Asda launches free breakfast scheme for kids this half term

Families are also being offered a main meal for children that costs just £1 in all Asda cafes as the supermarket hopes to continue helping customers manage the cost of living crisis.

During the February half term, children up to the age of 16 will be able to get a free bowl of Quaker porridge from 8am to 12pm every day from February 9-22 in 205 of Asda’s cafes, on top of the existing main meal for £1 offer.

The partnership is expected to allow for more than 50,000 bowls of porridge to be served to children across the country.

The breakfast offer will run from February 9 to February 22 (Image: Asda)

Each child can claim one free porridge as an eat-in option at Asda Cafes and, as with the Asda £1 kids menu, no other terms and conditions apply – no minimum spend or a paying adult is required to claim the offers.

Recent research from the charity Magic Breakfast has shown that 81% of schools believe that child hunger has increased in their community in the last year and 94% believe poverty has increased. 

Additionally, 95 per cent of schools agree that breakfast provision has positively impacted concentration in class and 87 per cent agree it alleviates pressure on family budgets.

More than 1.1 million £1 meals have been sold to date with Asda seeing a tenfold increase in meals served across key school holiday periods demonstrating the impact holidays can have on families’ budgets.

Main meals for kids are also available for £1 (Image: Asda)

During the December Christmas holiday period, 100,000 meals were served compared to 40,000 meals sold at the end of November.

In January, Asda announced that both its Kids £1 meals and over 60’s Winter Warmer £1 soup café initiatives would be extended until the end of March.

The extension also comes after Asda's Income Tracker shows that household disposable incomes fell by an average of 11.4 per cent during the fourth quarter to £209 per week, compared to £236 per week in Q4 the previous year.

Kris Comerford, Asda’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We know when families are preparing for the school holidays it can often mean an additional strain on household budgets – especially feeding and entertaining their children.

“We remain as committed as ever to supporting our customers in tackling these tough times. Our café initiatives continue to provide a lifeline for over 1.5 million customers since we launched them last year, and we hope by offering a free warm breakfast in the February half term, it will help support many more in the coming weeks.”

Divesh Parmar, General Manager, Quaker Oats UK, said: "It's so important that everyone has access to breakfast to start the day which is why we’re partnering with Asda to provide free Quaker Oats porridge to children this half term. This initiative, alongside our new Share the Warmth campaign, means we can play a small part in getting a warm, nutritious breakfast to people who really need it this winter."

The current Kids for £1 menu includes a choice of six hot meals in selected cafes or a cold pick-and-mix sandwich meal deal for just £1.