Skyrocketing inflation of gas, electricity and food dealt a heavy blow to consumers in 2022. Across Europe, rising costs were especially severe in the UK where food had soared 17.6+%. Iceland Foods, a value supermarket that serves many vulnerable UK communities, saw the harsh reality of growing food insecurity. So, we charted a new CSR course for a supermarket to battle food poverty and become the UK’s first “social lender”– offering 100% interest-free micro loans to help customers afford food. Through earned media channels, we pioneered a sustainable and innovative new approach that is helping thousands weather inflation with dignity.

Record inflation dealt a heavy blow to UK consumers in 2022. Food prices climbed 17.6%, the second highest in Europe, seriously impacting households already living payday to payday. Iceland Foods, a UK family-owned, value supermarket -- whose 1,000 stores serve many vulnerable communities -- saw food insecurity grow. For some customers, it was a choice between eating or heating. 65% had borrowed money to pay bills; 8% were turning to loan sharks. Worse, food insecurity was disproportionately affecting children during the school holidays. It was becoming a familiar scene: customers setting a spending cap and abandoning food they couldn’t afford at checkouts.

This was a chance to be a force for good. So, we tackled food poverty head on and launched the first ethical credit solution for struggling customers: The Iceland Food Club.

The Iceland Food Club was a novel yet simple idea: Iceland would be the first supermarket retailer to offer customers small micro loans that were entirely interest-free across the year to address short-term food insecurity -- and sustain families through difficult weeks when budgets simply couldn’t stretch far enough. Partnering with not-for-profit UK lender Fair For You to administer the program, Iceland aimed to give shoppers the little extra cushion they periodically needed to get by. Fair for You worked out highly flexible and comfortable repayment terms with customers. And in return, Iceland Foods picked up 100% of the interest charges on this extended credit for its customers. It was a pioneering new CSR approach and an ethical lending first. Better yet, the model was sustainable. Any retailer around the world could conceivably adopt the practice and deliver financial assistance to customers with similar compassion and dignity.

Credit is a controversial subject to navigate. Our strategy was to pioneer an innovative new form of social lending that was fair, ethical and compassionate. Shoppers could join the Iceland Food Club and apply for small £25-£75 micro loans through Fair For You to help them stretch their food budgets during challenging weeks. The funds were distributed in the form of prepaid debit cards. There were no hidden motives or fees. As a privately-owned retailer, Iceland could streamline the process, waive all interest charges, and make a direct and meaningful contribution to the customers and communities it serves.

With compelling research, a new corporate social responsibility narrative, and an innovative real-world solution to help Brits battle food inflation and food insecurity, we cultivated credible government, political and community stakeholders as advocates and influencers ahead of launch and targeted a broad media base to introduce the concept.

Iceland Foods’ Executive Chairman, Richard Walker, played a central role as our campaign messenger, while our partnership with Fair for You added reach and legitimacy.

The troubling data points from our customer research, evidencing sharply rising food insecurity in UK households, set the stage for the launch.

Knowing the sensitivity of the announcement, our media strategy was two-tiered. We contacted regional outlets across the UK under embargo, giving them the lead time to fully understand and run the story. In parallel, we created an exclusive broadcast media package, building the story on our chosen outlet – BBC One Breakfast – watched daily by over one million. Securing that on launch day was significant, as it led to key industry endorsements, and a follow-up breakfast interview on Good Morning Britain.

Then we secured wider coverage in BBC Radio 5 Live, Times Radio, The Guardian and The Sun to sustain momentum.

50,000+ Iceland customers applied to Food Club in the first week. Loan applications now average 4,000 daily. Of those approved, 66% would have been turned down by UK lenders.

Iceland has underwritten over £100,000 in interest charges. Fair For You has extended over £4.88 million in credit.

83% of Iceland Food Club members are families with children; 64% aren’t currently working. Thanks to the micro loans:

>Reliance on loan sharks has declined 80%.

>92% previously using food banks no longer or rarely need them.

>71% report being better able to pay for food, rent and essentials.

>65% say their diet has improved.

>57% report feeling less anxious, stressed or depressed.

The programme launch was 100% dependent on a modest earned media budget. The PR team landed 132 unique pieces of coverage generating 1.6B earned media impressions (BBC News, The Daily Mail, Sky News, The Telegraph, Reuters, The Sun, The Guardian, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live, LBC News, Good Morning Britain, Sky News and BBC Radio 4 World at One). Stories continue to appear as the program grows.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ending the Need for Food Banks published a report in March ’23 highlighting the social impact of Iceland Food Club and importance of more affordable credit solutions to help people avoid loan sharks and high-interest loan companies. Fair for You has given oral testimony.

Importantly, Iceland’s innovative social lending solution represents a sustainable and replicable new CSR model that any retailer worldwide can adopt.

The UK inflation rate struck a 41-year high in 2022. As the cost of basic human needs such as food, electricity and petrol ballooned, nearly one in four UK households reported skipping meals, going hungry or not eating for an entire day. There were now more food banks in the UK than McDonald’s restaurants, and food bank use had increased 38% year-on-year. An estimated 1.1M people in the UK were falling prey to loan sharks in desperation. While the lowest-income families with children at least qualified to participate in government-subsidized free or reduced school meal programs, with the dramatic cost of living increases, many hundreds of thousands more were now struggling in the crosshairs. But even with some free meal support, the school holidays proved a test on family budgets. It required an urgent response from the UK business community to address growing food poverty in creative new ways.