School’s Out – Let the Summer Fun Begin! – Schools are now closed for the summer, and our education cooks and kitchen teams can enjoy a well-earned break. Many of us are parents and grandparents ourselves, so we understand how challenging it can be to keep little ones entertained over the holidays! To help, we’ve created a collection of fun and free food-themed activities for children to enjoy this summer. From a summer wordsearch and a beach-themed colouring sheet, to a “design your dream school dinner” challenge, a “try new foods” tick-list, and a mini food inspector task—there’s something for everyone. Find the activities here – and don’t forget to share your photos, we’d love to see them!

Starting School This September? – If you’re a parent, carer or guardian of a child starting Reception, we know what a big (and exciting!) step this is. We want to help make your child’s school lunch experience a happy one. That’s why we’ve created some simple top tips to help them feel more confident and ready for school meals.

Before the summer break, our Education Account Managers and Area Cook Managers visited many schools for parent evenings, open days, and new intake sessions. It was a great chance to chat with our young customers, meet families, share information—and of course, offer some tasty menu samples! Thanks to your feedback, 90% of parents told us they are now more likely to choose school meals for their children. A fantastic result!

Listening and Learning – This summer, we’re reaching out to residents in care homes to gather feedback on our menus. We want to know what dishes they’re enjoying and what they’d like to see more of. Creating menus that feel familiar, meaningful and nourishing is really important to us. Last year, several residents requested prawn salad—and we were delighted to make it part of our tea menu, much to everyone’s delight!