UK retailer M&S has launched its Sparking Change National Challenge, inviting its 14 million Sparks customers to try a lower carbon diet.
During the two-month challenge, customers will have access to recipes, suggestions, and a Sparks Live cook-along event hosted by M&S chef, Chris Baber, alongside a surprise celebrity guest.
Available through Sparks, M&S’s loyalty reward scheme, participants will be supported with a range of resources designed to help them make more sustainable meals from scratch.
Sparking Change National Challenge
In January, the retailer will be providing ideas around the best ways to incorporate more protein from plants into customers' diets with ingredient swaps.
Sparks customers will receive discounts on the meat-free Plant Kitchen range every Monday during the month, as M&S joins forces with Meat Free Monday to encourage families to go plant-based for one day a week.
February will focus on More Taste, Less Waste, enabling customers to cook healthy meals while reducing food waste.
Customers will also benefit from tips on batch cooking, storing food to make it last longer, and how to best use leftovers - helping them to save upwards of £20 on their weekly shop in the process.
Sophia Linn, Nutritionist at M&S, commented, "Eating more sustainably needn’t be complicated or expensive - there are simple steps we can all take to reduce our impact on the planet.
"Our Sparking Change Challenge is designed to help customers make small changes that can easily be incorporated into their day to day lives and make it stick for the long term."
Environmental Concerns
The most recent M&S Family Matters Report highlighted that the environment is a growing concern for two-thirds of families in the UK, while almost half believe that less meat should be consumed, with well over a third saying they’ve already made changes to the food they buy to take account of climate change.
The retailer recently reset Plan A, its sustainability programme, to have an unrelenting focus on becoming a fully net zero business by 2040.
The Sparking Change research pilot and National Challenge is part of the retailer’s ongoing commitment to innovate and invest in products and services that help customers enjoy lower carbon lives.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
