Asda shares important reminder to families to help them budget over the school holidays

• Sales of Asda £1 kids’ café meal deals increase by 150% across the summer holidays
• Over 4.2 million kids’ £1 meals served to date, peaking to over 80,000 a week during summer holidays
• Asda are the only retailer not to require any minimum spend or adult purchase.

Asda are reminding customers of a lifeline available for families during the school holidays. It’s hugely popular ‘Kids Eat for £1’ café meal deal is available in over 205 Asda Café’s with the deal available all year round and not just during the school holidays.

Last year, the retailer refreshed the kid’s café menu with more nutritionally balanced offers, including new vegan and healthy meal options and last year served over a whopping 80,000 meals a week across the summer school holidays providing a lifeline for many cash strapped families.

The news come as the latest figures from Asda’s Income Tracker reveal that almost all UK households saw a slowdown in disposable income growth, meaning that the lowest earning households’ disposable income only grew by 8.3% in June. Budgets for these families remain under pressure as their take home pay was still not enough to cover bills and essential spending, leaving them with an average weekly shortfall of £68.

The initiative stands apart from the many other retailers who offer similar deals, as the meals in Asda cafes comes with no hidden extra’s or spend requirements such as a minimum adult spend or purchase.

The supermarket launched the offer for kids under 16 to enjoy a hot meal in any of their 205 cafes in June 2022 and has now served over a staggering 4.2 million meals to kids in its cafes nationwide.

The kids menu has a variety of meals including dishes such as Penne Pasta with Meatballs and a vegan Hidden Veg pasta meal, alongside firm favourites fish fingers, chicken nuggets and the all day breakfast, there is also the option of swapping out chips for a salad or peas.

In addition, children will receive a free piece of fruit such as and apple, pear or banana when purchasing the hot kids £1 meal deal.

As an alternative to a hot meal, Asda Café’s also offer a £1 cold pick and mix selection that includes a sandwich, drink and piece of fruit, the menu includes new treats such as a jelly pot with whole fruit pieces or a jelly squeeze pouch as an alternative to a pack of crisps.

Across the summer, Asda have teamed up with BBC Tiny Happy People and BBC Children in Need to offer fun, free summer holiday activity ideas that customers and colleagues can enjoy both in-store and at home with their little ones. New colouring and craft activity sheets are available at Pudsey Clubs held by our Asda Community Champions nationwide and in selected café stores. Families can download and print the BBC Tiny Happy People Holiday Club Activity Pack here

Gemma Rutter, Asda Café Buying Manager said: “ As families prepare for the long summer school holidays, for many households this can put additional strain on already tight budgets. Our kids eat for £1 initiative is designed to help families manage this juggle and since we launched the initiative in June 2022, we’ve been able to serve over 4.2 million meals.  We know that over the long summer holiday period we see sales of these meals increase by up to 150% – so we know it provides a lifeline for many families who don’t have to worry about any minimum adult spend. We hope that it will support many more families in the coming weeks.”