Some 500 schools are set to receive free fruit and veg under the scheme
Tesco’s Fruit & Veg for Schools programme, developed in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation, is to be expanded for another year to reach more schools across the UK.
For the whole of the next academic year (2025/2026), free fruit and veg from local Tesco stores will be donated to children in 500 schools.
The Tesco Fruit and Veg for Schools programme launched in September 2024 as part of the supermarket’s Stronger Starts funding and community support for children. The second year of funding will continue to be specifically targeted in areas where the proportion of pupils receiving free school meals is above 50 per cent.
The focus on areas with higher free school meal participation is particularly important because data shows that families on lower incomes struggle to afford a healthy diet, Tesco said.
Only 12 per cent of children aged between 11 and 18 are meeting the 5 A Day recommendation, and for children taking part in the scheme, Tesco expects to see their overall fruit and veg intake increase by 23 per cent, based on the average 5 A Day intakes in school-aged children.
The schools taking part in the scheme will be able to shop for the fruit and veg the school needs in stores local to their school.
The most popular fruits in year one were apples (225,585kg), bananas (108,602kg), oranges (92,597kg), grapes (39,771kg) and strawberries (37,735kg).
Ashwin Prasad, Tesco’s UK CEO, said: “Schools have told us what a positive impact the Tesco Fruit and Veg for Schools programme has made on their children, so we are delighted we are able to support even more schools in year two.
“The first year of our programme has been a huge success and by expanding it we can ensure that even more young people in some of the most challenged communities in the UK get access to more fruit and veg.”
