The situation:   The catering provision at St Dominic's Priory School had always operated as an in-house operation.   The reasons for considering a move to a contract caterer were:

• Food quality and children's satisfaction;
• Provision of special diets;
• Training for the long serving kitchen team;
• Support the school in teaching the children about food - now part of the curriculum; and
• Concerns regarding the school's ability to comply with increasing food hygiene legislation.

The Olive solution: The catering team had worked for the school for many years and there was a need to handle the transfer with sensitivity.   Olive worked closely with the school's Headmaster and Link Governors to develop a bespoke catering solution which was presented to the Catering Team to ensure a smooth transition including the rapid introduction of:

• Training for the catering team for the handling and provision of fresh food;
• Comprehensive HACCP and due diligence systems; and
• Theming of the food offer around the highly successful "Team Fresh" marketing concept.

Immediately, teachers reported that the children were excited by both the food offer and 'Team Fresh' and remarked that there were noticeable improvements in the children's concentration levels during afternoon periods.

The client's perception:

'Appointing Olive Catering was certainly the right decision.   Valuable school management time has now been saved as my team can concentrate on running the school and educating the children.   The food has vastly improved and the success of "Team Fresh" is amazing.

Olive Catering have supported us by attending parents evenings and open days, talking to the parents about the individual children's diets.   Olive really does care and go "the extra mile" to ensure that all the children's needs are met'

Andrew Egan - Headmaster