Aimia Foods has unveiled its latest addition to the popular Spring Cool school compliant drinks range – Spring Cool Cola.

Cola is extremely popular with both children and teenagers who love the taste, but it has not been sold in schools since the introduction of the nutritional guidelines. Aimia has developed Spring Cool Cola specifically to fill this gap in school menus. Made with 50 per cent fruit juice, the new Spring Cool Cola contains one of the recommended five a day fruit and vegetables and no caffeine, colours or additives.

Students at Coatbridge High School in North Lanarkshire have been set a healthy eating business challenge as part of the Hungry for Success campaign in Scotland. 240 second year students were requested to create, develop and market a new healthy meal over a six week period. The results of the competition were announced yesterday and saw the winning team, Noodle Doodles, crowned for their Caribbean Twist dish.

Victor Manufacturing has been manufacturing catering equipment including banqueting trolleys and hot cupboards, since the end of the second world war, and its robust, British-build products have been favourites with caterers ever since.

Peter Brewin, marketing manager at Victor says: “Two Victor Banquetline 100 heated cabinets were recently specified by Number One Great George Street in Westminster for transporting gastronorm containers of food from its refurbished central kitchen to no fewer than 19 function and banqueting rooms which cater for any number between six and 400.  And, whilst combi ovens can do the initial cooking and then regenerate food for service, they aren’t mobile, which is where Banquetline comes into action.”

Milk Break is the first school compliant milkshake mix made with water rather than milk. Launched by Aimia Foods, Milk Break uses 100 per cent skimmed milk powder that is nutritionally equivalent to liquid milk and contains nothing artificial.  Coming in the two most popular flavours of milkshake - strawberry and chocolate – it provides 62 per cent calcium and 48 per cent protein of the nutritional requirements of an average primary school lunch in just a 100ml serving.

SUSO, one of the best selling soft drinks in secondary schools nationwide, is launching a new Sparkling Apple flavour to kick-start the 2010 Spring Term.

The innovative Sparkling Apple variant is entirely focused on the wants and needs of teenagers and will build on the sales momentum of the existing SUSO range, driving market share growth during a key back-to-school period.

Made with fruit juice, carbonation, a touch of lemon and water to deliver an extra burst of hydration and refreshment, SUSO Sparkling Apple not only delivers one unit of your ‘five-a-day’ recommendation, but also meets all Government nutritional standards for drinks in schools.

This time of year, the value of a good school meal is more important than ever to help children stay healthy and warm. It has been proven that a good meal at lunchtime can help to improve concentration and drive better results in the classroom.

The government is also championing school meals and in his pre-Budget report last month, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling promised “to extend free school meals to half a million primary school children of low income working parents, who previously would not have been eligible”.

Steelite International understands that the provision of school meals is an important part of children’s development and education. Providing an effective lunchtime environment that includes high quality food, service and presentation is essential to engaging children and improving the uptake of school meals.

Steelite International’s market leading tableware provides a practical solution for schools wanting to maximise the quality of meal times. Combining style with inherent strength, the Ultimate bowl ensures lasting durability and provides a versatility that is essential for school cooks. 

Tibard is a family business and its name is synonymous with quality hospitality uniforms. The company still manufactures in the UK. With an unrivalled range of stock supported chefs wear, front of house uniforms and leisurewear, Tibard also has the facility to design and manufacture bespoke products based on client specifications.

Tibard is able supply any items from work wear, to tailored garments. Akin to the ever-changing needs of the school catering industry, Tibard invests in developing new styles, utilizing fabric technology and more importantly, working alongside key industry figures to ensure comfort and durability in all our product lines.

Victorian Baking Ovens Limited are the major manufacturer of potato baking ovens in Europe and have enjoyed success in the schools sector, especially as healthy eating has become a priority.

Victorian Baking Ovens’ Design Department came up with the Spuddy Buddy Concept Cart, designed to grab the attention of the inquisitive young customers in schools, and to help the busy catering staff produce up to 120 baked potato meals at one sitting, with very little preparation required.  The Potato Cart is compact, manoeuvrable, attractive, quick and easy to position anywhere an electric supply is available.

It can be daunting to find the right products for your school kitchen. You need specialist guidance, not just for which catering equipment you need, but to be shown how it works and to have it installed to legal standards.

Direct Catering Equipment has a vast amount of experience in helping schools and all its engineers are fully qualified and registered with gas safe, giving you complete peace of mind. The company realises that schools need value of money as well, and is therefore highly competitive in its prices.

Deanesfield Primary School in Middlesex has awarded a 3-year contract worth around £250,000 to Accent Catering to provide fresh, high quality school lunches for its pupils. The decision to award to contract was driven by the school’s desire to improve food quality, portion sizes and choice.

A full menu will be prepared on site each day to include a main meat dish, a vegetarian dish, fresh vegetables, jacket potatoes, a hot dessert, a fresh fruit platter and extensive salad bar. Staff will also be able to choose from the daily menu or pre-order sandwiches, baguettes and plated salads from the catering team.

A new initiative to help teach children about the importance of healthy eating has just been launched in Cambridgeshire.

‘The Lunchbox Challenge’ has been created by Cambridgeshire County Council’s Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) Service with the support of Cambridgeshire Dietetic Business Unit. A key component of the resource is the Top Grub card game developed by Health Enterprise East, the region’s NHS Innovation Hub based at Papworth Hospital.

Calypso Soft Drinks has introduced a variety of new school product variants and campaigns to boost its highly successful ‘school approved' drinks portfolio.

Richard Cooke, Sales & Marketing Director comments "We have spent a lot of energy on developing refreshing, healthy drinks for children with a higher juice content, which are school compliant. Our main schools campaign has been with our Aquajuice 67 ‘Surf Anywhere' campaign which brings surf sports to children, particularly those in inner cities who would not generally get the chance to try surf sports.

Bunzl Lockhart Catering Equipment returned to Wembley in September to hold their second Product Innovation Day of the year. The decision to hold a second day follows on from the success of the first held in April, which saw the event generate a substantial amount of new business.

The Product Innovation Day showcased the very latest in catering equipment innovation, as well as cooking demonstrations by the Rational SCC and Frima Vario cooking centre. Bunzl customers were introduced to the brand new product launch of Basalt porcelain that looks and feels like real slate and the brand new lightweight banqueting crockery ‘Profile' by Churchill.

Today's school meal providers face an ever-wider array of challenges, from increasing uptake of meals and snacks to ensuring that menus are nutritionally balanced according to School Food Trust recommendations. Yet the fundamental task remains the same - to provide interesting, wholesome meals, each and every day, that pupils will choose and enjoy.

It's an increasingly tall order, and school caterers need all the practical help they can get. Mars Foodservice were amongst the first suppliers to recognise the support required and, after a comprehensive programme to match their products to the new nutritional guidelines, now offer a range of sauces perfectly suited to the demands of school catering.

A round-up of recent projects showing how consultants from the Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI) are helping education caterers.

To find out more about the consultants mentioned below, visit www.fcsi.org.uk and click on ‘Find a Consultant'.

Free tool launched to help school meals compete with the high street School Food Trust unveils MADGe at first National Marketing Event.

48 per cent of school caterers have had their marketing budgets cut due to the current economic climate, the School Food Trust reveals today. The findings are the result of a vote of 300 Local Authorities, private and school caterers, school business managers and Head teachers taken at the recent School Food Trust's first National Marketing Event.

3G Food Service and Seafood Solutions is keen to dispel the myths surrounding fish and seafood, to encourage more caterers to establish a fish-based offering and take advantage of its growing popularity.

Currently, according to recent industry intelligence, fish and seafood is the most popular source of protein on menus ahead of chicken. However, some caterers may be avoiding adding fish and seafood dishes to their menus because they either have limited knowledge on preparation techniques, or are reluctant to handle it.

As schools remain under pressure to provide nutritional meals which appeal to children directly, yet are sensitive to pricing, unique products like Milk Break provide welcome solutions.

Milk Break is the first school compliant milkshake mix made with water rather than milk and joins the already highly successful Juice Break product, which has proven a major success in primary school catering.

Lincat has redesigned its two Opus 700 gas oven ranges, the four burner OG7001 and six burner OG7002. The new models feature more powerful hob burners, stronger construction and easier to clean stainless steel radiused hob fronts.

The new hob burners deliver a higher power rating of 6.1 kW for natural gas and 5.7 kW for propane. They also feature powerful 6.8kW and 9kW ovens, which deliver precise thermostatic control from 120oC to 280oC.

FCSI catering consultants provide practical, professional solutions that ensure education caterers really do get best value for money.

The Foodservice Consultants Society International (UK & Ireland) is the association which represents more than 60 of the most highly respected professional catering consultants in the UK.

Of all catering equipment distributors, only CEDA members offer a Code of Good Practice and adhere to a Customer Charter that protects the caterer's interest, so that they can "Buy with Confidence".

Most of the catering equipment sold in the UK catering market is via CEDA members.

Rational's SelfCooking Center, the next generation combi, can replace a deep fat fryer in the kitchen, producing healthier foods that are lower in fat, such as French fries with one-third fewer calories and up to 80% less fat than when they are deep fried.

This method of preparation offers some big cost savings. There is no need to buy, store and dispose of frying oil and the SelfCooking Center can prepare 200 portions of chips is 15 minutes if there's a real rush! What's more the SelfCooking Center isn't just for cooking fried foods. It can roast, poach, toast and bake and incorporates sophisticated insulating materials that keep heat losses to an absolute minimum.

If they could have anything they wanted, anything at all, what features would caterers build into their 'dream machine' warewasher? That's what Winterhalter set out to discover before developing its new undercounter dish and glasswashers. The company commissioned a website, www.my-dream-machine.biz, where caterers from around the world were encouraged to build their perfect dream machine.

To maintain a beneficial intake of calcium, protein and riboflavin, the School Food Trust recommends that a dairy food is available daily on lunchtime menus and where possible, these should be lower fat varieties. As the dairy experts, Pritchitts has developed a range of nutritious flavoured milk drinks, with no artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners or preservatives, that appeal to children of all ages.

School dinners came under scrutiny five years ago when TV chef Jamie Oliver highlighted the deplorable diets of many children in the UK, both at home and at school. Since that time, new nutritional guidelines have been put in place to ensure that schools provide healthier food and finally the message seems to be hitting the target.

Figures released by the School Food Trust this summer reveal that more children are taking advantage of school lunches than ever before. This is partly due to better, healthier food but also as a result of better facilities, food education and other initiatives designed to raise awareness in pupils and their parents.

Barr Soft Drinks has developed a new range of products under the St Clements Squeeze brand to meet the needs of both the Schools Food Trust's soft drinks guidelines for school's and school pupils desire for great tasting refreshment during the school day.

The Schools Food Trust want drinks provided in schools to be additive free, contain no flavourings, colourings, sweeteners, fruit extracts or preservatives (other than those permitted under existing EU regulation).

Aimia Foods has acquired Spring Cool Soft Drinks from Norbev, the Northern Ireland-based soft drinks, packaged water and juice producer.  The Spring Cool Soft Drinks business with a £3 million turnover sells products into schools such as Spring Cool Irish Spring Water, Spring Clear 105, and Spring Cool X-ite - all of which will be integrated into Aimia Foods' portfolio with immediate effect.

Aviko's ‘Pure Mash', launched at the LACA Conference, is a success with school caterers, following endorsement of the rest of the range by the Craft Guild of Chefs.

Aviko's ‘Pure Mash' is just potato, with no added ingredients, and quick-frozen to lock in all the flavour and vitamins.  Prepared using a microwave or combi-steamer, it is ready to serve from frozen in less than 12 minutes! 

It's a fact: use induction just once and you'll never want to use anything else. It will do everything you can on gas and more, while saving energy and carbon emissions.

Induction is up to 86 per cent more efficient than gas and avoids expensive extraction and installation costs.

But having an energy efficient solution doesn't mean you need to compromise on functionality.

Following the success of last year's Premier Culinary Academies for Schools, Premier Foods is launching an Academies programme again in 2009. Aimed at secondary school cooks and unit managers, the relaxed and interactive one-day sessions are being enhanced this year to help drive income as well as create healthy and appealing meals.

Welsh soft drinks manufacturer Radnor Hills recently launched an exciting new product to add to their range of school compliant drinks.

Jufru 330ml is one of the first of its kind, being a still 60% fruit juice and spring water drink with no preservatives.  This product utilises brand new packaging technologies to give a long ambient shelf life in a PET bottle with the exclusion of added preservatives.

The Government and the School Food Trust (SFT) have long been leading the way in the fight against childhood obesity, one of their key initiatives is the ban on sweetened fizzy drinks, they now only allow bottled water, skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, pure juices and yogurt or milk drinks with less than 5% added sugar to be sold in schools.

The Outspan range of drinks from Aimia Foods is continuing to expand through the launch of Juice Splash, a healthy and great tasting juice drink. 

Made with 60 per cent juice, the school compliant drinks are ideally suited for lunch boxes, independent retailers or schools. The high impact, premium packaging ensures the drinks stand out on shelf, offering retailers great margin potential.

Victor Manufacturing Ltd, the leading manufacturer of British made and engineered hot cupboards, counters and serveries, has a brand new web site designed to make searching for the right piece of kit so much easier.

The new site has been designed for easy navigation, with each category clearly signposted.  Users will find they can quickly access up to the minute information about any developments on Victor's product line-up, plus each entry is accompanied by a clear colour image for immediate identification. A down-loadable four-colour pdf brochure is also provided for each product range.

A pre-fabricated semi-permanent kitchen and dining complex from PKL, supplied on a contract hire basis so PKL takes all financial risk, is being used to feed up to 500 pupils from three schools operated by Croydon Council.

The new temporary building, which will be on site for at least five years, replaced a run-down kitchen building at Winterbourne Junior Boys, Junior Girls and Infant schools site. It provides fresh preparation, hot production and cold storage facilities, with space to accommodate over 200 pupils in one sitting.

Unilever Foodsolutions , maker of KNORR foods, launched a new initiative earlier this year, to help primary and secondary schools increase school meal uptake by providing expert marketing, culinary and nutritional support tailored to each local authority's needs and requirements.

Eatz4U works by inspiring the children through front of house theatre that competes against similar high street offerings, whilst also getting them excited about food. The dedicated team at Unilever Foodsolutions offers continual support throughout the programme, with advice on marketing execution and access to nutritional and culinary specialists.