Staff from Caerphilly county borough council’s Schools Catering Service threw off their catering uniforms to don their best sparkly outfits when they attended the LACA Awards for Excellence ceremony in Cardiff recently.
The Caerphilly team received recognition for all their hard work when they were presented with the highly acclaimed Welsh Catering Management Team Award.
The school meals service received this recognition for their pioneering initiative to develop an improved sustainable school meals service. The aim was to determine if it was economically feasible to introduce locally produced beef into school meals. The idea was to work closely with private sector partners to reduce the amount of processed foods being served, and provide more freshly cooked meat recipes with fewer additives like salt and fat.
CCBC cabinet member, Cllr Phil Bevan, said, “I’d like to congratulate the whole team on their success. This is a fantastic achievement which recognises all the work that has gone into improving the quality of school meals while at the same time supporting the local economy.”
School children had become used to eating highly refined, processed products containing preservatives and additives. The project aimed to change this, by introducing fresh meat as part of a balanced diet in dishes like chilli and lasagne.
The project was to assess if there were social and economical benefits within the community of using a local supply base. This was achieved through an energetic and imaginative approach and a high level of management skill, initiative and commitment devised by implementing a business initiative and strategy that brought about positive change and improvement in the school meal food service.
The successful pilot was achieved through excellent teamwork and continual development work with internal and external partnerships.
The strategy used by the catering service helped achieve business targets and increased the quality of school meals, while promoting local food, as well as healthy eating and improved lifestyles.
Mrs Marcia Lewis, Principal Officer for CCBC Catering Service said, “This is a prestigious award and I am very proud that we have won. The award shows the dedication and commitment of all members of the catering team. As an organisation we are continually evolving and developing new working practices and procedures. This award recognises the team’s achievements.”
