Hovis®, the UK’s iconic 134-year-old bakery brand, has joined the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, formed and spear-headed by Marcus Rashford, which is calling for urgent action to end child food poverty.
Hovis, alongside other household brands such as Deliveroo and Tesco, aims to use its brand to support Marcus' cause and vision, to create lasting change and end the UK’s child food poverty crisis.
According to figures from the Food & Agricultural Organisation of the UN, around one in eight people in the UK struggle to afford a meal[1] while at the same time the UK has a food waste issue that sees around 250,000 tonnes of food that is fit for consumption being wasted by the UK food industry[2]. The move builds on Hovis’ existing commitments to promote healthy eating and support charities that are looking to help end food poverty.
Hovis, as of October 2020, has donated around 200,000 loaves of bread to families in need, through its partnership with Fareshare, the UK’s longest running food redistribution charity. Fareshare is also a member of the Marcus Rashford Taskforce and Hovis will continue to donate bread to vulnerable families as part of a wider food poverty campaign.
Marcus Rashford stated: “Hovis is a brand recognised nationally which offers us a louder voice to highlight the devastating effects of child food poverty across the UK. Following on from Hovis’ valuable work with Fareshare, I am thrilled to announce them as the newest addition to the Child Food Poverty Task Force.”
Pete Hill, Hovis HR Director stated: “Marcus Rashford has inspired people across the UK with his campaigning efforts calling for more support to help children living in food poverty."
“By sharing his own story and calling for action he has shown true leadership on this critical issue and we are proud to join the Marcus Rashford Taskforce and add our voice to the campaign."
“Hovis has an ongoing programme for donating food to vulnerable families but we recognise that this support, and the work done by charities such as our partner Fareshare, need to be part of a wider package of measures that bring food poverty among children in the UK to an end. We are committed to playing our part and we commend Marcus Rashford and all the supporting partners for their work in this area.”