Tesco celebrates a wider selection of Black-owned businesses to mark Black History Month 2025

This year, for Black History Month, Tesco is highlighting its Black-owned suppliers to help customers celebrate Black culture and heritage throughout October and beyond.

Tesco supports and celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion all year round, but there will be plenty of exciting products and inspiring stories to discover with everything from African and Caribbean food and drink brands, to Christmas decorations and cards that include Black characters and books from Black authors. This year will also feature additional products from Black-owned brands including sauces, Vegan meals, premium haircare and coffee, as well as even more Black-owned brands available on Tesco Marketplace.

Online pages on Tesco PLC  and Tesco.com will offer customers the opportunity to view profiles and buy products from brands such as March Muses, Flora & Curl and YumChop. And, in addition to this, Black-owned business leaders are also being prominently displayed in a number of Tesco stores across the country, alongside their products that are stocked throughout the year. A number of these products are also available on Clubcard Prices through Black History Month, allowing customers to support Black-owned businesses and access great products at lower prices with a Clubcard.

This year will also see social media content featuring Tesco customers as well as Segun Akinwoleola, founder of The Gym Kitchen and Susan Allen and Tara Chandra, co-founders of Here We Flo, which has been produced in partnership with LADbible.

This Black History Month activity once again falls under The Black Action Plan at Tesco which aims to achieve fair and equitable representation for the UK’s Black community across four key areas by 2030. The eight-year strategy which aims to dismantle systemic racism works across four pillars which are:

• Talent (increasing Black talent representation at every level of the business)
• Commercial (increasing spending with and the number of Black-owned suppliers at Tesco)
• Community (directing more contributions to the Black community, supporting non-profits, Black-brands and Black-led organisations)
• Brand (making Tesco a welcoming place to shop for its Black customers)

Since 2022, Tesco has set Black talent representation targets at all levels, continued working to accelerate attracting Black-led suppliers and more sales of their products, invested in Black community initiatives and also directed a percentage of Tesco Stronger Starts grants towards the Black community.

Some of the selected Black-Owned Brands

Flora & Curl are a Birmingham-based premium haircare brand expertly crafted for those with textured and curly, coily and wavy hair, celebrating the beauty and uniqueness of every curl. Founded in 2017 by Rose Ovensehi, Flora & Curl showcases an array of natural, plant-based products designed to Soothe, Protect, Hydrate, and Style curls while promoting healthy hair. 

Rose Ovensehi, founder of Flora & Curl, said:“My goal has always been to create the most incredible, aromatherapeutic hair care experience, and to stray away from the idea that taking care of textured hair should be complicated. I want to provide a space for self-care through each and every bottle. At Flora & Curl, we believe that every curl, coil, and wave deserves to be embraced and nurtured. Our products are designed to celebrate all textures, empowering individuals to love and express their natural hair with confidence.”

March Muses, who are based in Croydon, are a business committed to redefining representation in Christmas decorations and beyond. From October 2025 their inclusive designs, (including kids pyjamas featuring Black Santa, nutcrackers and ballerina decorations, cards and wrap) will once again be available in selected Tesco stores nationwide.

Natalie Duvall, co-founder of March Muses, said:“At March Muses, our mission is to spread joy, warmth, and beauty through handcrafted holiday creations. We believe that Christmas is about more than just decor - it’s about traditions, stories, and cherished memories. That’s why we create decorations that are not only beautiful but also meaningful, sustainable, and timeless. Make our mission your tradition.”

YumChop, who are based in Coventry, aim to bring real flavour, cultural diversity, and convenient meals to busy consumers by offering frozen and chilled ready meals inspired by authentic African recipes. They want to become the go-to African and Afro-fusion flavoured convenience food brand in the UK with ambitions to expand globally.

Abi Adefisan, co-founder of YumChop, said:“Food is one of the purest expressions of culture. This Black History Month, we’re proud to serve up the soulful, vibrant tastes of Africa from our kitchen to your home.”

Richard Stratton, Tesco Sponsor of the Commercial Pillar of The Black Action Plan, and Group Sourcing & Procurement Director, said:“We are happy to be celebrating Black History Month in stores with our customers once again, celebrating some of the great Black-owned brands we work with, and spotlighting them online. We are building on the success of last year, and it’s great to see so many more amazing products and the stories behind the brand founders come to life in our stores. We will continue to look at growing the number of Black-owned suppliers at Tesco, and supporting the Black community.”

Tesco will again be hosting a Black History Month brands showcase for colleagues at its Welwyn Garden City headquarters in October, with the theme ’Standing firm in power and pride’, and this will share the wide range of Black-owned brands available . Jacaranda Books author Musih Tedji Xaviere will also be attending to meet Tesco colleagues.

An interview with Wycliffe Sande, the Ugandan farmer who founded coffee brand Blue Turaco, is also featured in the October edition of the Tesco Magazine. The interview explores how he got into coffee at a young age after the passing of his father, and how his brand brings speciality robusta coffee to the UK, while also supporting smallholder farmers in Uganda.

Independent Black-owned publishing house Jacaranda Books has also announced the continuation of their Black History Month collaboration with Tesco. This year will see an even more extensive list of Jacaranda titles featured in 55 UK Tesco stores now available for an extended six weeks, before a permanent listing of their books on Tesco Marketplace.

The full list of selected in-store titles are: 

• Symona’s Still Single by Lisa Bent
• Ugly Dogs Don’t Cry by DD Armstrong
• Queen Charlotte Sophia: A Royal Affair by Tina Andrews
• Breaking the Maafa Chain by Anni Domingo
• While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi
• Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson & Kwame Alexander
• Finding Home: A Windrush Memoir by Alford Dalrymple Gardner & Howard Gardner
• Stick to my Roots by Tippa Irie
• If I Don’t Have You by Sareeta Domingo
• Living the Dream by Isabelle Dupuy
• A Quick Ting On: The Black Girl Afro by Zainab Kwaw-Swanzy
• A Quick Ting On: Plantain by Rui da Silva

ENDS

• The full list of brands featured in the in-store and online showcase is:

1. The Gym Kitchen
2. Dalgety
3. Here We Flo
4. The Black Farmer
5. Varofoods
6. Amandla
7. Wha Gwan
8. March Muses
9. YumChop
10. Port Royal
11. Kulcher Kitchen
12. Nimi Nosh
13. Flora & Curl
14. Blue Turaco
15. Visio Vintners
16. D-One

• Tesco also has some Tesco Marketplace brands which are Black-owned including Skin Choice, Constituted by Nature, SHYNE and Jacaranda Books.
• The Tesco Accelerator programme supports small businesses and entrepreneurs through a year-long training and development programme, with one of three focus areas being the diversity of our supply base; supporting brands that better represent the customers and communities that we serve. Black-owned brands can express interest in the Tesco Accelerator programme by emailing acceleratorprogramme@tesco.com