Kellogg France, the breakfast friend

According to INSEE, between 2 and 4 million people benefit from food aid in France. At the end of 2021, half of the beneficiaries had been calling on solidarity actors for less than two years. The health crisis is not the only reason for their precariousness but may have accelerated it…

According to a study carried out in 2023 by the Spark firm for the American company Kellogg’s, nearly a third of French people say they are concerned about their food budget. The figure has almost doubled since 2016 according to the results, particularly as many see a significant reduction in disposable income. In detail, a quarter of the French people questioned say they have difficulty feeding their family and a third of citizens say they are forced to change their eating habits due to difficulties at the end of the month.

Kellanova France (formerly Kellogg France), faced with this observation, declares to want ” fight against food insecurity », in the words of Hélène Boyer, partnerships and CSR manager of the company. Thus, its organization aims to support the 550 solidarity grocery stores in the Andes network (belonging to the SOS group). First via financial aid: 400,000 euros have been paid since 2020. “ We financially supported the creation of 54 new grocery storesspecifies Hélène Boyer, that’s about 10% of the network. » Then, the group undertakes to donate a certain number of their products, which are not unsold from points of sale. Concretely, 47 tonnes of food were distributed in 2023 to grocery stores in the Andes network, but also to food banks or Restos du coeur.

Workshops with “complete” meals

However, the company bringing together brands such as Miel Pops or Frosties does not want to stop there. For four years, in solidarity grocery stores in the Andes network, it has been offering workshops called “breakfast for all”. An operation which also exists in other countries, such as in Great Britain since the end of the 1990s, in Belgium and even in Spain.

In 2022, 400 workshops have already been organized in around sixty establishments of the SOS Group, during which “a nutritionist or cook offers participants complete meals, savory or sweet recipes depending on the taste and habits of each person”says Hélène Boyer.

Some grocery stores also distribute what Kellogg’s calls “breakfast kits”. For families who come to fill their baskets, some grocery stores also give meals for the first meal of the day. Cereals, but also bread, fruit, yogurts among others.

“The importance of breakfast”

“The idea is to show the importance of breakfast », says Hélène Boyer. The results of the study commissioned by Kellogg Company showed that 15% of the thousand people surveyed (at the start of the year in France) did not eat in the morning. That’s more than a few years ago. In 2016, the company questioned citizens for the first time, and it emerged at the time that 9% of those surveyed skipped breakfast. Six out of ten respondents report a lack of appetite when they wake up, for some it is also due to family financial worries. Still, one in five children comes to school, according to Kellogg’s, without having eaten anything. And that can have negative repercussions, according to the brand.

The Spark firm also questioned 200 teachers for its study, and eight teachers out of ten observed it: at least once a week, young people sit in class “while hungry”. And these kids, for the most part, lack “concentration”, note the teaching staff. It is also to remedy this that the brand says it organizes events in solidarity grocery stores.