Cadbury owner donates thousands of chocolates to food charity

09-Dec-2019 - Last updated on 09-Dec-2019 at 12:02 GMT

A volunteer at one of Fareshare's warehouses loads up tins of Cadbury Heroes for redistribution this Christmas. Pic: Mondelēz International

Mondelēz International, owner of the Cadbury brand and one of the UK’s largest food manufacturers, has donated over 150,000 products, including Cadbury Heroes, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Oreos to FareShare, the country’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste.

As part of Cadbury Heroes’ 20th anniversary celebrations, the donated products will be distributed across FareShare’s network of over 11,000 charities and community groups, reaching thousands of vulnerable people this Christmas.

Struggling to make ends meet

With many people across the UK struggling to make ends meet, particularly during the festive period, Mondelēz is also calling on Brits to become ‘Food Heroes’ by donating or volunteering their time to FareShare.

FareShare is also taking part in the BigGive Christmas Challenge, a match funding campaign where all donations between 3 – 10 December to participating charities are doubled, increasing the vital funds raised.

Aislinn Campbell, brand manager for Cadbury Heroes, said: “Christmas has always been about generosity, and we hope that we can bring some joy to those in need at this special time of year.

“FareShare plays such an important role, preventing food waste and redistributing it to those that need it most. Unfortunately, it’s a sad reality that this role is more important than ever with an increasing number of people struggling to make ends meet and we’d urge as many people as possible to become a ‘Food Hero’ to help the most vulnerable people in our society and spread some generosity to those that may be struggling.”

Emotional wellbeing

Luxury products, such as chocolate, are particularly welcome at this time of year as research conducted by NatCen on behalf of FareShare has shown receiving occasional luxury products positively affects the beneficiaries’ emotional wellbeing, as “these products serve as a welcome and enjoyable treat, particularly for beneficiaries recovering from challenging situations”.

Alyson Walsh, commercial director at Fareshare, said: “A treat makes life feel just that little bit sweeter for someone who is struggling and working with organisations such as Mondelez really helps us ensure the UK’s most vulnerable people have the best Christmas possible.”

Volunteering time to help redistribute food or sort through donations in the warehouse is essential to helping FareShare continue to help it work with the most vulnerable people in society.