Last year saw the meteoric rise of chain restaurants offering kids eat free initiatives during the summer holiday period. With the cost of living still high (and often growing at times) and many families feeling the pinch, it’s expected that more businesses will offer this throughout summer 2023.
One of the most positive things about the initiative last year, which we’re hoping to see again this year, was how large food providers across the UK banded together. This is not an issue that affects just a small percentage of the population, the increased cost in living is affecting all families and businesses, too.
Kids eat free initiatives provides a wide range of benefits to both businesses and the end consumer, such as:
- Increased brand awareness
- Improved positive brand alignment with your consumer base
- The opportunity to encourage future visits from customers
- Supporting families throughout the UK
- Ensuring that children are still able to receive tasty and nutritious food
That’s why we at Kara want to encourage those businesses (that can) to jump on board with this initiative this summer. Our range is cost-effective and allows caterers to create a wide range of dishes that are suitable for all taste buds and dietary requirements.
Asda takes the lead
In June 2022, supermarket giant, Asda, launched their ‘Kids Eat for £1’ promotion. This promotion was open for children under 16 to enjoy a hot meal in one of their 205 cafes for just £1. The campaign was hugely popular and praised by consumers and as of May 2023, Asda had served over 1,600,000 meals. The scheme was reintroduced for the May 2023 half term and on 29th June, the supermarket announced it was launching half price café meals for adults, to run alongside their extended kids eat for £1 scheme. This promotion is running from 30th June until 4th September 2023.
On their initiative, Kris Comerford, Asda’s Chief Commercial Officer, commented: “We know when families are preparing for the school holidays it can often mean an additional strain on household budgets. Our kids £1 café meal deals continue to provide a lifeline to families as we’ve served over 1,700,000 million meals since launch. Now with the introduction of half price adult main mains in cafés from 3pm onwards, it means we can extend our support to the whole family in the coming weeks and across the summer holidays.”
Retailers supporting the UK
It doesn’t just stop at Asda though. Following a successful promotion last year, Tesco have announced they will once again be running a special offer at their Cafes throughout the summer. For any purchase made at a Tesco café from Monday to Friday, children can get a free breakfast or lunch meal deal. Meals include beans on toast, avocado on toast, fish fingers with two sides and mac and cheese.
In Summer 2022, and again during the 2023 half terms so far, Marks & Spencer launched their free kids’ lunch at their café. This offer provided a free munch meal, worth £4, every time a purchase of £5 or more was made at an M&S café. It’s not yet been announced if this promotion will run again this summer, but with many supermarkets continuing with their previous promos, we’d be shocked not to see M&S continue with theirs too.
Chain restaurants
It’s not just supermarkets that are getting involved this year. TGI Fridays are looking to support the whole family this summer, with a free kids meal available with every adult meal purchased. The only catch with this promotion is you have to sign up for the TGI Friday Stripes Rewards scheme.
Italian chain, Bella Italia, are running a mid-week promotion Monday-Thursday from 4pm-6pm. Get a kids meal for just £1 with the purchase of any adult meal. This is one of the best deals on the market as the £1 kids meal includes three courses and a drink, for kids up to the age of 11.
Will you get involved?
The rising cost of living is causing a lot of stress for many families of all sizes, but these initiatives are just one of many ways that families can enjoy a summer together without the worry of inflated costs. If you’re looking to get involved and design your menus to offer this kind of service, explore our product range or find your nearest Kara stockist today.
