Lipton® Tea Announces Partnership with Full Cart, the First Nationwide Fully Virtual Food Pantry, to Make Heart-Friendly Nutrition More Accessible

Lipton has committed to helping to provide heart-friendly food and unsweetened tea products to people in need, delivered directly to their doorstep

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Jan. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lipton Tea is announcing a new partnership with Full Cart, a program within nonprofit U.S. Hunger, and the first nationwide fully virtual food pantry, to make heart-friendly nutrition and grocery assistance more accessible. Lipton is contributing $275,000 to Full Cart to help fund 5,000 shelf-stable food delivery boxes. These boxes delivered to 2,500 families in need will provide approximately 350,000 servings¹ of heart-friendly food.

2,500 food insecure families in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Miami, Montgomery, Nashville and New York City will each receive two of Full Cart's shelf-stable food boxes. Each of Lipton and Full Cart's collaborative boxes includes a variety of heart friendly, shelf-stable pantry items such as dried vegetable pasta, whole grain brown rice, beans, and vegetable risotto, alongside one box of Lipton Unsweetened Green Tea and one box of Lipton Unsweetened Black Tea. The boxes will also include nutritious recipes to help educate  recipients on how to make easy, affordable, family meals at home.

"One of the biggest roadblocks inhibiting people from eating nutritious meals is the lack of accessibility to healthy options," said Dr. Joy Dubost RD, Head of Scientific Affairs and Nutrition at Lipton. "At Lipton, it is our goal to help those in need access heart friendly options. By joining forces with Full Cart, we can reach a community whose members may face such challenges. This is one piece of a long-term commitment to helping to make health and wellness more inclusive, and we are eager to continue to support, educate, and ensure heart-friendly products are more accessible."

As a brand working to create a world where wellbeing is always within reach, Lipton understands that hunger can be a contributor to heart health issues and is on a mission to make heart-friendly nutrition more accessible. Unsweetened tea—like Lipton Unsweetened Green and Black Tea—is a budget-friendly beverage that can also help support a healthy heart due to the fact it is hydrating, contains zero calories, zero added sugars, and provides flavonoids. Tea is one of the best sources of flavonoids in the diet, which are natural, dietary compounds associated with heart health benefits. For more information, visit https://www.lipton.com/us/en/love-your-heart/.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death² in the United States, and the prevalence of heart disease/cardiovascular disease (CVD) is six times higher³ in households with very low food security. While food pantries provide much needed support, many people can't get to them because of lack of transportation and time constraints. According to recent data from U.S. Hunger, of families requesting food assistance, 42.6% report a lack of access to transportation to go to grocery stores that provide fresh and healthy food options⁴.

"Lipton is connecting the dots to what data has been telling us for the last three years. 70% of people who request food assistance through Full Cart report managing a chronic illness⁴. This innovative partnership proves just how committed Lipton is to bolstering nutritional impact," said Rick Whitted, CEO of U.S. Hunger.

Full Cart is a virtual food bank, that partners with generous donors to cover the cost of food and ship it directly to the front door of those in need. Unlike a traditional food bank model, Full Cart does not rely on food donations to provide assistance. Instead, they have an innovative food security solution that combines their wholly-owned core meals like Red Lentil Jambalaya with a variety of partner-sponsored Consumer Packaged Goods and other options.

The partnership between Full Cart and Lipton is part of Lipton's broader long-term commitment to ensure that wellbeing is inclusive and accessible by supporting heart health programming and initiatives, including sponsorship of the American Heart Association's Life is Why program from 2021 through Q1 of 2025. 

For more information on Lipton Tea's partnership with Full Cart, visit:
https://www.lipton.com/us/en/full-cart/

With more than 130 years of experience, Lipton is one of the world's great refreshment brands, with tea-based drinks including leaf tea, infusions, and ready-to-drink iced tea. With more flavors, varieties, and ways than ever to enjoy tea, Lipton is driven by the passion to bring the natural goodness of great-tasting tea to as many people as possible. Lipton is the 2nd most consumed beverage brand in the U.S.

Lipton is one of 34 brands owned by ekaterra, the leading global Tea business, with world-class purpose-driven brands including Lipton, PG tips, Pukka, T2 and TAZO^®. With production factories in 4 continents and Tea estates in 3 countries, ekaterra is growing a world of wellbeing through the regenerative power of plants. https://ekaterratea.com/

Full Cart is a program within U.S. Hunger, a nonprofit addressing hunger by engaging volunteers, educating on the root causes of food insecurity, and creating access to nutritious meals for families and individuals facing food and nutritional insecurity. The Full Cart program connects those in need of food assistance with organizations who provide solutions such as access to food, housing, education, healthcare, and financial stability. Unlike a traditional food bank model, Full Cart does not rely on food donations to provide assistance. Instead, they have an innovative food security solution that combines their wholly-owned core meals like Red Lentil Jambalaya with a variety of partner-sponsored Consumer Packaged Goods and other options. For more information, please visit: www.fullcart.org.

Media Contacts
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¹ The number of servings were calculated using values declared on the Nutrition Fact Panel of the products in Full Cart boxes. This does not account for any changes to labels or products that may occur.
² https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/index.htm  
³ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666667721001586 
⁴ https://ushunger.org/blog/transportation-food-insecurity/

SOURCE Lipton Tea