QUINCY, Mass. — Stop & Shop announced that its 31st annual Food for Friends campaign raised more than $2 million for its 12 regional food bank partners to combat summer hunger in the communities it serves, breaking all previous years’ donation records. Stop & Shop also teamed up with Knorr®, an international brand offering a wide range of bouillons, soups, seasonings, sauces, soupy snacks, dressings, and frozen and ready-made meals, to collect food donations in-store for local hunger-relief organizations during the campaign.
Summer can be the hungriest time of year for kids. While during the school year families rely on free or reduced-priced meals at school, families have to buy more food when school is out, and children are at home – creating additional financial strain and sometimes forcing them to go hungry. An annual summer donation program, Stop & Shop’s Food for Friends campaign allows customers at the grocer’s 400+ stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey to donate at checkout to support food insecure families across the Northeast.
“We’re humbled by the incredible generosity of our customers who came out to support our Food for Friends program in its 31st year,” said Gordon Reid, President of Stop & Shop. “The outcome of the month-long campaign not only shows the value of communities coming together, but our steadfast commitment to helping our food bank partners provide nutritious food to families in need.”
Throughout the month of May, customers who shopped in stores and online were asked if they would like to round up their total to the nearest dollar or donate an additional $1, $3, or $5, and Stop & Shop donated 100% of the change to regional food banks across its footprint. In addition to the in-store and online components of the campaign, customers were also able to donate non-perishable food items such as Knorr® rice and pasta sides, cereals, and canned goods at the Food for Friends donation bins that are located at each Stop & Shop store to benefit local hunger-relief organizations.
“Unilever’s Knorr brand believes that wholesome, nutritious food should be accessible and affordable to all,” said Christina DiPietro, Unilever Team Lead. “We are proud to be Stop & Shop’s first manufacturer partner for their annual Food for Friend’s campaign helping to raise over $2 million to benefit local food banks helping to fight food insecurity in our communities.”
Funds raised during Stop & Shop’s Food for Friends campaign will benefit the following food banks:
- The Greater Boston Food Bank
- Worcester County Food Bank
- The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
- Rhode Island Community Food Bank
- Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare
- Feeding Westchester
- Food Bank of the Hudson Valley
- Food Bank for New York City
- Community Foodbank of New Jersey
- Fulfill
- Island Harvest
- Long Island Cares
For more information on Stop & Shop’s programs to support local communities, visit https://stopandshop.com/community/.
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion people every day. Unilever’s vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how its purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance.
About Stop & Shop
A neighborhood grocer for more than 100 years, Stop & Shop offers a wide assortment with a focus on fresh, healthy options at a great value. Stop & Shop’s GO Rewards loyalty program delivers personalized offers and allows customers to earn points that can be redeemed for gas or groceries every time they shop. Stop & Shop customers can choose how and where they want to shop – whether in-store or online for delivery or same day pickup. The company is committed to making an impact in its communities by fighting hunger, supporting our troops, and investing in pediatric cancer research to help find a cure. The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC is an Ahold Delhaize USA Company and employs 58,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit www.stopandshop.com.
About Knorr
Knorr believes that wholesome, nutritious food should be accessible and affordable to all. That’s not a reality for everyone in today’s America. That’s why we’re on a journey to ensure all Americans can create healthy meals they feel good about. Whether it’s creating high-quality products, offering simple chef-developed recipes, or supporting organizations and initiatives that provide access to healthy foods, Knorr remains committed to its long history of making good food available to everyone. The business was formed in 1838, when founder Carl Heinrich Knorr pioneered experiments in drying seasonings and vegetables to preserve their flavor and nutritional value. Since then, Knorr® has become an international brand offering a wide range of bouillons, soups, seasonings, sauces, soupy snacks, dressings, and frozen and ready-made meals.
About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion people every day. We have 149,000 employees and generated sales of €50.7 billion in 2020. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes iconic brand such as: Dove, Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Magnum, Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Q-tips, Seventh Generation, St. Ives, Suave, TRESemmé, and Vaseline.
Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world’s first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it’s at the heart of how we run our company today.
The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:
- improving the health of the planet;
- improving people’s health, confidence and wellbeing; and
- contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.
While there is still more to do, we are proud to have been recognized in 2020 as a sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and – for the tenth-consecutive year – as the top ranked company in the 2020 GlobeScan/SustainAbility Sustainability Leaders survey.
For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com
For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca
