It’s no secret that public sector finances – both in the UK and in Ireland – have been under strain for some time. Public sector agencies and their catering partners face a challenge – to keep costs under control, to deliver value for money and to maintain nutritional standards. It's quite a balancing act. Strength2Food is a new five-year European project that aims to boost public sector standards. It is led by Newcastle University Business School with financial backing from the EU worth €6.9m. And it’s not only food procurement either. It also deals with issues facing the food chain and quality standards too.

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Strength2Food: Improving Public Sector Catering Procurement

One of the six Strength2Food pilot actions is a school meals initiative with two goals – to improve standards of school meals and to deliver economic benefits to local suppliers. It aims to make sure that organic ingredients, local sourcing and healthy eating are at the centre of public sector catering. For more details, Foodservice Footprint spoke to Dr Matthew Gorton of Newcastle University Business School about the school meals initiative. Strength2Food will also help support efforts to tackle child obesity – one of the main public health issues right now. Already, in 2014, the EU ruled that cost can't be the sole factor in awarding a contract. Now, contracts should be based on the “most economically advantageous tender”. In combining the aims of Strength2Food and your efforts to provide the “most economically advantageous tender”, we're here to help. We’re aware of the balancing act to be made – both in terms of securing the latest catering equipment and delivering high quality school or hospital catering services. Tight budgets don't act as a barrier to this – or to the market itself. You won't need capital investment to rent from us, so you'll have cash free for other areas of your business. And it'd give you greater freedom to spend more on sourcing fresh ingredients, for example. You might call it “economically advantageous”... If you'd like to learn more about our public sector refrigeration rental services, contact our team. We’ll put together a winning solution that best matches your needs – one that unites our three Hire-Innovation divisions into an effective out-of-the-box package that raises standards in more ways than one.

CONTACT US: 0800 148 8075 (UK) | 1890 846 846 (IRL) | Email Us