What Criteria Must a School Catering Provider Meet?

Today, demand for school kitchens is rising steadily, so the concern of schools and parents about selecting a reputable, quality industrial catering provider is a top priority.

SAO VIET NAM PRODUCTION TRADING SERVICE CO., LTD (STAVI), with nearly 10 years of experience, is a reputable, long-established school catering company serving many international schools in particular, and therefore always meets every requirement and maintains extremely strict control over its cooking process. So what criteria must a school catering provider meet? Let's find out with STAVI in the article below!

STAVI school meals

The process before and after preparing industrial meals for schools must meet standards

Finding a reputable, quality school catering provider requires standard-compliant processes. Before considering any bidder, the school must survey its sample process and check whether the catering provider follows the preparation and storage principles below.

Before preparation

Select fresh, clean food with a clear origin from reputable suppliers with complete verification documents. Fresh foods such as meat, fish and vegetables must be received fresh and arranged and stored in the designated place.

• Preliminary preparation: Incoming meat and fish must be washed and prepared first; if not used immediately, they are placed in the refrigerator's chilled compartment. Vegetables and fruit, especially raw vegetables, must be rinsed with water, soaked in salt water and treated with ozone. Frozen ingredients must be thawed before use and used up entirely in that cooking session.
• The preparation counter is designed to be neat and clean and is sanitized regularly. Before entering the preparation and cooking area, kitchen staff must wear kitchen uniforms and be equipped with gloves, masks, aprons, hair caps, etc., to make sure no dirt from the outside environment affects the kitchen area.
• Water used in cooking is kept in a separate area, free of impurities and strange odors, and is sent for periodic testing by the supervision team.
• Kitchen utensils must be stored neatly in their designated places and cleaned and dried before use. Utensils for cooked and raw food must be kept separate. Cooked and raw food areas must also be designed separately to avoid cross-contamination.

After preparation

After cooking, meals are moved to a separate cooked-food area and held in sterilized stainless steel trays at the appropriate temperature. Food for students must be cooked thoroughly and kept warm until the children eat. Food not needed immediately can be refrigerated at below 10°C.

Leftover food is cleared by kitchen staff, sorted by type and then disposed of. Leftovers must never be reused for a later meal.

Post-meal cleaning receives close attention to keep the environment clean. Cooking utensils such as knives, cutting boards, pans and plates must be washed immediately after cooking and dipped in boiling water to kill bacteria and remove grease, ensuring absolute hygiene and safety.

A standard-compliant school meal preparation process

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Criteria for choosing a school catering provider

To be eligible to bid for school industrial catering, providers must meet the following criteria:

A strong capability profile with complete legal documents

The top criterion by which schools evaluate a provider is a strong capability profile with many years of experience in school catering, complete legal documents and a current portfolio of other large schools.

• A school catering provider must comply with the following regulations:
• Register a food safety commitment
• Retain food samples and carry out the 3-step food inspection regime
• Conduct annual health checks for kitchen staff
• Use food supplied by facilities certified to GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, IFS, etc.

Product liability insurance certificate

Ensuring food safety and hygiene

Besides complete legal documentation, ensuring food safety and hygiene is also one of the mandatory criteria in school catering. This is a vitally important criterion because students have weaker immunity, so food must be selected carefully and safely. If food safety and hygiene are not guaranteed, school meals can easily make students ill and even cause mass food poisoning, affecting the health of the students and the school's teachers.

Therefore, food brought into the kitchen must be fresh, carefully selected and fully quarantine-inspected. Any food showing signs of wilting, damage or spoilage will be returned and replaced with another guaranteed source.

STAVI holds full food safety and hygiene certificates

Modern kitchen facilities

Schools that do not have enough space to design an on-site kitchen will choose a catering provider with a modern, clean central kitchen. The kitchen must be surveyed to check it has all the functional areas such as: receiving area, preliminary preparation area, cooking area, cooked-meal portioning area, dishwashing area, sample retention area, etc.

In addition, there must be changing rooms with protective equipment where kitchen staff change and wash their hands before preparing food. Kitchen areas must meet requirements such as:

• New, clean ceilings and walls that are easy to clean and waterproof
• The kitchen operates on the one-way principle
• Toilets located in a separate area far from the kitchen
• Sinks arranged separately
• Adequate lighting
• Cooking water meets regulatory standards and is tested periodically

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Reasonable meal prices

Depending on the school's needs and what kind of meal parents want for their children, there will be suitable price levels for school meals. However, at the same price, providers will propose suitable portions to convince the school's evaluation board.

Schools should also not choose low-priced kitchens that cannot guarantee quality and food safety and hygiene, which would affect students' health when they consume this food over a long period.

STAVI is proud to be a reputable, quality industrial catering provider with nearly 10 years of experience, serving major schools and international schools in Hanoi, across northern Vietnam and nationwide. In addition, we have been trusted and contracted for many years by major enterprises from Japan, South Korea, Denmark and elsewhere. We are the provider to consider when you need reputable school catering at a suitable price.

A rich, diverse industrial catering menu

Students are a special group of customers who always need a diverse, varied menu that changes frequently with no repeated dishes. Therefore, industrial catering providers must build a menu bank in advance and balance the dishes to achieve the best nutritional quality.

Dishes are changed at every meal to avoid monotony, helping students enjoy their food and look forward to each meal. Dishes change frequently but must still guarantee nutrition and flavor in every meal.

Guaranteed nutritional quality and appealing taste

Usually, when industrial catering is mentioned, you immediately think of portions served in trays with unappealing flavors and even stone cold. However, at STAVI's industrial catering facility, meals are always carefully prepared by professional chefs, from portioning, nutrition and flavor to cooking and storage. STAVI industrial meals are always kept at the appropriate temperature to preserve the heat and flavor of the meal.

Fast, on-time delivery

Besides guaranteeing nutritional quality in every portion, delivering meals on time to students at schools that receive delivered meals is very important, so that they can recharge after a long study session. Late delivery affects students' lunch break and leaves them hungry and tired.

STAVI is confident of being one of the reputable, professional industrial catering companies, having accompanied and continuing to accompany many schools and businesses at every meal. Learn everything about STAVI's industrial catering services and gain a better understanding of this type of service!