The ranking scored England’s top 25 school caterers on how planet-friendly their menus are. ProVeg says that this year’s winner Dolce Schools Catering proves that sustainability and efficiency go hand-in-hand, even for the biggest in the business.
Dolce caters for more than 650 schools. Their menu included roasted ratatouille pasta, southern style jambalaya and plant-based sausages with mash. They have two planet-friendly days in the schools where they have contracts.
Sodexo and Caterlink came second and third with their range of planet-friendly offerings. ProVeg says these caterers are paving the way for healthy and sustainable school menus to be the norm.
Alex Jemison, School Plates Awards co-ordinator at ProVeg UK, said: “This ranking gives us the opportunity to recognise the sustainable leaders in school contract catering, and allow schools to choose caterers who clearly align with their goals. We’re delighted at how many caterers showed an appetite to engage with our work.
“Alongside the 75 catering partners that we work with on our School Plates programme, we’re glad that we can celebrate the wider efforts of those paving the way to healthier and more sustainable school food, for the health of children, and the planet.”
The scoring system evaluated the promotion of plant-based foods, the quality of plant-based dishes and transparency as well as the communication about these topics.
Neil Price, head of food services at Dolce Schools Catering, added: “We always strive to bring the highest quality meals to our schools and their pupils. This includes continually looking at the best plant-based, sustainable and healthy meal options that we can put into our menus, and most importantly, that the children enjoy eating.
“Offering children nutritious and healthy food has always been our priority, regardless of their dietary preference, but by providing pupils with a choice of plant-based dishes and products we’re also helping raise awareness of more planet-friendly dishes. It’s a privilege for us to help foster a sense of health and sustainability amongst the next generation and we’re proud to be recognised with a Silver School Plates Award too.”