School caterer HCL on track with expansion plans

Supplier of school meals and education catering, HCL, has announced its busiest year ever, having just mobilised 43 new sites in one week.

HCL has expanded its operation to cover more of the UK, working with schools from the South Coast to the Midlands. The new contracts mean the company is now working with nearly 500 schools, supplying millions of healthy, nutritious meals a year.

“We are delighted to be on track for our Five Year Plan of doubling our meal numbers, expanding in all directions from our base in Hertfordshire, with a particularly busy Summer in the Midlands,” said HCL CEO John Want. “Schools are looking for high quality meals that will consistently support increasing uptake from pupils, and this comes from our appealing menus, with inclusive options for all dietary and religious requirements, together with excellent allergy management systems.“

The focus in many schools recently mobilised is to replace microwave or pre-made meals with meals made fresh, onsite, every day. The HCL team has worked closely with school kitchen teams to ensure a smooth transition to freshly-made through investment in kitchen refurbishments, recruitment and training so that there is a significant improvement in meal quality, for staff and students alike. Collaboration between HCL’s marketing and operations teams provide schools with opportunities to speak with parents about the new meal provision and promote the benefits of having a freshly cooked meal each day.

John continued: “I personally feel that microwaved meals have no place in schools as they cannot fulfil every child’s individual needs and quality is poor. The outcome we have seen in switching to freshly-made is that pupils engage more in lunch with high quality, nutritious and tasty meals that give them variety and the energy to learn through the whole day.”