Iceland to provide low-income families with freezers to improve access to frozen food

Iceland Foods has partnered with Birds Eye and Currys to launch a new project aimed at providing low-income families with freezers to improve their access to the benefits of frozen food.

The new partnership follows the publication of research from Manchester Met which shows that families switching from fresh to frozen food halve their food waste and reduce their household grocery bill by almost a quarter.https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/10/18/brits-turn-to-frozen-aisle/

Around one in every ten UK households are currently living without a freezer, meaning they have no access to frozen food.

The pilot scheme will provide low-income families with freezers, as well as information, recipes and support, before exploring the impact on their household finances and eating habits.

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Taking place in Salford, the project – which is being run with Clarion Housing Group, the largest social landlord in the country – will then be evaluated by Manchester Metropolitan University, with the aim of supporting families to adopt a more affordable and healthy diet, before replicating the scheme in communities across the UK.

Findings from the innovative project, which brings the expertise of frozen food specialists and the social housing sector together, will then be shared with UK policymakers, social landlords, local authorities, retailers and charities.

The packages of support have been developed to meet the needs of individual families; some will receive face-to-face support including cooking classes and help with budgeting, while others will be able to access online information.

Freezers will be donated by Currys in consultation with each household to identify the best solution for them based on their needs, available space and energy use, helping to mitigate the impact of energy price rises.

“The cost-of-living crisis is a concern for households across the UK and we know many people will be looking for ways to lower the cost of their food shop,” said Iceland’s executive chairman, Richard Walker,

“This unique community project will help families with barriers to freezer ownership, and we hope that we will find that families can save money and improve their diets when they are able to access and use freezers and frozen food.”

Birds Eye general manager Steve Challouma added: “Birds Eye is committed to serving the world with better food, and this ambition applies to all communities within the UK.

“We know that in times of financial stress households turn to frozen food more than ever, and that this is due in part to these valuable benefits. By making healthy options more convenient, and by reducing food waste, we hope that this project succeeds in helping participating families and households adopt healthier and more affordable eating habits.”