Education Today Education Today Magazine
Rupert Weber, Head of Education for apetito, talks about the hidden efficiencies that schools can consider when it comes to catering for mealtimes….
The word ‘efficiency’ is used every day in business and certainly in schools! But what does this actually mean? The Oxford Dictionary cites efficiency as the quality of doing something well with no waste of time or money. And for years, we’ve heard talk of the Government ‘driving efficiencies’ into public sector funding – which in effect, means taking out labour and cost.
There’s a difference in driving efficiencies when looking to cut costs as opposed to ‘being operationally efficient”. And it’s crucial for independent schools in the creation of an optimal environment for learning and wellbeing. It not only enhances the overall experience for students but allows schools to allocate resources more effectively towards other educational endeavours. There are lots of ways which may not be immediately obvious, for schools to make their mealtimes more efficient. For example, whilst scratch cooking may feel like a great idea – there are some significant ‘hidden’ efficiencies (aside of the obvious advantages around choice, consistency, and availability) in offering a great quality pre-prepared meal solution.
Firstly, there’s storage and space. It takes a not inconsiderable amount of space to run a kitchen and store all the ingredients in a safe and organised way to avoid cross contamination and prepare food in a way that is safe for pupils who may need special diets without contamination. And of course, as schools expand to meet increasing demand, space is increasingly at a premium. It has a significant value.
And that’s just the start. Depending on when you last refurbished your kitchen and how often it needs upgrading, it can cost many thousands of £pounds to refurbish a kitchen and install kitchen equipment. It costs money to run good equipment and there is the constant maintenance that goes alongside that and then there’s time in organising and potential down time to cover when it goes wrong.
We are all aware of the cost of energy these days, which have seen bills triple – or more – into a serious cost. Whether you use gas, oil or electricity, these costs are relentless and sometimes hard to pass on. There’s even a growing cost to water with talk of increasing costs being passed on to enable the water companies to address the growing issue of discharge of waste into our rivers and coastlines.
Furthermore, there is a noticeable difference in the labour hours required between serving a pre-prepared meal and engaging in scratch cooking in the kitchen. Typically, there are at least 70% less labour hours required with cooking and serving pre-prepared meals and, it’s a lower skill level (than a chef or cook), which in turn means a significantly lower hourly rate. Pre-prepared meals can make a real difference to these hidden costs through being highly efficient. You know the cost of your meal with no extras, you use minimal electricity as ovens work on prepared programmes, there is far less washing up (energy and water savings) and storage is far simpler and more straightforward, meaning that you can return space to front line education services.
The average industry percentage of food waste that a school experience is around 33%. This reduces dramatically by using pre-prepared meals to an average of 5%. Hence, not only is it more sustainable but every 1% saved, is an efficiency saving that can go straight to the school’s top line. Let us help you make your mealtimes more efficient with great tasting, nutritious meals that ensure you save cost, space, and time, with no change in quality of your meals.