School meals funding under fire from Elior

Elior, the French catering company and owner of Avenance, has slammed England's state school meals sector for its poor levels of funding.

Gilles Cojan, managing director of international strategy, said Elior wasn't prepared to pitch for business in state schools until the sector was properly funded.

"To operate in this sector you're obliged to sell something that's poorly made and unhealthy for the pupils. There's not enough money in the system to feed children properly. Obesity is a big problem and the UK has to change to take this into account and develop different services," he said.

France has its own growing obesity problem, with about 16% of teenagers classified as obese, but Cojan said the Government and local authorities had reacted quickly to address it.

"In France, the government has invested heavily in school meals to educate the taste of pupils", he said.

Cojan added that subsidy accounted for about 20-30% of the cost of a French school meal, which on average cost about g3 (£2.10), which he claimed was at least double that in the UK.

Elior is the second-biggest caterer in education in the French market with g432m (£302m) sales, 18% of the market. It operates with regional authorities, secondary schools, private education and higher education.

The Department of Education and Skills declined to comment on Elior's claims, and said the funding of school meals was the responsibility of local authorities.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 11 - 17 March 2004