Food donations equal to the weight of a railway locomotive from Tesco customers in the most successful fundraiser in the country’s history

Tesco customers contributed 133 tons of food, equivalent to the weight of a medium-sized railway locomotive, to the festive food collection campaign taking place on the weekend of November 14-16, which was organized by the Hungarian Food Bank Association again this year to support those living in difficult circumstances. In its most successful initiative to date, the organization is collecting around 140 million forints worth of non-perishable food in 141 Tesco stores.

Justin McKenzie Smith, the new UK Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Hungary, also offered his selfless help and, on his first official visit, was among the first donors to launch the campaign, along with Tesco CEO Zsolt Pálinkás.“Christmas is a special time of year, so I was delighted to support the joint charity collection of non-perishable food by Tesco and the Food Bank. Since taking office in October, it has quickly become clear to me that Tesco is just as well-known and respected a brand in Hungary as it is in the UK. I am extremely pleased that the weekend ended with a record amount of food donations, and it significantly contributes to the Food Bank’s vital mission to make the holidays more beautiful for families in need,” the ambassador said in relation to the results.

Most people donated pasta, flour and rice, but thousands also chose the donation packages available in 105 Tesco hypermarkets. These contained the ingredients for a complete main meal for a family of four – pasta, beef tomato sauce, dark chocolate pussedli and a delicious pudding dessert – pre-prepared, so that a multi-course festive dinner can also be served from the baskets to those in need.

The most active were the customers of the Váci út hypermarket in Budapest, the Mátészalka hypermarket and the Tesco Extra on Fogarasi út in Budapest, who contributed more than 8.9 tonnes of food to the total amount. However, in proportion to the size of the store, the Tesco supermarket in Szolnok-Szandaszőlős received the most donations, followed by the Tesco supermarket in Kunszentmiklós and the Tesco Express on Szigethy Attila út in Győr in the list of top 3 donation-collecting stores.

“I am extremely proud of our customers, who once again joined forces in large numbers for a good cause and ensured that those who often go without food during the year were well-fed at Christmas. Many people also chose the Donation Dinner packages, which provide convenient and quick help, which also makes it easier for charitable organizations cooperating with the Food Bank to distribute food, which always reaches people living nearby”

– said Nóra Hevesi, Head of Communications at Tesco-Global Zrt.