Catering under control
Reducing waste, workload and risk through better systems
School catering is not just about what is served at lunchtime. It is a daily operational challenge involving budgets, staffing, ordering, parent communication, allergy management, food waste, pupil flow and school admin.
This session explores how schools and trusts can take a more joined-up approach to catering management, whether provision is run in-house, outsourced or under review. It will look at the systems, planning and processes behind school catering, and how better visibility can reduce pressure, improve control and support safer, smoother meal provision.
Drawing on practical examples from SchoolGrid, the session will consider hidden pressure points behind the lunch service, from inaccurate meal numbers and overproduction to avoidable waste, manual processes, staff time, payments, pupil experience and allergen risk. The focus will be useful, transferable learning, not a product demonstration.
In this session we explore:
Why catering management is about more than food provision
How catering processes affect admin time, staffing and workload
The link between meal choices, production planning, budgets and waste
How better systems improve visibility across ordering, uptake, payments and kitchen workflow
How allergen management fits into the wider school risk picture
Take home points:
A clearer view of the operational pressures behind school catering
Practical questions to ask when reviewing systems, processes or contracts
Ways to reduce avoidable admin, waste and duplication
Ideas for improving pupil experience and parent confidence
Key considerations around allergen risk, reporting and kitchen workflow
This session is for
SBMs, SBLs, CFOs, COOs, trust operations leads, estates leads, finance leads and senior leaders involved in catering, contracts, risk, budgets, staffing, parent communication or operational improvement.
