LACA's rebrand
Delegates heard from Michael Hales, the organisation’s chair at the time, that its rebrand as ‘The School Food People, LACA’ was being rolled out.
He said: “It’s much clearer about what we do and who we represent. The branding will now be carried through into the website as well.”
He outlined the objectives for the year ahead as continuing to lobby for a funding increase in England, pointing out that the Education Authority in Northern Ireland had just received a 50p a meal increase starting in January.
Meanwhile, in Wales, figures showed the take-up of universal primary free school meals was 69% on average, which amounted to 75% taking into account attendance.
And a contract to evaluate the effectiveness of its UPFSM had gone to ICF Consulting. This will be carried out over the next three years and involve schools, parents, teachers, caterers, children, and suppliers.
He told delegates that Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation (NARF) had accepted the invitation to be LACA Ambassadors for the year ahead.
Cost-of-Living Survey
The organisation’s most recent Cost of Living and Supply Chain Survey highlighted three key challenges facing school caterers - rising food prices, funding shortfalls, and the disparity in funding among the four nations.
Survey respondents provide services across more than 4,695 schools feeding 1.4m pupils every day. According to the survey 59% have continued to experience shortages and substitutions over the last six months which have impacted their operations.
It also showed that the average the price of a school meal had increased by 26.5% since March 2020.
Supporting the school meals service panel
The seminar heard from a specially convened panel of speakers to highlight issues operators face.
Joe Parfitt of the Litmus Partnership looked at the pros and cons of in-house operations or outsourcing. He said in-house worked best if there was a strong, competent school leadership team in place who wanted flexibility, control and to avoid management fees,
He said outsourcing helped schools without the experience or confidence to run the catering, offering financial certainty on cost and a return on any profits that could be reassuring.
Hannah Myton of The University Caterers Organisation (TUCO) spoke about the LACA Buying Group it ran that offered LACA members 40 ready-to-go food, drink and equipment framework agreements, suitable for schools. She pointed out TUCO already worked with 93 local authorities in this way.
Lesley Bojko of LBA Safety warned that food-related illnesses were rising and many schools don’t have the technological expertise or the competence with allergens to manage. Part of the problem, she said, was that while caterers often had the best understanding of these issues schools often didn’t consult them.
And Paul Mannering of Hospitality Industry Training (HIT) updated delegates about apprenticeships, with Levels 2-5 bespoke apprenticeships for LACA now provided.
“Employers overwhelmingly say apprenticeships have helped them improve productivity, through food waste savings, competence. Apprentices say the confidence and skills have helped them improve the quality of their product and service,” he said.
National School Meals Week update
Nigel Argyle of Elygra Marketing offered a snapshot of events happening during National School Meals Week, pointing out that the extent of engagement would only become clear after the week-long celebration was over.
SCOTY interview
School Chef of the Year winner Erin Ward told the seminar about her experience in the competition, after triumphing at the Main Event despite only making the final as a wild card entry.
She said the fact the judges had had enough faith to include her in the final line-up had probably added pressure, but she was very happy to have impressed them enough in the final and was looking forward to the year ahead as an national ambassador for school meals.
Political update
Lee Petar from Menara, LACA’s political advisers, again urged members to invite local politicians in to sample the meal service at their schools.
“They love a good photo opportunity with children and it gives you a chance to let them know just how important school meals can be to children’s health and welfare."
Case Study 1: Dolce Catering
Ciaran Vaughan and Mike Muir of Dolce Catering then role-played a judge and defendant in a mock courtroom to make the case for a rethink in the way the government allocates funding for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM).
The premise was that the original £2.30 per meal cost for UIFSM in 2014 was reasonably fair but that inflation since then meant smaller schools were much worse off but that big schools were still able to make a profit.
They suggested the current fixed price model should be changed to a fixed and variable cost one to help smaller schools which have to spread the fixed cost over far fewer meals and lose any economies of scale.
Neil Porter, LACA’s business director, suggested the idea would be taken up and looked at by the board.
Case Study 2: Shire Services
Susan Vuli of Shire Services reflected on a year in which she and her team had won six awards over the course of the year. She said this was a reaction to Shropshire County Council threatening to close or re-structure the service in 2023.
It went for a re-structuring and the effort to go for awards was partly to persuade the council it was doing a good job.
“It’s important also to our own staff - we invest in career development. We also do fun things at work, like fitness sessions, and voluntary work for local charities and organisations.”
Case study 3: Impact Food Group
Finally Bryan Lygate, LACA vice chair elect and head of Impact Food Group, gave a round-up of his company’s growth now that it feeds 2m children every week.
“We believe in engaging with parents as they can help drive improved uptake. Schools are pushing us towards grab and go meals – shorter lunch hours, smaller dining rooms and kitchens – so we embrace that and have created some concepts that we work well,” he said.