Brakes and Bidfood join forces to help vulnerable

Two of the sector’s biggest foodservice wholesalers have teamed up to ensure the nation’s most vulnerable people stay fed.

Brakes and Bidfood are working with Defra to manage the sourcing and distribution of food parcels to the doorsteps of society’s most in-need people during the coronavirus outbreak.

The businesses will now deliver care boxes across the country, with the first packages containing 20 essential products, such as milk, bread, pasta and toilet roll, being dropped off this weekend.

In a joint statement from Bidfood CEO Andrew Selley and his Brakes counterpart, Hugo Mahoney, the companies outlined the roles they’d be playing in the scheme.

“During this national crisis, Bidfood and Brakes, the UK’s largest wholesalers, have joined forces to deliver weekly food and essential supply boxes to many of the 1.5m extremely vulnerable people in isolation,” the statement read.

“Moving at record pace, we have worked with government departments to create a service capable of reaching every corner of England, through our national depot networks. Our security-checked, professional delivery drivers are hugely motivated and proud to be playing their part in serving their local communities in this fantastic endeavour.”

The initiative is part of a wider IGD push to encourage retailers, manufacturers, government, trade associations and other key stakeholders to ensure food flows through the supply chain – especially to the people who are most vulnerable.

Central to the most effective actions being taken across the industry is working together, which is a factor not lost on IGD’s CEO Susan Barratt.

“Coronavirus is expected to continue impacting us all for many months, making collaboration over the coming weeks absolutely crucial,” said Barratt.

“We’ll continue to bring industry and government together, doing everything in our power to support the right decisions being taken at the right time, to ensure the food and consumer goods industry continues to provide for the British public.”

Bidfood Brakes coronavirus covid-19 delivery Foodservice IGD wholesaler