The Litmus Partnership has worked within the education sector for over 30 years, and has helped thousands of state schools and Multi-Academy Trusts manage their in-house catering, enhance operating efficiencies and streamline costs, to ensure the best possible quality meals are served to pupils.
Mike Neales, senior consultant at Litmus, who specialises in the education sector, shared: “Catering budgets in schools are squeezed. Although the universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) increased last year from £2.53 to £2.58, the amount has not kept up with food price inflation and labour costs.
“State schools and Multi-Academy Trusts have to be nimble and think creatively around how they provide quality food for their pupils that also works within their budgets. Over the past 30 years we’ve helped thousands understand how they can increase the ‘spend on plate’, without having to pass that extra amount onto parents or incur additional costs on procurement.”
Litmus’ top tips on how to increase spend on the plate:
Conduct a best value review
This looks at how effective a school’s food procurement operation is and if it’s providing value for money. We look at the suppliers schools buy from – whether their catering is run in-house or outsourced to a contractor - along with the number of products, and benchmark the costs against best-in-class. From here, key areas for improvement can be highlighted, with an options appraisal for how these might be delivered.
Utilise the latest technology:
There are tech driven systems that help schools manage their food procurement in-house – such as Litmus’ newly launched in-house food procurement and catering management system, Litmus Edge.
Procurement costs can be reduced by up to 20% by using Edge, through access to a network of specialist suppliers and expertly negotiated prices alongside real-time benchmarking and automated price file maintenance. This can unlock essential funds that can be used to significantly increase the spend on the plate. Schools also have the choice to manage their own existing supplier arrangements within the Edge platform.
Menu planning and cycle ordering
Look at how ingredients can be reused in clever ways for future production; invest in smart kit like a blast chiller to safely chill down hot food, such as joints of meat, to reuse in sandwiches the next day; review recipes to ensure protein content isn’t excessive; increase non-meat content and plant-based proteins to create nutritious and affordable dishes such as beef and lentil shepherd’s pie and so on.
Engage with pupils
Understand what they would like to see on the menus and what their favourite dishes are. Schools can then align their offering to what their pupils want, which will help to encourage them to buy their food in school, as opposed to bringing in packed lunches or visiting nearby shops.
Litmus Edge reduces time spent on kitchen administration by 15 hours per month on average by streamlining stock management, providing a single point of ordering and consolidated invoicing, real-time end-to-end dashboard reporting, and simplified team, task and diary management. With those extra hours, the catering team can be deployed elsewhere to focus on helping to increase uptake or develop recipes.
Record food waste on a daily basis
Understand the sources of food waste and the cost of what is going in the bin. From there, schools can refine their menu, their production volume and ordering amounts. Systems such as DigiTally are proven to reduce plate waste in particular, generating significant savings for schools.
For further information please visit: https://litmuspartnership.co.uk/.