Invisible Chips is a new fundraising campaign developed by Hospitality Action to support people working in hospitality whose livelihoods are currently disappearing due to COVID-19.
By adding invisible chips to your menu, you invite members of the public to make a small but significant donation that will have a positive impact in the lives of many people who were severely affected by COVID-19.
For many UK workers in the sector, their place of employment is either already closed, showing no signs of reopening or their position has been made redundant due to a reduced workforce.
Official predictions suggest that unemployment will hit 10% by the end of 2020, with the hospitality industry being one of the worst affected.
Invisible Chips is the most ambitious consumer campaign Hospitality Action has launched to date. Fronted by well-known faces and hospitality heroes Fred Sirieix, Heston Blumenthal and Tom Kerridge.
Why chips?
Everyone loves chips – admit it, you love chips. Invisible Chips are 0% fat and 100% charity; they’re simple to prepare; they don’t take up freezer space and they’ll never go past their sell-by date.
Hospitality venues are an intrinsic part of the fabric of our lives. They’re where we play out our biggest life events, from first dates to exchanging vows, and from meeting old friends to toasting the dear departed. But it’s taken Covid-19 to make people up and down the country realise how much they love their favourite pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels – and how keenly they miss them.
What you need to do?
Simply add Invisible Chips to your menu, priced the same as their edible counterpart. Diners are encouraged to add a portion or two of Invisible Chips to their order, with all proceeds going to the charity.
The first restaurant group to sign up is BrewDog, serving them for only £3.95 a portion across all of its 52 sites. Steak restaurants Hawksmoor and Gaucho will also be adding them to their menus in the coming weeks. For those less comfortable eating out, but who still wish to donate, Invisible Chips are also available to purchase online.
Mark Lewis, Chief Executive of Hospitality Action said:
“I’m incredibly excited to launch the Invisible Chipsfundraising campaign and want to thank all of the chefs and restaurateurs who have helped along the way or have already agreed to add Invisible Chips to their menu. Back in March when we launched our Covid-19 Emergency Appeal we knew the hospitality industry was in for a rough ride. Whilst the funds we’ve raised have enabled us to help thousands of people up and down the country, there is still a huge amount of help needed. To anyone who has missed eating out these past few months, I urge you to order a portion of Invisible Chips to help those people we’ve perhaps taken for granted up until now. The hospitality industry is built on resilience and creativity and I’m confident we will recover, however the people within it need a helping hand in the interim.”
James Brown, Retail Director of BrewDog commented:
“Covid-19 has had a huge impact on our beloved hospitality industry, whether you a small or large business the disruption and knock on effects will be felt for years. We are delighted to support the Invisible Chips campaign by Hospitality Action and help raise funds to help an industry and community of some three million staff hardest hit by this crisis. We will be stocking invisible chips in all our UK BrewDog bars and Draft House locations for the foreseeable future.”
Go to www.invisiblechips.org.uk to sign up
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