Shire Services takes Silver
Shire Services provides all 139 primary schools in Shropshire with food that lives up to the Food for Life Silver Mark criteria.
Read the interview below with Bill Campbell (BC) from Shire Services to find out more.
Why did you decide to go for the Food for Life Catering Mark?
BC: We felt that this would be a excellent way of giving confidence to parents that their children are getting nutritious, climate-friendly and ethical food in school. We also really like the idea of linking food to education by letting pupils know where there food comes from.
How easy have you found making the switch to sourcing seasonal, local and organic ingredients?
BC: Making the switch to local wasn't difficult due to the rural nature of Shropshire. With regards to organic produce we found that using milk and other dairy products was a good start. We hope to introduce dried products when we go for the Food for Life Gold Catering Mark.
Where do you source your local and organic ingredients? Do you work with any interesting suppliers?
BC: We use organic milk from 'The cheese company' and cheese from Bladen. [We get our free-range eggs and pork from Andrew Francis of Ludlow. Andrew Francis is a traditional High Street Butcher in the middle of Ludlow with pheasants, rabbits and deer hanging outside his shop. The schools are supplied from his catering premises, though. Chester's Choice of Wem supplies vegetables in the north of the county and Giles - one of the owners - also gets involved with the local primary school, St Peter’s, where he talks to the children about where their fruit and vegetables come from. He also supplies free-range eggs and anything else – even pasta -- when we run short.
Have you faced any challenges?
BC: The main challenge has been adapting our procurement procedure to encourage local producers to apply for contracts and monitoring due diligence with so many smaller suppliers. It is often not practical for them to have accreditations, such as BRC [British Retail Consortium’s Food Safety Standard], which many of the national suppliers hold. Invoicing has also been a bit of a challenge. Many smaller suppliers write out invoices manually and we can have up to a 500 invoices per week just from local suppliers. An automated system would be better.
Have you had to change the recipes you usually make?
BC: Not really. We have always had a fresh food policy for our menus.
Do you and your team enjoy cooking with seasonal, local and organic ingredients?
BC: We believe the cooks get a great deal of satisfaction knowing that what they are cooking uses quality ingredients and also when asked they know its origins often down to the fields surrounding the school.
Have you had a good response from schools, parents and children?
BC: Our uptake is currently running at 47% on average in primary schools with many of the schools having a 60% uptake. The national average is 42.7% in primary schools so we’re not quite up 10% but still up a bit!
What have been the main benefits of your ‘Food for Life work’?
BC: Great engagement from schools, and a rise of awareness of the work [we have been doing on school meals here] in Shropshire.
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If you would like to learn more about the Food for Life Partnership or have any questions, please contact us.