British dairy products destined for cafes and restaurants will now be going into homes of some of the most vulnerable families in the country.
A new partnership between three food charities and the UK’s largest dairy co-operative will see milk and cheese provided to thousands of people who need it the most.
The challenges of coronavirus are hitting the dairy industry hard, with a surplus of milk now being produced on farms across the country.
To combat this, Arla Foods has partnered with FareShare, Food4Heroes, and Magic Breakfast to provide dairy for society's most vulnerable and NHS staff.
Working with Magic Breakfast, a national charity that gives healthy breakfasts for children, farmers who supply Arla will provide enough milk for 4.8m bowls of cereal over the next 12 weeks.
Arla, which has over 2,400 farmer owners, has committed over 35% of its milk produced at its site in Settle, North Yorkshire to the government’s care packages for vulnerable people.
The dairy co-op will also expand its partnership with FareShare and support the charity Food4Heroes, supplying products to those most in need and NHS workers.
These donations have contributed in the production of 27,000 meals by Food4Heroes to the NHS every week.
Jonathan Dixon, Vice President of Foodservice for Arla Foods UK, said: “To ensure milk isn’t wasted, where there are temporarily less foodservice outlets to sell dairy products into, we are redistributing them to where they are needed most; to those being shielded, those on the front line at our hospitals, and the children who are in need of nutritious products to help stay healthy at this time.”
Michael Shields, commercial manager at FareShare, thanked farmers who supply Arla for their 'generous donation' of UHT milk, cheese, yogurts and butter.
"Over the last month we've seen almost 500 new charities sign up to receive food from FareShare so our need has never been greater," he said.
