Woman's campaign stops HelloFresh's free alcohol

A meal kit delivery company has stopped sending out alcohol samples following a Suffolk woman's campaign.

Samantha Morgan from Bury St Edmunds started her efforts after a complementary can of cider was delivered to her home with her kit.

Morgan, who is in recovery from addiction, contacted the German firm HelloFresh about the delivery, as she "couldn't believe that a company would be allowed to do this".

A spokesperson for HelloFresh said alcohol sampling campaigns had been suspended and told the BBC: "We are aware of the matter and are taking this very seriously."

Morgan said when she found the alcohol left on her doorstep, she thought it was a "joke or a mistake."

She said no ID checks had been carried out and it was there for "anybody to access."

Research carried out in 2024 by the charity Alcohol Change UK, found that fewer than a quarter of 18-25-year-olds surveyed were always asked to provide ID by when alcohol was included in a delivery.

Morgan said "choice is so important - you wouldn't send a packet of cigarettes to someone's door now."

Her campaign, called Not Everyone Drinks, is calling for companies to ensure people opt-in to marketing involving alcohol before it is sent.

"Alcohol should never be sent to somebody's door, or left on a hotel bed, or put in a gift basket without someone having the choice," Morgan said.

Nick Allard from the drug and alcohol charity Turning Point said he understood "how having alcohol turning up at your door could be very triggering."

"When someone is offered alcohol treatment, one of things that is addressed is the inevitability of living life with having alcohol on every street corner and in the supermarket, that's part of the journey," Allard said.

"Having it arrive on your doorstep when your house is potentially a no alcohol zone, is very different."

The HelloFresh spokesperson added: "We are currently working through a detailed investigation and, as an immediate first step, we have suspended alcohol sampling campaigns."

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