Education Today Education Today Magazine
Education caterer Olive Dining has been named as a finalist at both The School Food People Awards for Excellence and The Cateys 2026 – across a total of six categories.
Having been shortlisted for the Public Sector Caterer Award at The Cateys and Catering Business of the Year, Primary School Catering Team of the Year, Secondary School Catering Team of the Year, the Marketing Award and the Unsung Hero Award at The School Food People Awards for Excellence, the family-run business has reinforced its reputation of enhancing pupils’ lives through the provision of tasty, freshly prepared and nutritious meals in schools.
Olive Dining was co-founded in 2012 by Stephanie Spratt and Chris Whitter who wanted to create change in an industry where school meals were cost-driven, consisted of processed ingredients and didn’t fully reflect the diverse backgrounds of the student population.
Today, Olive Dining successfully provides a complete dining experience to over 170 primary and secondary schools in London and the South East, allowing all pupils to enjoy food with their friends.
Hosted by The Caterer, The Cateys honour and celebrate exceptional talent and trailblazers within hotel, restaurant and foodservice operations, and are considered the ultimate industry recognition for any business or individual within the sector.
Similarly, The School Food People Awards for Excellence recognise individuals and teams who continue to make a real difference in education catering through exceptional performance and management, with just 12 categories for 2026.
Stephanie Spratt, co-founder and CEO of Olive Dining, said: “Olive Dining offers a catering service with a flexible and proactive approach, whilst supporting all students and members of the school community. We are committed to driving continuous improvements across our operations, people and sustainable practices, while always going above and beyond to increase student meal uptake – particularly in deprived areas across London – and aid the nutrition of the communities we serve.
“It’s an honour to be named as a finalist at not one but two industry awards, and across multiple categories – to be recognised for our efforts is a huge testament to our hard work over the last 15 years. Congratulations to everyone who has been shortlisted for both awards and good luck on the night!”
Having grown by 70% over the last two years, Olive Dining currently provides nutritious meals for over 140,000 students across the UK – with 68,225 of these students benefiting from high quality Free School Meals.
All winners will be announced at The Cateys awards ceremony on Tuesday 7th July and The School Food People Awards for Excellence awards dinner on Wednesday 8th July.
