Smarter Catering Management Systems
Improved visibility and lower waste 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.
Mike Travis & James Colairo-Moss
About the speakers
Mike Travis
Chief Commercial Officer & Director, SchoolGrid
Mike Travis is Chief Commercial Officer and Director at SchoolGrid, where he leads the company’s commercial and strategic direction, working with schools, multi-academy trusts, caterers and local authorities.
Mike has been with SchoolGrid for almost five years. His focus is on helping education organisations modernise how catering services are delivered, including across multi-site trust environments, with particular emphasis on scalable solutions that can streamline operations, reduce food waste and improve visibility across schools and catering teams.
James Colairo-Moss
Sales Director, SchoolGrid
James Colairo-Moss is Sales Director at SchoolGrid, bringing extensive experience from across the contract catering sector. His career has included senior leadership, commercial and consultancy roles, including Managing Director, co-owner and Sales Director positions.
Having worked closely with catering organisations, schools and multi-academy trusts, James brings a practical understanding of the commercial and operational challenges involved in delivering school catering across both individual schools and larger groups. At SchoolGrid, he works with schools, trusts and catering providers to help them explore how better systems, information and processes can support more effective catering operations.