Tesco to donate thousands extra to poppy plight after Hovis row
Tesco is set to donate £40,000 to veteran-aid group The Poppy Appeal after a recent investigation. The supermarket stopped selling 11 Hovis lines on the 23rd of September after an apparent pricing disagreement, as Premier Foods tried to pass on commodity-fuelled price hikes on popular loaves during the heat of a fast-paced and fierce promotions war.
Due to the fact that two of the delisted Hovis loaves, which are the Seed Sensations Rich and the Roasted and Light & Nutty respectively, are promoting the poppy appeal and will donate 4p from each loaf, Tesco has vowed that it will donate the large amount of money to make amends and make sure that the hugely important Poppy Appeal, which is mostly dedicated to taking care of war veterans, wouldn’t go without.
In 2009 alone, the Hovis campaign managed to raise an impressive £130,654 for the group and actually expected to do much better this year with its four-week promotion. By the time it got underway on the 20th of October however, the two loaves in question had already been delisted and taken off Tesco’s shelves.
Speaking to clarify that his supermarket was well behind the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and all those related to it, a spokesman for the Tesco chain, which is one of the UK’s largest of its kind, pointed out that 10% of the total funds that are raised each year come from its stores alone and that not selling the Hovis loaves would not make a tremendous difference – especially when considering the large donation it will make to cover the delisting of the aforementioned two loaves.