Tesco brings back ‘Kids Eat Free’ scheme over October half term to support families amid cost of living crisis

Tesco is bringing back its ‘Kids Eat Free’ scheme in its cafés over the October half-term to help struggling families during the cost of living crisis.

The supermarket first introduced the initiative during the summer school holidays, allowing parents to claim one free kids’ meal worth up to £3.25.

To claim the free meal, shoppers must spend at least 60p on a piece of fresh fruit and must also be a Clubcard holder to be able to take part in the scheme.

The freebie will be available in 311 Tesco cafés on weekdays from 17 to 28 October in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It will also run between 31 October and 4 November in Wales.

During the summer school holidays, Tesco said its cafes gave away free meals for more than 260,000 children.

Alessandra Bellini, chief customer officer at Tesco, previously said: “Kids Eat Free is just one of the ways we’re helping our customers to spend less at Tesco.

“We know that costs can add up over the school holidays, so offering free meals to children with any item purchased at our cafés for an adult, is one of the ways we are supporting parents during this time.”

What meals can kids get for free?

The full Tesco café kids menu is as follows:

Kids breakfast - £2.25

• Little Beans on Toast
• Little Eggs on Toast
• Little Avocado on Toast

Kids hot meal deal (includes a veg, a side and a drink) - £3.25

• Pork Sausages
• Baked Chicken Goujons
• Omega 3 Fish Fingers
• Hidden Veg Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Kids cold pick and mix deal - £3

• One sandwich
• One fruit item
• Choice of two snacks
• One drink

What are other supermarkets offering?

Asda is providing a ‘Kids Eat for £1’ initiative that has been hugely popular, with more than 557,000 meals served since its launch in late June. The offer was introduced in England and Wales on 25 July and runs every day until the end of the year.

It also launched a ‘winter warmer’ meal deal consisting of a soup, roll and unlimited tea or coffee for just £1 for all customers over the age of 60. The supermarket’s Income Tracker showed that those within the age range of 65 to 74 experienced a £163 drop in disposable income in August, compared to last year.

Mohsin Issa, Asda’s Co-owner, said: “We know that this winter is set to be incredibly hard for thousands of pensioners as they worry about how to keep themselves warm in the face of rising living costs and a fixed income.

“We’ve already been able to serve over half a million meals through our Kids Eat for £1 initiative in our cafés and we’re hoping our new offer of soup and hot drinks for over 60s will prove just as impactful for those who need it most.”

Elsewhere, Tesco has announced a price lock on thousands of products until next year and Morrisons has cut the prices across 150 of its most purchased products, including meat, veg and fruit.