Avenance outlines its school meals project

French-owned contract caterer Avenance is poised to enter the state education market. The group has spent six months drawing up a school meals project called Open Door, which it will market at an ingredient cost of between 55p and 75p a head. Simon Pollard, national sales director of the education division of the Elior-owned company, said: "We're now ready to enter the market - but not at any price. To provide a reasonable-quality fresh food offer we need at least 55p."

The Open Door menu will be 80% fresh food and include Fairtrade and organic products. Prices will be fixed on a school-by-school basis and vary depending on how much organic and Fairtrade food is on the menu. The full Open Door service will cost 75p per head.

But the company is waiting for a spending pledge from the Government before making any formal move into the state school market. Pollard said: "We're hoping for a good response to Open Door. We are taking an ethical approach to school meals, which I believe is the future of education policy." Over the next few months the group plans to trial aspects of its Open Door offer, such as vending machines from its healthy-eating Balance brand, which it will install at the City Lit College in Covent Garden, London, next week.

Avenance is the third contract caterer to set a minimum spend figure of 55p. In early March Sodexho and Scolarest both announced that they would not bid on any state school contract for less than the sum. Pollard said: "We've had the figure in mind for some time, and it roughly ties in with Jamie Oliver's ‘half a quid a kid' initiative."

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 23 March 2005