Sustainable food procurement initiative - Cornish Schools
Case Study: Cornish SchoolsRegion: South West
Organisation: Local Authority
Description: Cornwall County Council's in house provider, Commercial Services, manages a recently won contract to supply catering services to 32 PFI primary and secondary schools. Commercial Services who is managed by Jayne Jago, their commercial manager, are committed to supporting the regional economy through the use of local food producers and has contracts with food suppliers who have pledged to use local produce wherever possible.
All contracts for the supply of food and drink were tendered in line with appropriate legislation and once contracts were awarded good working relationships were built up with suppliers continuing to search out as many new local suppliers as possible so enlarging the range of local foods included in the menus of schools pupils in these 32 Cornish schools. Ian Doble of Doble Quality Foods of St. Agnes, the contractor for frozen food, has proved through his contract with Commercial Services that it is not true that buying in bulk from national suppliers is the only way to keep prices low. Together with the campaign to provide greater opportunities for local suppliers, Commercial Services have initiated a number of high profile campaigns to encourage healthy eating in schools. .
Benefits:
- Profile of local foods has been raised in the regio
- Supporting the regional economy after the set backs of foot and mouth
- "Everyone wins" scenario with pupils getting quality fresh food and the local economy getting a boost as well
Lessons learned during implementation:
- Becoming exposed as a successful local purchasing case study has meant that steps need to be taken to protect staff from increasing intrusion and demands on their time.
- More support is required for local producers to enable them to take advantage of the policy to provide them with greater opportunities to tender for contracts has brought about.
- Considerable work needs to done to raise the understanding of what the school catering service is all about particularly with regard to the menu requirements for this particular customer group.
- A successful business relationship has to be based on integrity and trust.
- Leave the legal side of tendering to the procurement and purchasing experts although the technical specification should be written by the operational catering managers.
Future Developments: Commercial Services is currently negotiating for new agreements with more schools for catering services who in turn will benefit from the inclusion of local food and drink in the meal provision. There will be an on going push to increase the range of local foods based on volume and range of product lines.
Further information: jjago@cornwall.gov.uk
Ian Doble, Doble Quality Foods: www.doblefoods.co.uk
Page published: 1 May 2003