Catering News is sponsored by The Kitchen Porters Club
Juniper Ventures new report – School Catering at a Crossroads – explores the pressures facing primary school catering and how to navigate them to deliver food that works.
The report draws on research carried out by Juniper Ventures of 100 schools and combines school leader interviews and wider sector research to understand the current primary school catering landscape.
According to the findings, schools are balancing a combination of sustained food inflation, higher labour costs, staffing pressures, tighter budgets and evolving expectations around nutrition, sustainability and pupil experience. The result is a service that can appear stable on the surface, but is often under strain.
With school catering playing a pivotal part of the school day, the report highlights the importance of pupil voice when developing menus and calls for an honest, practical conversation about the future of school food and how to deliver a catering provision that works, regardless of the delivery model.
The whitepaper highlights several key themes:
- Whilst catering is generally dependable, it is often sustained through significant behind-the-scenes effort which is becoming increasingly difficult to manage
- Funding does not always reflect the real cost of food, labour and compliance
- Stable teams are essential to consistency, service flow and pupil experience
- Better pupil insight can help reduce waste and support smarter decisions
- There is no one-size-fits-all delivery model, the right approach depends on each school’s capacity and priorities
Michael Hales, Chief Executive Officer at Juniper Ventures, said: “We commissioned this report to better understand the real pressures schools are facing and where practical support is most needed. The findings show many schools are delivering well, but under increasing strain from rising costs and tighter capacity. Now is the time for a more honest conversation about what sustainable school catering requires, and how we work together to protect it for the future.”
Rather than advocating a single catering model, the report encourages schools, trusts and sector partners to focus on resilience, operational fit and long-term sustainability.
Michael Hales added, “As a community-rooted provider of catering, cleaning and safety services, we believe stronger collaboration across the sector will be vital to protecting high-quality provision for pupils in the years ahead.”
Catering News is sponsored by The Kitchen Porters Club
