// Iceland to launch a new project aimed at providing low-income families with freezers
// The frozen food retailer has teamed up with Birds Eye and Currys to launch the project
Iceland has kickstarted a new project aimed at providing low-income families with freezers as the cost-of-living crisis continues to affect them.
The frozen food retailer has teamed up with Birds Eye and Currys to launch the project, which will improve the families’ access to the benefits of frozen food.
The initiative comes after research from Manchester Met showed that families switching from fresh to frozen food halve their food waste and reduce their household grocery bill by almost a quarter.
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Around one in every ten UK households are currently living without a freezer, meaning they have no access to frozen food.
The pilot scheme will provide low-income families with freezers, as well as information, recipes and support, before exploring the impact on their household finances and eating habits.
Taking place in Salford, the project – which is being run with Clarion Housing Group, the largest social landlord in the country – will then be evaluated by Manchester Metropolitan University, with the aim of supporting families to adopt a more affordable and healthy diet, before replicating the scheme in communities across the UK.
The packages of support have been developed to meet the needs of individual families; some will receive face-to-face support including cooking classes and help with budgeting, while others will be able to access online information.
Currys will donate the freezers following a consultation with each household to identify the best solution for them based on their needs, available space and energy use, helping to mitigate the impact of energy price rises.
“The cost-of-living crisis is a concern for households across the UK and we know many people will be looking for ways to lower the cost of their food shop,” Iceland executive chairman, Richard Walker said.
“This unique community project will help families with barriers to freezer ownership, and we hope that we will find that families can save money and improve their diets when they are able to access and use freezers and frozen food.”
