The Kids in Museums Family Café Standard is a new benchmark that recognises museum cafés that are great for families. Developed in partnership with Benugo, the Family Café Standard rates museum cafés on the quality of their online information and promotion, space and facilities, choice of food, affordability, sustainability and staff training.
A survey from Morris Hargreaves Macintyre found 78% of people said they only ‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely’ found food in museum cafés affordable and only 22% felt they offered a good variety of children’s food.
Sophie McCready, director of partnerships & marketing at Benugo, commented: “We continue to ensure Benugo sites are as inclusive and accessible as possible. We have worked in close collaboration over the past year to create an accreditation scheme which we hope will become a recognised benchmark throughout the UK.”
The cafés to have gained accreditation include those at the British Museum in London, Edinburgh Castle and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Alison Bowyer, executive director of Kids in Museums, added: “The small but meaningful changes the venues have made will make an important difference to families’ experience of visiting a museum.
“The launch of our new benchmark has been many months in the making and we hope this is a significant first step in enhancing café provision at museums across the UK. I would like to thank our partners at Benugo for their commitment to our mission to make museums welcoming spaces for all children and families.”
The Family Café Standard will open to independent museum cafés and café chains in the UK from November 2023. Benugo will be the only catering company with the new accreditation until February 2024.
Visit the Kids in Museums website for further information: www.kidsinmuseums.org.uk.