At Bidfood we understand that although cost is an important factor when choosing items for your menus, it is equally important to ensure children are being fed the right meals to give them energy to learn during the day and educate them about the importance of eating a balanced diet.
Standards and certifications
Our guide discusses the above standards and will help you with tailoring your menu descriptions, highlighting the provenance of your products, adding value to your offer. Consumers are particularly interested in the origins of foods, and expanding descriptions will give your customers confidence in their meal and your school.
Red Tractor
They are the largest food standards scheme in the UK, covering animal welfare, food safety, traceability and environmental protection.
MSC
The MSC works with scientists, fisheries, seafood producers and brands to promote sustainable fishing and safeguard seafood supplies for the future.
Fair Trade
Fairtrade is changing the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fair deal for farmers and workers in developing countries.
Free range eggs
Eggs are given the accreditation of becoming a free range product if they pass a number of regulations to do with the welfare of the hens producing them.
See below how to make improvements so you can receive a Food for Life Schools Award.
✔ Have committed to improve their school food culture by developing a school food policy.
✔ Meet Bronze Food for Life Served Here standards which show that school food is healthy and uses seasonal ingredients that are at least 75% freshly prepared.
✔ Involve pupils and parents in planning improvements to school menus and the lunchtime experience, boosting school meal take-up.
✔ Give every pupil the opportunity to visit a local farm, and take part in cooking and food growing activity.
✔ Serve school meals on proper crockery, not plastic ‘flight trays’.
✔ Meet Silver Food for Life Served Here Standards which show that school food is healthy, ethical, and uses some local and organic ingredients.
✔ Have a cooking club, where pupils get to cook with and eat the produce grown in the school growing area.
✔ Involve parents and the wider community to get involved in food education via food-themed events.
✔ Serve food which is healthy, ethical, and uses local ingredients. They use a minimum of 5% organic ingredients in their menus.
✔ Act as hubs for their local community, actively involving parents and community groups in cooking and growing activities.
✔ Meet the Gold Food for Life Served Here standards which show the food served is healthy, ethical, uses lots of local. ingredients and is animal and climate friendly, including a minimum of 15% organic and 5% free range.
✔ Pupils choosing to eat a school meal is the norm.
✔ Are actively involved in the life of a local farm and active in planning and growing organic food for the school.
✔ All eggs are free range.
✔ No genetically modified ingredients.
✔ No undesirable additives or trans fats.
✔ Animal welfare standards are met.
✔ No endangered fish.
✔ 75% of dishes are freshly prepared.
✔ Training for staff.
✔ Free drinking water.
✔ Nutritional standards for sector are met.
✔ Suppliers have food safety standards in place.
✔ Menus meet dietary and cultural needs of customers.
✔ Positive marketing about where ingredients have come from.
✔ Seasonal ingredients are used and highlighted.
✔ Silver and Gold Food for Life Served Here Awards are achieved by earning points for every percentage point of ingredient spend on ethical and environmentally friendly food, locally sourced ingredients and steps to offer healthier menus.
At Bidfood we are always looking for ways to make our customers’ lives easier and with our Food for Life Catering Mark Report run by our in-house Bidfood Advice Centre team, we believe we can quickly and easily support our customers to achieve the Catering Mark standards. With access to product ranges that meet the various standards to being able to see how their purchases are helping them perform in all areas, as food wholesalers it is important our customers from all sectors can access and benefit from this report and ultimately help ensure the standard of food available to consumers continues to improve in the out of home sector.
To access the full report, please contact your account manager.