Children will be able to get free fruit at the checkout at branches of Tesco during the summer holiday as part of a new campaign announced by the retailer.
The initiative, which will run from August 4 to August 17, will see the supermarket chain give away an estimated 3.5m apples over the two-week period.
Tesco has launched the campaign, which has been backed by the Government, in response to figures showing fewer than one in 10 children and one in five adults eat the recommended five-a-day.
Heath and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “Obesity has doubled since the 1990s and costs our NHS £11 billion a year. Unless we curb the rising tide of cost and demand, the NHS risks becoming unsustainable. But we can’t do this alone.
“The declining health of the nation requires a national mission, working with all parts of our society – from industry to influencers – to reverse the decline and make sure that kids today grow up to be part of the healthiest generation ever.
“Our brilliant supermarkets already do so much work for our communities and are trying to make their stores healthier, and we want to work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field.”
In addition to the free fruit at the checkouts, Tesco will also offer around four million customers the opportunity to earn personalised Clubcard stamps on fresh fruit and veg, which can be converted into bonus Clubcard points and vouchers to spend in store, while millions of customers will also be able to earn extra points through new Clubcard Challenges on frozen fruit and veg, beans and pulses.
The campaign builds on the Stronger Starts Fruit & Veg for Schools which has seen free fruit and vegetables and other resources provided to schools in areas where there is a higher-than-average free school meal ratio.
Ashwin Prasad, Tesco’s UK CEO, said: “We understand that for many, there are barriers that make healthy eating feel hard. We want to help our customers make small changes that amount to big health benefits for themselves and their families.
“That’s why we’re setting out to make healthy choices easier every day, starting with new offers and support for families in store this summer.
“We’re bringing customers new ways to earn Clubcard points and vouchers as a fun and engaging way to help them towards their five-a-day, on top of new and existing great value offers on healthy staples.”