The pandemic has affected businesses globally. Restrictions have impacted supply chains, many production lines have been brought to a halt and, for some, sales have slumped. But not all food and drink businesses have suffered, and lockdown has in fact brought the industry together.
Over the past few months we’ve seen organisations unite to support one another and maintain essential services for consumers. In this blog, we shine a light on those brands who are going above and beyond.
Supporting the NHS
When NHS workers said they were struggling to purchase essentials, supermarket giants responded by introducing dedicated shopping hours for key workers. And that was just the beginning.
From free food and drink to discounted products, charitable donations have flooded in. Household brands such as Kraft-Heinz, KFC and Bacardi have donated thousands of pounds to help aid recovery and research. However, smaller companies have also been doing their bit.
With hospital canteens closing at 5pm, Meals for the NHS was set up to fund food for key workers. Local restaurants including Zouk, La Bandera and national chain Nando’s have also been working to make and distribute food. Brockmans Gin is one of the many brands donating money to the cause. For every bottle of their £28 gin bought, they will give £6 of profits to the charity.
Looking out for those in need
And it’s not just NHS workers who need a little support. The closure of schools and community services created a demand for local help. But in a bid to combat this, a number of organisations have joined forces with community teams to support children and vulnerable adults during this time with cookery lessons and care packages. Fine food supplier Belazu has even placed professional chefs in primary schools to help meet the demand of free school meals.
A lack of corporate donations also meant that food banks were in need. Nut butter producer Pip & Nut listened to this with their ‘one from you, one from us’ scheme. Simply buy one jar of nut butter and they’ll donate a jar to a food bank.
New product development
The world applauded when UK brewer, BrewDog, announced it was releasing its very own hand sanitiser – which they would be distributing free of charge to those in need. Drinks company Diageo even pledged to donate two million litres of alcohol to its manufacturing partners to be used to create over eight million bottles of hand sanitiser.
It’s not all about charitable donations and acts of kindness either. Larger food brands adapted their advertising to help highlight the social distancing measures. McDonald’s in Brazil separated its iconic golden arches and Coca Cola in NYC spaced out the letters in its name in a Times Square advert.
Stories like these have to be one of the best things to come out of the pandemic – and we hope it lasts. Of course, the above examples are only a handful though. But, from donating some of their profits to charity to offering their services to the community food and drink businesses have highlighted what’s really important: being there for one another.
Have you got any others to add? We’d love to hear about them. Drop us a message on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram.