Catering supplier Bidvest 3663 has signed a £1.4 million contract with Plymouth City Council to supply 71 schools for the next three years.
Bidvest, which has been supplying the city council with ambient, frozen and other products for four years, will now supply the council’s schools following a re-tender.
Local suppliers are able to use Bidvest’s depot as a hub, located less than 10 miles from the centre of Plymouth, as part of the agreement.
The company will also form a supply panel with members of Plymouth city catering team and Bidvest’s account support team, to help maintain the schools’ Gold Catering Mark standard by developing local supply initiatives.
“We’re delighted to be working with such a forward-thinking local authority,” said Paul Brown, Bidvest’s business development controller for education. “With the introduction of the School Food Plan – which starts with UIFSM (Universal Infant Free School Meals) this September – schools will need a foodservice partner they can rely on to help them through this step-change.
“We have flexibility within our supply chain, which allows us to introduce new suppliers – where possible - to suit a customer’s particular need. In this instance, we were able to work with more local suppliers, offering them the opportunity to use our depot as a hub. By consolidating all these individual supplier goods, we are able to provide this customer one order, on one delivery and one invoice.”
Plymouth City Council was the first local authority to be awarded the Soil Association’s Gold Catering Mark, which it has held since 2012.The Gold standard includes sourcing local produce, using a range of organic items and ingredients and developing seasonal menus.
Brad Pearce, education catering manager at Plymouth City Council, said the council is also discussing new delivery frequencies and volumes with Bidvest, in line with plans for UIFSM.
“Bidvest 3663 will support us in other areas of our school catering operation, such as creating nutritionally-balanced menus and providing important industry updates,” he said. “We also have a growing community meals service where we use a number of our school kitchens to freshly prepare meals for our older residents. We need a supplier who is able to support us with this initiative 365 days a year.”
Bidvest is also preparing to support schools with the new Food Information Regulations (FIR) that come into effect in December 2014, and which require schools and other food outlets to provide detailed ingredient information.The firm has changed all its own-brand packaging to highlight allergen information and compiled a guide, Your Guide to EU Food Information Regulations, on the 14 major allergens, available as a PDF download.
Brown added: “We know that schools will be facing tough challenges over the next six months with the introduction of the School Food Plan and FIR and we very much see it as our responsibility to help them with these changes, making the transition as easy as possible.”
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