LIDL GB TO INCREASE VALUE OF HEALTHY START VOUCHERS IN A MOVE BACKED BY MARCUS RASHFORD MBE

• Lidl is the first retailer to increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers by more than one-third to support low-income families
• Between January and March 2021, the discounter is increasing the value of vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 in England and Wales, ahead of the Government increasing the value to this amount in April 2021
• The discounter has committed  up to £1m to help eligible parents and families provide healthy meals for their children
• The move supports one of the key asks of the Child Poverty Task Force, formed and spearheaded by Marcus Rashford MBE

18th December 2020: Lidl GB has today announced a supermarket-first initiative to increase the value of Healthy Start Vouchers* issued to parents in England and Wales from £3.10 to £4.25. Lidl’s investment is supported by the Child Poverty Task Force, formed and spearheaded by Marcus Rashford MBE, of which Lidl is a member.

From 4 January until the end of March 2021, the discounter will be topping up the value of the existing Healthy start vouchers by £1.15, providing eligible families with more to spend in store on healthy food.

Intended to support early years developments, the vouchers will enable parents and families that utilise the scheme and who shop in Lidl, to buy a range of healthy products outlined by the government including fresh, tinned, and frozen fruit, vegetables, and pulses, as well as milk, formula and vitamins to feed their young children.

Lidl’s Healthy Start top-up initiative is the first of its kind across all British retailers and builds on the work of Marcus Rashford’s Task Force who successfully lobbied the government to increase the value of the Healthy Start vouchers from April of next year.

The discounter has committed to investing up to £1m to plug the gap between January 2021 and the planned government increase in the value of the vouchers to £4.25 in April 2021.

Lidl GB CEO, Christian Härtnagel, said: “At Lidl, we know that it has been a challenging year for families and budgets are tight. We all have a role to play within the community and we are committed to helping these families in any way we can. This is why we have decided to bring forward the planned increase to the value of the Healthy Start vouchers across all our stores in England and Wales. We hope that it will enable parents up and down the country to access more healthy essentials to help feed their children.”

Marcus Rashford MBE said: “I’m delighted that Lidl has made such a positive move and committed to increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers. This was one of our Taskforce’s key asks and will make a huge difference to the most vulnerable people in our communities. We were thrilled when the government committed to increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers from April next year, however there is an urgent need to act now. Lidl’s decision to take action and support families and those in need further demonstrates what can be achieved when we work together. I would encourage all parents and families that need that extra support to sign up to the government’s scheme.”

Henry Dimbleby, the independent lead for the National Food Strategy, said: “The huge strain on family budgets resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic has made tackling rising child food poverty a matter of national urgency. That’s why one of our key recommendations in the National Food Strategy Part 1 was for the Government to increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers so that young children from low-income households can have access to the nutritious foods they need. We are delighted that this call has been met, by Government who will increase the value of the voucher from next April, and by retailers such as Lidl and Co-op who will be boosting the scheme to support their customers directly. This will have a rapid and significant impact on the diets and health of our youngest and most vulnerable children at a most critical time.”

Today’s announcement builds on Lidl’s existing work to support local communities. Last month, Lidl revealed its new 'Teaming up to Tackle Hunger' scheme, which will make it easier for customers to donate directly to their local community through the use vouchers - with the retailer matching every donation made until 16 December. Through this initiative, together with our customers, we’ve donated over 300,000 food products to local charities connected to our stores. The initiative forms part of Lidl’s ongoing ‘Feed it Back’ programme, which has seen Lidl donate over 6 million meals to an existing network of 2,400 local charities.

As part of this, Lidl has recently rolled out customer food donation boxes in stores nationwide, so every customer visiting a Lidl store has the opportunity to donate food directly to local community foodbanks. Lidl has also donated £300,000 to Neighbourly’s COVID Emergency Fund, to help charities access food and funding immediately during this time of need.

*More about Healthy Start Vouchers scheme here: https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/

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Notes to Editors

About Lidl GB

Since establishing itself in Great Britain in 1994, Lidl has experienced continuous growth and today has over 25,000 employees, over 800 stores and 13 distribution centres in England, Scotland and Wales. As part of the Schwarz retail group, Lidl is one of Europe’s leading organisations in the food retail industry. With a presence in 32 countries around the world, the supermarket, which has more than 310,000 employees globally, currently operates approximately 11,200 stores and more than 200 warehouses and distribution centres in 29 countries globally. The family supermarket takes pride in providing its customers with the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices throughout Great Britain, from Kirkwall to the Isle of Wight. Social responsibility and sustainability are at the core of the company's daily operations, with the company placing a strong emphasis on its responsibility for people, society and the environment. Lidl GB is passionate about working with British producers and sources two thirds of its products from British suppliers.

The Schwarz Group (Kaufland, Lidl) has been Europe's largest food retailer since 2014 and generated a turnover of €104.3 billion in financial year 2018.

For more information about Lidl GB visit https://corporate.lidl.co.uk/