LIDL ROLLS OUT CUSTOMER FOOD DONATION BOXES IN STORES NATIONWIDE TO HELP SUPPORT LOCAL COMMUNITIES

• Lidl customer food donation boxes begin to arrive in stores nationwide to support vulnerable families and community groups via partner Neighbourly
• The initiative is an extension of Lidl’s ‘Feed it Back’ scheme which launched in 2017 in partnership with Neighbourly to encourage customers to donate food and toiletries to local charities
• The retailer has so far donated over 5m meals to community projects through the scheme’s food surplus redistribution network

25^th March 2020: Lidl has today started to roll out its new customer food donation boxes in stores nationwide in an effort to help local community groups and those in need of food and supplies. The initiative comes as an extension of its existing ‘Feed in Back’ scheme which is run in partnership with Neighbourly.

The boxes will be available in store for those customers who may wish to donate any food or groceries to the cause.

Donations will be distributed to a broad range of organisations across Neighbourly's extensive network of community partners including food banks, community centres, soup kitchens and more, where any donated food will be put to good use every day.

Christian Härtnagel, CEO at Lidl GB commented: “The current situation continues to be very challenging for everyone and that’s why we’re extending our ‘Feed it Back’ scheme with Neighbourly in our stores to offer our customers the chance to help make a difference too, if they feel they are able to. In these trying times, it’s vitally important that we look to help those within our communities who are in most need of our support.”

Steve Butterworth, CEO at Neighbourly, added: "We're pleased to be able to support Lidl as they roll out this new initiative. Our network of charities and community causes are working round the clock at this time to support isolated and vulnerable members of the community with food and basic essentials. Anything that customers can donate will make a huge difference to someone in their community."

The roll out follows last week’s announcement that the supermarket will donate £100,000 to its partnership with Neighbourly as part of the Covid-19 Emergency Community Fund.

Lidl has run its ‘Feed it Back’ scheme in partnership with Neighbourly since 2017, which enables the retailer to distribute unsold surplus food to local communities, and has so far donated the equivalent of over 5 million meals to its partner charities.

Any community projects that are interested in partnering with a Lidl store for ongoing food surplus donation can visit www.neighbourly.com/FeedItBack or email lidl@neighbourly.com.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About the Covid-19 Emergency Community Fund

The donation will be distributed to a broad range of organisations from Lidl’s existing Feed it Back food surplus redistribution network including community centres, foodbanks, schools, homeless shelters, care homes, youth groups, health charities and more.  Many are long standing partners of Lidl who stores regularly work with and have direct relationships with through food surplus programmes.  The money will be spent on improving the access to more food for community members as well as helping to support the running of charities core services.

About Lidl GB

Since establishing itself in Great Britain in 1994, Lidl has experienced continuous growth and today has over 24,500 employees, 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 287,000 employees globally, currently operates approximately 10,800 stores and more than 160 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.