Morrisons contribute £10m to food banks during coronavirus crisis

Supermarket chain Morrisons is to contribute £10 million worth of goods to the food banks of United Kingdom as the outbreak of novel coronavirus has disrupted their supply. The retailer will reportedly produce additional food items at its production sites and strengthen distribution from its stores to support community food banks.

Chief Executive Officer of Morrison Supermarkets PLC, David Potts, stated that the company would ramp up its production of bakery, egg, fruit and vegetable by working for an additional hour each day, so that it could prepare, pack and manufacture food that is required to restock food banks.

The media report suggest that there has been a sharp decline in donations to community food banks across the United Kingdom as the majority of volunteers are elderly people who are presently self-isolating due to the outbreak of pandemic COVID-19. And it is when the demand is on its peak.

Davit Potts reaffirmed that as a food maker and shopkeeper Morrison is uniquely placed to help. He further addressed the struggle food banks are facing and stated that the company’s plan to run its manufacturing unit for an extra hour each day reflects the right decision at the right time.

The UK’s largest fresh food manufacturer also stated that its core purpose is to play the full part in feeding the nation, which serves to more than 12 million customer every week.

Potts further confirmed that the company plans to distribute £10 million worth of food to food banks by July 2020. Further to inspire its customers for charity, the company has lifted purchase limits to four items and eliminated limits on some goods altogether.

In the time of struggle from meeting soaring food demand, many supermarkets in Britain were reportedly asked to maintain separate food stock supplies for food banks who felt the shortage of food and failed to provide emergency food aid charity during the ongoing fallout from coronavirus. Several food banks expressed their struggle, stating that it is tough to restock the food even when the thousands of people are approaching for support.

In the United Kingdom, there are approximately 2,000 food banks and most of the banks sprung up concerning profit cuts and limitations on social security in the past few years. Independent food Aid Network, which represents 40 per cent of UK’s food bank, had written to supermarkets and urged to permit emergency food aid providers to remove limitations which restricts every consumer to purchase just three of each product.

While talking to Media, David Potts told that the company is delivering the food items so that the resident community can help restock the country’s food banks. He added that food banks store plays a vital part in society during this time and the company will support it so that not a single person is left behind. While asking about abusive behaviour from consumers and the public reaction to in-store changes, Potts told that the people in the United Kingdom have been fantastic.

• Company Profile

Morrison (WM.) Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW) is a leading food retailer and wholesaler based in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It operates more than 500 retail stores and is positioned as one of the largest manufacturers of fresh food in the UK. It trades on London Stock Exchange under the FTSE All-Share index.

• Stock Price Performance – MRW

After showing a decent rise in the day-trading session on Monday, 31 March 2020, Morrison’s stock price closed at GBX 178.00, down 2.41% or GBX 4.40. The one year high of MRW stock price was recorded at GBX 224.73 on 04 April 2019 while its one-year low was recorded on 17 March 2020 at a price of GBX 157.55.

MRW last traded price of GBX 178.00 is 12.98 per cent above the 52-week low price. As on 31 March 2020, the market capitalisation of the Morrison (WM.) Supermarkets PLC has been recorded at GBP 4.28 billion with a free float and outstanding shares of 2.39 billion and 2.41 billion, respectively.

At the time of writing, the annual dividend yield was reported at 3.71 per cent, and the annual dividend of the company was reported at GBX 6.77 per share. The beta of the stock has been reported to 0.4218, which indicates that the share price movement is less volatile as compared to the movement in the comparative benchmark index.

Diverse Businesses are Coming Forward to Offer Support in the Fight against Coronavirus

Co-op group stated that it would contribute food which has the value of £1.5 million to the UK’s Fare Share which is the biggest food redistribution charity. The supermarket chain announced this aid to boost stocks and help local peoples facing problem due to the coronavirus epidemic. Lidl also joined the supermarkets’ charity initiative by announcing the distribution of donation boxes to local communities and NHS employees with the view to offer support to frontline health workers in the form of fresh produce. Under this plan, Discounter would give away fresh fruit and vegetable boxes which are to be set up in its Scotland stores.

Also, many fashion companies are now concentrating on delivering funds to combat against novel coronavirus. In Northern Italy, the big brands like Gucci, Giorgio Armani and Prada have contributed millions of euro to help for the establishment of hospital divisions and ventilators. During mid-March 2020, a trio of young designers in London, i.e. Bethany Williams, Holly Fulton and Phoebe English joined authorities to coordinate manufacturing. Further, British Fashion Council urged fashion industry to provide machinery while several other UK bodies have already started coordinating with designers such as fashion Roundtable, UK Fashion, Make It British, the department for international trade and UK Fashion & Textile Association. The British fashion council also shared the NHS and specific government requirements for mask and manufacture materials with the brands who replied.

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