Expect price rises for school dinners
Last updated 09:13, Saturday, 26 April 2008
Parents can expect to pay more for school meals as food prices continue to soar.
Rising costs are affecting the spending power of Cumbria County Council which is responsible for 30,000 meals a day, mainly for the young and the elderly.
A survey this week revealed that a weekly supermarket shop for a family of four in the UK, costs 15 per cent more now than it did 12 months ago.
The findings by comparison website MySupermarket.co.uk are based on price comparisons of 24 staple items including tea bags, milk and eggs at Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda.
And the county council is feeling the pinch too.
The authority provides food to 300 sites, including schools, day centres and care homes.
Council buying manager Graham Lewis admits the current situation is the worst he has experienced in the 15 years he has worked in the job.
As principal buying manager in the strategic and commercial procurement unit, Mr Lewis already spends £1m of his £4m budget on buying food locally.
He said: “We have had problems with the meat market, with potatoes and salad items, but in general nothing like this.
“It is awkward and it is the worst people have seen for many, many years, we just have to battle through it.
“Usually one product category is difficult, but this is spreading across all categories.”
Mr Lewis said that flour costs have rocketed by 40 per cent over the past year, while cooking oil prices have also spiralled upwards, though this is countered by the fact that the authority uses up to 70 per cent less than three years ago as chips are on school menus less often.
As well as the price rises, the school meals service is also having to cope with the ‘Jamie Oliver’ effect of making school dinners more healthy and better quality.
He said: “We have a double whammy of raw material price increases on top of having to provide better quality food.
“With the standards we are having to achieve, it is driving costs up.”
The county is insulated against many price increases because of the contracts Mr Lewis has agreed with suppliers in the past.
Meal prices are decided by individual premises and while some increases can be absorbed and managed, he expects some rises to be passed on to parents.
But he doesn’t expect mass defections to packed lunches and added: “The cost ultimately has to be passed on to the parent, but they will still be getting good value for money.”
The county council said in a statement: “Cumbria County Council no longer determines how much parents are charged for a school meal.
“Following the delegation of foodservice budgets to all schools from April 2004, the price is decided by the governors of each individual school.
“The cost paid by parents now varies across the county.”
