Sainsbury’s reintroducing £2 top up coupons to accompany NHS Healthy Start
Sainsbury’s has announced that it will once again top up the Government funded NHS Healthy Start scheme by £2.
The firm say this move could help feed more than half a million pregnant women and children in need of support over the coming months.
The retailer will be providing a £2 coupon every week over the next six months to customers using a Healthy Start card in Sainsbury’s, starting this week on Wednesday 12th October, until Tuesday 11th April 2023.
The NHS Healthy Start scheme helps to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies and young children under four from low-income households.
Customers in England who use a Healthy Start card when shopping at Sainsbury’s automatically receive a printed coupon worth £2 to use towards fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables during their next shop.
Sainsbury’s first introduced the £2 top-up coupon in 2021, helping families during February half term and beyond. The coupon was then reintroduced throughout the winter to provide extra help to those who may be struggling over the Christmas period.
The additional £2 coupon was found to have a significant change on customer eating habits. Analysis by Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, in partnership with IGD, revealed that as a result of offering the top-up coupon, the number of fruit and vegetable portions purchased per customer significantly increased year on year.
Sainsbury’s customers redeeming an NHS Healthy Start scheme top-up coupon purchased 13 more portions of fruit and vegetables per basket compared to those that didn’t, allowing low-income families to have access to nutritious food.
Ruth Cranston, Director of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Sainsbury’s said, “We know that times are tough for millions of families across the country, and that the rising cost-of-living is causing uncertainty for many of our customers, so today we’ve announced that we’ll be topping up the Government funded NHS Healthy Start scheme by £2 for the third time.”
