LACA plans to rebrand

School caterer association LACA will rebrand to ‘the School Food People’ later this year.

Incoming chair Michael Hales, the managing director of caterer Juniper Ventures, announced the move at the conclusion of LACA’s Main Event in Hilton Birmingham Metropole this week.

He described the rebrand as the beginning of an “exciting new chapter”, adding: “With a vibrant new look and renewed vision we will be redefining what it means to move forward with purpose but whilst also retaining and remembering all that has been achieved over the past three and half decades.”

Hales told The Caterer: “The decision was only made at our last board meeting to move to using the School Food People rather than the traditional logo, as the market we represent has changed so much and people often ask me what it stands for, which it has not for many years – originally it was the Local Authority Caterers Association.”

The rebrand is planned for autumn, as there is much preparatory work to be carried out ahead of the changeover.

At the Main Event, Hales also set out his aims for his year as chair, saying: “I want to make sure that when I step down as your chair I leave an organisation which has the right focus for the future, led by people who work within the sector and are passionate about the service they deliver and not the businesses they may run, and bring that first hand operational knowledge they have to the decision making processes and strategic direction of LACA.”

The association is continuing to campaign for increased school meal funding and for parity across the four UK nations, as reports emerged this week of some school caterers serving cold or smaller meals due to financial shortfalls.