The challenge of providing an exceptional school food service across the UK is ever present, however, that challenge can vary from nation to nation and even sometimes within a nation. The conference heard a cross-border panel featuring insights from Northern Ireland, Wales, and England.
Colm Bradley detailed the vast scale of managing 658 production kitchens serving 160,000 daily meals. He noted that despite a 20% price increase to £3.10 per meal driven by rising production costs, uptake remained stable.
Bradley highlighted the Education Authority of Northern Ireland’s tailored ‘Eat Smart Week’ and the distribution of classroom Activity Books and free ‘Taster Pots’ (where hummus proved surprisingly popular), alongside online training pathways to upskill catering assistants into professional cooks.
Judith Gregory discussed Cardiff’s 28,000 daily meals and the imminent arrival of the updated Healthy Eating in Schools Regulations on 31st October. To support local authorities, Wales was rolling out pictorial portion guides, assistance with free sugar identification, and food reformulation strategies.
Gregory noted that while evaluation of their UPFSM roll-out was complete, infrastructure costs remained a major consideration if Plaid Cymru’s pledge to expand free meals to secondary school pupils moved forward.
Bryan Lygate introduced the rebranding of The School Food People, reinforcing its position as a multi-nation representative body. Lygate expressed deep reservations regarding the Department for Education’s upcoming School Food Standards consultation (slated for primaries in September 2027 and secondaries in 2028).
Proposed changes - such as limiting cheese to twice a week, removing traditional desserts, and introducing artificial sweeteners - had met significant resistance, with parents threatening menu boycotts.
On a positive note, Lygate welcomed the roll-out of the national free breakfast pilot by September 2027 and the expansion of Universal Credit free meal eligibility to an additional 500,000 pupils, provided these measures received adequate funding and structured planning.