Go To ChefTalk.com
    Cooking ArticlesCookbook ReviewsCooking ForumsRecipesCooking Glossary  

Welcome to the ChefTalk Cooking Forums forums.

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

Go Back   ChefTalk Cooking Forums > Food and Cooking Forums > Food & Cooking Questions and Discussion
Register Blogs Photo Gallery FAQ Members List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Food & Cooking Questions and Discussion Got a cooking question or something you want to discuss about food and cooking? This is the forum for you. Talk about anything related to food & cooking.

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 10-15-2007, 05:35 AM
BombayBen's Avatar
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Professional Caterer
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 222
BombayBen is on a distinguished road
Question School Lunches in UK

Hi guys - there is a lot of hubbub about 'teaching' parents to put 'healthy' snacks in their kids' school lunches but most parents are too busy working to find time to research the subject or to even go shopping in local shops as opposed to Supermarkets.. Now I live in a town that has around 8 schools and I am thinking - there is a market here - any ideas as to how I can market this? I would provide a selection of healthy lunches in biodegradable packs and the lunches would have nothing but the healthiest of foods in them - any ideas? suggestions? gimmicks? how would I capture this market?
__________________
What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child? ~Lin Yutang

Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Sponsored links
  #2  
Old 10-15-2007, 01:18 PM
Registered User
Culinary Experience: I Just Like Food
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Chicago
Posts: 21
Smylietron is on a distinguished road
Default

I think, judging by Jamie Oliver's difficulties in that exact area, you might have trouble snaring the kids' attention. They're all used to fried junk and overprocessed goodies.

Gimmicks...make whatever you put in the lunches "kid friendly." Poppable food (you can eat a lot of it in one bite), shaped food, etc...maybe use sweet potatoes, as I've seen picky children dive right into dishes involving them...

Whatever you end up using, your mission sounds righteous, so good luck!
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-15-2007, 03:34 PM
bughut's Avatar
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Owner/Operator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Scotland
Posts: 375
bughut is on a distinguished road
Default

Hey Bombay ben,
To Quote Smilietron youre mission is truly righteous and i wish you humungus ammounts of luck. It will either bomb or youre gonna have a huge sucess on your hands.
Having put 3 sons through high school, I know the attraction is the local bakers who do a selection of scrumptious pastries and baguettes oh yes and chips (fries) But I do think that their parents for the most part are more educated in healthy options and it's more the peer pressure and fashion that dictates the venue of choice.
My 14 year old will go for rubbish 50% of the time, but he and his mates will try the healthy options NOT BECAUSE they're advertised as such, but because they look and sound good.
Mid October = soup and rolls I reckon. They all know and remember the comfort value of Grans soup and a sandwich or roll to go with or dip in is a CHEAP healthy lunch. As they get to know your scrummy menu you can slip in other healthy stuff and i reckon by the spring you'll have them all eating salad bowls & wraps
I'm actually well impressed with my own great idea and may give it a go too. only Bottled water and heathy tray bakes would use up any extra £'s they had left over. Woo hoo!
Very best of luck
__________________

Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-15-2007, 03:53 PM
thetincook's Avatar
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Line Cook
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 349
thetincook is on a distinguished road
Default

Way back in the day when I was working at a summer day camp, one of the moms ran a hot lunch program for the kids through her catering company. She would hand out monthly menus (lunch, bev, snack) to the parents when they picked up the kids, and the parents would buy a week a week at a time. The food was the usual kid friendly stuff. She also gave us staffers free food.

She ended up with a ~25-30% participation rate IRC. Not too bad when you are looking at almost 600 kids. The cooking was all done offsite at a pizza place she rented in the mornings. I remember she used to make deliveries with the this radio flyer wagon.


The other option is to bid for the food service contract for the schools. This option is a lot more work, and I don't know if it would work in the UK.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-15-2007, 10:46 PM
BombayBen's Avatar
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Professional Caterer
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 222
BombayBen is on a distinguished road
Default

hey tincook - I would not really want to opt for a school contract as Sodexho run most of them - I am not particularly impressed by them. There are kids who will have the lunch the school provides and then there are parents who give their kids money to buy something and then there are parents who prefer to give their kids 'packed' lunches so the market I am looking to conquer is the ones with the money and the packed lunches
__________________
What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child? ~Lin Yutang

Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-16-2007, 09:36 AM
Registered User
Culinary Experience: I Just Like Food
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Chicago
Posts: 21
Smylietron is on a distinguished road
Default

Ugh, I don't want to meet anyone who's particularly impressed by Sodexho. By some stroke of rotten luck I managed to get Sodexho running food services in every school I attended from junior high til I finished out my Bachelor's. In college we found out from an insider working with Sodexho that our food was one step above the fare served in prisons.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-16-2007, 02:28 PM
BombayBen's Avatar
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Professional Caterer
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 222
BombayBen is on a distinguished road
Default

AMEN to that - I have actually worked in Army campsb (sodexho) and such and they are absolutely disgusting!! MAN talk about 'like we don't care'!! actually - I am not even sure that they think it's FOOD!!
__________________
What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child? ~Lin Yutang

Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-16-2007, 03:20 PM
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Cook At Home
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 479
Ishbel is on a distinguished road
Default

You could flyer at the school gates, or try to get the student roll so that you can approach the parents directly.

A friend of mine ran a sandwich/soup/fruit service into offices in the city of London. Those city men and women would pay anything she wanted to get a fresh, top quality, unusual filling for their sandwiches. She sold the business on after about 2 years and made a fortune!

But I bet the dreaded UK 'elf n safety' will raise its ugly head re approaching school children, though...
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-17-2007, 12:23 AM
BombayBen's Avatar
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Professional Caterer
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 222
BombayBen is on a distinguished road
Default

I would not have a problem with health and safety as I am inspected regularly and always get a clean bill of health. I am also not planning to proposition the kids - rather their parents!
__________________
What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child? ~Lin Yutang

Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-17-2007, 12:40 AM
Registered User
Culinary Experience: Cook At Home
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 479
Ishbel is on a distinguished road
Default

That's what I said.... flyer at the gates (the parents, not the kids) and try to get the student roll to contact the parents.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Sponsored links
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cool School Lunches ChefTalk.com Food & Cooking Questions and Discussion 2 04-19-2007 07:10 AM
Lacking Lunches Ramlatus Recipes 5 04-17-2006 06:41 PM
Brown and Neon foods, or school lunches. shroomgirl Professional Chef's Forum 5 11-05-2002 03:02 PM
"Wrap" Up Summer With Creative Back-To-School Lunches Kimmie Food & Cooking Questions and Discussion 5 09-05-2002 03:01 PM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.1.0
© 1998 - 2006 ChefTalk.com • All rights reservedAd Management by RedTyger

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118