Tesco has announced the return of its popular free fruit initiative, offering millions of children a healthy snack while their families shop. The major supermarket chain will run the scheme for a fortnight, providing complimentary apples at checkouts across the UK.
Details of the Two-Week Healthy Eating Initiative
The free fruit offer will be available from 30 December 2025 until 13 January 2026. Children accompanying their families can pick up a free apple at the checkout in more than 800 large Tesco stores nationwide. Furthermore, customers using the click and collect service at 119 of these large stores will also receive free apples.
In a commitment to supporting British agriculture, Tesco has confirmed that all apples provided will be British-grown, sourced from six UK suppliers. This move is designed to increase children's access to fruit and forms a key part of Tesco's broader "Less to pay for 5-a-day" campaign. The supermarket estimates it will distribute more than 3 million apples during the two-week period.
Part of a Wider Health Strategy
This initiative continues the work of Tesco's expanded fruit and vegetable programme for schools. In the last academic year, this programme supported approximately 140,000 children with over ten million portions of fruit and veg.
The relaunch addresses concerning government figures which reveal that fewer than one in ten children and only one in five adults consume the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables daily. Ashwin Prasad, Tesco's UK CEO, stated: "We're committed to making healthy choices easier, quicker and better value for our customers. With new offers, Clubcard Challenges, free fruit for kids and fresh online recipes, we're helping kids get more of their five‑a‑day, and making healthy eating fun for the entire nation."
Encouraging Healthy Habits with Clubcard
Beyond the free fruit, Tesco is integrating the initiative with its loyalty scheme to promote sustained healthy shopping. Selected customers will be invited to earn Clubcard points through specific challenges focused on purchasing fruit, vegetables, beans, pulses, canned products, and dried fruit. These Clubcard challenges will run from 12 January to 22 February 2026.
Additionally, Clubcard prices and special offers will be prominently available on a wide range of fruit and vegetables in-store, providing further incentives for families to choose healthier options. This multi-pronged approach demonstrates Tesco's strategy to tackle nutritional shortfalls by combining immediate access with long-term value and engagement.
