To help families struggling with life crises, Tesco is offering free meals for children during the school summer holidays at its supermarket cafes.
Clubcard holders with up to £3.25 of a free meal are available with any item purchased at the retailer’s 311 Cafe between July 25 and August 26.
Asda and Morrison have previously announced meal deals to support parents during summer vacation.
The cheapest item shoppers can buy to get Tesco’s special offer is a piece of fruit for 60p. Other low-cost menu items include a bottle of water for 85p, £1 biscuits, £2 bakery items and £1.80 breakfast tea.
The kids’ breakfast menu includes beans, eggs or avocado on toast, and hot meal-bargain options—which come with vegetables, a side, and a drink—may include sausage, macaroni cheese, chicken goujon or fish fingers. can. ,
There are also cold packed-lunch options including sandwiches, drinks, a piece of fruit and two snacks.
Other supermarkets have launched similar deals to help parents deal with the increased costs. Asda is selling kids meals for £1 starting Monday, with no minimum adult fee. Children Eat free at Morrisons Cafe when adults purchase a meal for £4.99 or more.
The Asda proposal has been included in the government’s home campaign support Supporting struggling Britons as food and bill prices rise. The package also includes a re-introduction of Sainsbury’s “Feed Your Family for a Fever” campaign.
The government’s initiative has been criticized by campaigners for not doing enough to support the families.
Sign up for the Daily Business Today email or on Twitter @BusinessDesk. Follow Guardian Business
Child’s Chief Executive Alison Garnham poverty The action group accused the government of “abandoning” children to “face the tough summer with insufficient support”.
Experts argue that supermarket cafe free deals for kids’ dinners encourage low-income families to feed their kids ultra-processed junk food in the summer holidays.
Barbara Crowther of the food charity Sustain said kids’ menus often contain foods loaded with saturated fat, salt and sugar. She said: “Such high consumption of those types of food in the summer can accumulate major health problems in the long term for children.”