How to optimise your school menus

Getting the perfect balance between nutritious, tasty and cost-effective school meals is no easy task. SBLs must constantly grapple with slashed budgets and limited resources. Optimising your meal menus to ensure maximum performance and value can offer multiple benefits to schools

You’ve found a catering contractor. You’ve developed a healthy and enticing menu that will appeal to students. But how do you measure how well your school menu is working? In this article, we look at the key areas to evaluate to ensure you and the school are getting the most out of meals.

Avoid over catering

Addressing food waste is a persistent challenge; when students discard food, they miss out on the complete nutritional benefits of school meals. Moreover, the school’s finite resources are adversely affected when food goes to waste, not just in terms of the food’s cost but also in the resources expended in its production, including time, labour and delivery. Consider implementing a review of food wastage, examining which foods are most commonly discarded. By identifying how and when food is utilised or left unused, school business leaders can enhance their understanding of optimal food ordering practices.

Nutrition as a lifestyle

Key to optimising school meal performance is achieving buy in from students. The more students are engaged with nutrition in a healthy and sustainable way, the more likely it is for your catering service to achieve maximum value. While diet fads and trends may hold particular appeal for older students, their influence can extend to pupils of any age. In a world of social media influencers, dietary misinformation is prevalent. Schools should collaborate with students, parents, and suppliers to deliver transparent and clear information regarding food options, encouraging informed and healthy decision-making as a lifestyle choice. By staying vigilant to fad diets and food trends and their potential impact, schools can pinpoint areas where students may require additional support in distinguishing between accurate and inaccurate information.

Evaluate menu structure

One of the things affecting access to nutritious food is undoubtedly the cost-of living-crisis. Not only is this affecting schools in terms of budget reductions, but also the financial capabilities of parents and students seeking healthy food options. Examining students’ spending habits can provide SBLs with valuable insights into how well the school meal provision aligns with students’ financial constraints. For instance, evaluating the effectiveness of a tiered set menu pricing system compared to individual item pricing models. Offering a cheaper set menu to students can help minimise waste, reduce costs and allow you to integrate healthy items into the choices – i.e. adding a side of vegetables or a piece of fruit to the included items. Assessing the overall structure of the school menu contributes to a better understanding of its accessibility, ultimately fostering improved inclusion.

In summary, by tackling food waste, cultivating student engagement in nutrition as a lifestyle and understanding students’ spending habits while exploring diverse pricing models, SBLs can assess, optimise, and enhance school meals to maximize the benefits of a well-rounded and high-performing meal provision.