NI schools benefit as Tesco expands free fruit and veg initiative to help more children eat healthier

Tesco has announced the expansion of its Fruit & Veg for Schools programme, ensuring thousands more pupils across the UK – including in Northern Ireland – will receive free fruit and vegetables every school day throughout the 2025/26 academic year.

The initiative, developed in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation, launched in September 2024 as part of Tesco’s Stronger Starts community support scheme.

Following a successful first year, the supermarket giant will extend the programme to reach more than 550 schools nationwide, up from around 500 last year.

In Northern Ireland, 20 schools took part during the first year of the initiative, which saw around 140,000 children supported with over 10 million portions of fruit and veg across the UK.

The scheme is specifically targeted at schools where more than half of pupils receive free school meals, helping children in areas where families often struggle to afford a healthy diet.

Only 12% of children aged 11–18 currently meet the government’s recommended five-a-day intake, according to the British Nutrition Foundation. Tesco says that children participating in the programme are expected to see their fruit and vegetable consumption rise by around 23%.

Positive Impact Across the UK

Each participating school can select the fruit and vegetables they need directly from their local Tesco store. In the programme’s first year, the most popular items were apples, bananas, oranges, grapes and strawberries.

Ashwin Prasad, Tesco UK CEO, said:

“Schools have told us what a positive impact the Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools programme has made on their children, so we are delighted we are able to support even more schools in year two.

“The first year of our programme has been a huge success and by expanding it we can ensure that even more young people in some of the most challenged communities in the UK get access to more fruit and veg.”

Caitlin Mullan, teacher at St Therese’s Primary School in Derry/Londonderry, praised the initiative’s educational and nutritional benefits:

“The Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools programme brought new excitement to breaktime for all children; they helped place orders and had great conversations about their most or least favourite fruit.

“There have been lots of different tastes and flavours experienced this year. It has also prompted children to budget the money allocated to their class to ensure they have enough fruit for the week, encouraging development of numeracy skills.”

She added that pupils were also involved in preparing and distributing the fruit, helping foster teamwork and responsibility.

Elaine Hindal, Chief Executive of the British Nutrition Foundation, said:

“Tesco’s Fruit & Veg for Schools programme has helped to improve the diets of our young people by helping them get more of their five a day, try new varieties and develop healthy habits that we hope will stay with them through life.

“We’re delighted to see the programme expanded to provide daily fruit and vegetables to even more children who might not normally be able to access them.”

Boosting Nutrition and Healthy Habits

Fruit and vegetables are essential for children’s growth and wellbeing, providing key nutrients including vitamins A and C, folate and fibre. The British Nutrition Foundation highlights that:

• Around 11% of 4–10 year olds and 18% of 11–18 year olds have low intakes of vitamin A, which supports the immune system and healthy skin.

• Only 14% of 4–10 year olds and 4% of 11–18 year olds meet recommended fibre intakes, which are vital for gut health and reducing disease risk later in life.

• Vitamin C plays an important role in maintaining healthy bones, gums, teeth and skin, as well as supporting the immune system.

To assess its impact, Tesco and the British Nutrition Foundation will continue to track progress through dedicated metrics at the end of the 2025 school year.

For more information about the British Nutrition Foundation, visit www.nutrition.org.uk.