Managing school meals is no easy feat. Not only do schools need to keep on top of student numbers, allergies and payments, but food wastage is now top of the agenda for many. Here are some challenges schools face when it comes to school dinners and food management:
Inventory Management
Inventory management is possibly one of the most important functions in the food and beverage industry, helping to track expiration dates and alert to low stock levels. It also helps with the reduction of waste. It’s no secret that food waste is a huge contributor to climate change. In fact, approximately a third of the world’s food goes to waste and rotting food amounts to around 8-10% of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere. Clearly as individuals and organisations we can all do our part to help to keep food waste to a minimum.
Product Traceability & Food Safety (allergies)
People want to know what’s going into their food, and rightly so. Manufacturers must track end-to-end traceability, which is the ability to track data on products throughout the entire supply chain – this is essential to ensure food welfare. Although this is not a direct ‘problem’ for schools, it is something they must be aware of. This is especially important in schools because as mentioned in our previous blog, 5-8% of children have a food allergy.
Strict Regulations
Regulations exist for very good reason, and we are champions of them! Food and beverage manufacturers have to adhere to such strict regulations that sometimes it can cause delays in the supply chain and have a knock-on affect to the school, which can cause issues for schools.
Sustainability
Most councils will require suppliers to use sustainable suppliers where possible, with increased pressure to reach Net Zero in the UK by 2050. This can mean higher costs for schools and means more time spent on finding the right suppliers.
Money Management
With parents paying for their children’s meals in many forms – a year up front, a month in advance, by cash or by card – it can be difficult to keep up with this admin heavy task of keeping track.
Keeping school student fed and watered is a big task, there’s no denying that. What can help is schools using a one-stop-shop solution such as Evolve 4 Solution’s software for schools.
To find out more, contact Edward on +44 (0)7545 786300 edward.gibson@evolve4.net.