SMURFIT Kappa has announced it has been selected by food service provider Bidfood to support its quest to send food parcels to 1.5 million vulnerable people in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those identified as vulnerable, who have registered for a care package online, have started to receive the parcels, which contain essential items including pasta, fruit, milk and bread as well as items such as toilet rolls and shower gel.
A dedicated team within the Smurfit Kappa Yate corrugated plant, supported by the Smurfit Kappa paper division and Downton Logistics, has been helping to meet Bidfood’s packaging requirements. A turnaround time of just three days was achieved, from enquiry to delivery, into nine Bidfood depots.
Smurfit Kappa said the first deliveries of food parcels have had an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ response.
Richard Ranby, director of procurement & property at Bidfood said, “During this national crisis, we’ve been delighted with the support that Smurfit Kappa have provided in turning around essential supply boxes so rapidly for the Government’s local supply scheme, which has been crucial in our efforts to feed hundreds of thousands who are extremely vulnerable, and in isolation.
“We’ve all had to work closely together to move at pace to mobilise what has been the biggest effort of its kind since the Second World War.”
