Asda have brought back its popular café ‘winter warmer’ £1 meal deal to support the over 60’s this winter as they continue to face increased financial pressures during the colder winter months.
In the first two weeks over 60,000 meals have already been served to pensioners showing how vital this deal is across this age group.
From 1st November until the end of February, Asda are offering people aged 60 and over the chance to enjoy soup, a roll and unlimited tea and coffees for just £1 in any of Asda’s 205 cafes.
Asda’s Community and Customer Champions are also inviting and encouraging many local over 60’s group and individuals to come along to their store Chatty Café to use the £1 Winter Warmer meal as an opportunity to come and chat to others.
Asda’s new Christmas Community Report lays bare the lack of human interaction and conversations millions of older people suffer during the festive period, with one in 10 not sure they will speak to anyone between December 15th and January 1st and one in 10 over 60’s said they’d gone to a supermarket simply to speak to another person.
Last Christmas, almost one in five (17 per cent) said there were days when they didn’t speak to a single soul, and during the two-and-a-half-week spell running from mid-December to the end of the year, 15 per cent said they got used to not conversing with other people.
The retailer first launched Winter Warmers in November 2022 for two months in a bid to support older customers who were disproportionately affected by the spiralling living costs, with 65-to-74-year-olds experiencing a £163 year-on-year drop in disposable income in August 2022.
The initiative saw over 1.2 million soup meals served and the retailer has now brought back the deal until February 28th in 2025.
The offer is available all day, every day and will run alongside the Kids eat for £1’ offer which continues to be hugely popular, with more than 4.9 million meals served since its launch in June 2022, and over 1.8 million in the last year alone. Grandparents can bring along their grandchildren and all eat in Asda Café’s for as little as £4 (2 adults, 2 children).
The latest figures from Asda’s income trackerreveal that the lowest income households will continue to feel the impact of the cost-of-living crisis for a little longer.
The spending power of these households is increasing slower than others, meaning for many people, their net income does not cover bills and essential spending – leaving them with an average weekly shortfall of £66.
Ian McEvans, Asda’s Commercial Vice President Fresh and Frozen said: “We know winter is set to be incredibly hard for thousands of pensioners as they continue to worry about how to keep themselves warm in the face of rising living costs and on a fixed income.
“We’ve already served 60,000 meals to the over 60’s in the first two weeks, and since its launch 1.2 million meals have been sold showing the vital need for this initiative.
“By bringing Winter Warmers back for 2024 and extending it until February we hope it will prove just as impactful across the winter months for those who need it most.”
Selected Asda stores also run a ‘Community Cuppa’ campaign in our cafes by creating space for community groups who may otherwise struggle to meet due to rental costs or high energy costs.
Spaces will be available on weekdays in November and December from 2pm to 6pm and all community group members who visit will receive unlimited free tea or coffee.
