavirus crisis

MORRISONS is to set aside £10million of groceries to help restock Britain’s food banks.

Foodbanks, a critical source of food for the poor and vulnerable, have seen a 40 per cent dip in donations during the crisis as ordinary families prioritise goods for themselves.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

Unlike other supermarkets, Morrisons makes much of its own goods so it has been able to ramp up production for customers – and now also for those in need.

It will be running its bakery, egg and fruit and veg packing sites for an extra hour every day to make, prepare and pack food required to restock the food banks.

Morrisons will also be sending deliveries of ambient food – such as canned goods and pasta – to its stores to also give to their local food bank.

All together, by July £10 million of food will be distributed to food banks by Morrisons community champions – in-store colleagues who work with the local community.

Typical items being donated include bread, eggs, orange juice and bags of pasta.

In addition, to make it easier for customers to donate to food banks, purchase limits on items will be raised to four items from three – and some removed altogether.

Morrisons will create ‘local’ drop off points for customers to donate products to those in need. Donation hubs in Morrisons’ recently repurposed in-store cafes will collect these additional products for their local food banks.

David Potts, boss of Morrisons said: “As a food maker and shopkeeper we are uniquely placed to help. We know food banks are finding life very difficult and running our manufacturing sites for an extra hour each day to help restock them is the right decision at this time.

“The core purpose of all 96,537 colleagues at Morrisons is to play our full part in feeding the nation. #ItsMoreThanOurJob.”

Other supermarkets are making donations too. For example, Asda has announced it will be donating £5million to its partners FareShare and the Trussell Trust. The package will provide over 4million meals to families.