The education caterer will be introducing its Beyond The Chartwells Kitchen Education programme, which empowers pupils with information about health and nutrition, cooking and food as well as sustainability and wellbeing.
Both Hampshire County Council and Chartwells have a shared focus on corporate social responsibility and sustainability, with plans to drive towards net-zero carbon emissions through education, menu-engineering and waste reduction.
Chartwells has also committed to a CAPEX investment into Hampshire schools. Under the new agreement, which commences from January 2026 schools, nurseries and families will benefit from a reduced meal price of £2.75.
Schools and nurseries will also adopt Chartwells’ allergen management process overseen by a specialist medical diet nutritionist, who will also support with ‘nudge’ campaigns to promote healthier meals to pupils.
Councillor Steve Forster, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “I am pleased that thanks to our new partnership with Chartwells, we are now able to offer a more affordable meal price of £2.75 while continuing to drive positive change in our schools around food education and sustainability. Chartwells is a long-standing and well-established school meals provider, and we look forward to working with them from January.”
As part of the arrangement, the County Council will retain overall responsibility and oversite for the service while the day-to-day running of the operations will be managed by Chartwells.
Quality will be maintained through a quality assurance process in partnership with Hampshire County Council, alongside procurement commitments such as using 100% British Red Tractor Assured milk, beef, sausages and eggs and only serving Marine Stewardship Council fish rated one to three.
Lisa Priestley, managing director for Chartwells Schools, added: “We are delighted to be working with Hampshire County Council to deliver value to its schools, parents and pupils.
“This is a true partnership, which will see us work collaboratively to deliver positive outcomes for schools and the communities in which they operate. We are committed to delivering quality, safe, inclusive meals for pupils, utilising the power of our scale, processes and procedures to drive efficiencies.
“This is all underpinned by our belief in harnessing the power of food education to inform pupils with knowledge that will lead to healthier lives and positive outcomes. We very much look forward to working with Hampshire County Council on a smooth integration to achieve this shared goal.”