Primary school
catering

Helping primary pupils reach their full potential.
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Primary school
catering

At AiP, we’re about getting tastebuds tingling with tasty, healthy,
and locally sourced school meals

Get in Touch
Food Smart

Food Smart for
Primary Schools

At AiP, we’re committed to going above and beyond to keep young students engaged.

Food should be fun, but we also recognise our responsibility to encourage children to make healthy food choices. That’s why we work hard with our suppliers and food development teams to provide balanced, locally sourced menus that make food exciting for the hundreds of pupils we cater to every day.

Food Smart cooks ups freshly prepared primary school meals that exceed nutritional standards and are prepared by a dedicated catering team in a welcoming, home-from-home environment.

Food safety and
allergens

We take allergen management seriously, and our stringent approach ensures that all pupils can enjoy their lunchtimes safely.

This is a growing issue and something that many schools and parents are rightly concerned about. All our recipes carefully consider allergies and food intolerances, taking the extra steps necessary to keep pupils safe.

Learn More

Food safety and
allergens

We take allergen management seriously, and our stringent approach ensures that all pupils can enjoy their lunchtimes safely.

This is a growing issue and something that many schools and parents are rightly concerned about. All our recipes carefully consider allergies and food intolerances, taking the extra steps necessary to keep pupils safe.

Learn More

Local. Healthy.
Sustainable

There’s nothing more important than education, which is why our food services are designed to support healthy eating and allow students to be the best they can be. We want our pupils to eat food that keeps them energised and able to concentrate throughout the day.

Commitment to social value

Local. Healthy.
Sustainable

There’s nothing more important than education, which is why our food services are designed to support healthy eating and allow students to be the best they can be. We want our pupils to eat food that keeps them energised and able to concentrate throughout the day.

Commitment to social value

Food Smart menu

At Alliance in Partnership our emphasis is on fresh ingredients, freshly prepared in the healthiest way, thus ensuring pupils partake in a nutritious balanced meal. All of the food we use meets with the School Food Plan and we use the industry’s recognised Saffron database to create compliant menus and nutritionally valued food with a strong emphasis on our allergen process.

Food Smart menu

At Alliance in Partnership our emphasis is on fresh ingredients, freshly prepared in the healthiest way, thus ensuring pupils partake in a nutritious balanced meal. All of the food we use meets with the School Food Plan and we use the industry’s recognised Saffron database to create compliant menus and nutritionally valued food with a strong emphasis on our allergen process. Please see our example menus below.
Learn More

Food Smart Provides

To exceed all nutritional standards

Producing delicious freshly cooked meals

Creating a Home from Home experience

Providing a fun environment for the pupils

Delivering a packed schedule of theme events

Employing happy friendly smiling staff

Offering a range of special offers

Introducing gardening and cookery clubs

Facilitating competitions, prizes and rewards

Inviting parents in for lunch

Working in partnership with the school

A friendly and open management style

Leading primary school catering company in the UK

As a primary catering company in the UK, here at AiP, we provide nutritionally balanced fresh food services to schools. Our aim with Food Smart is to deliver healthy school lunches that exceed nutritional standards and are prepared by a dedicated catering team in a welcoming environment.

We work hard with our suppliers and food development teams to provide high-quality, locally sourced primary dining that makes food engaging for the hundreds of pupils we cook for every day.

We have a responsibility to support our primary schools by encouraging young people to make healthy food choices. All our great tasting dishes use quality ingredients to provide balanced school meals to primary school students.

We want to encourage kids to try new things and have fun with food, which is why our menus are curated by our specialised food development teams and leading nutritionists.

We only use local, fresh ingredients, across our catering services, including meat sourced from British farms, in-season vegetables, and free-range eggs.

Served across different day parts of breakfast, mid-morning break, lunch and after-school clubs, we have additional menu choices that cater to vegan and vegetarian options and any allergies or food intolerances.

We also recognise a growing need for support around rising allergy and dietary requirements. All our recipes take into account careful consideration of allergies and food intolerances, reassuring both schools and parents of the extra steps taken to keep pupils safe.

We know we can always do more. That’s why we’re committed to listening to our pupils and coming up with new innovative recipes that keep students engaged and excited to see what’s on the menu.

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FAQ

What food safety standards are followed by AiP?
  • We have the following ISO accreditation : ISO 14001: 2015, ISO 9901: 2015, ISO 45001: 2018.
  • We comply with all regulations, and we have a legal partnership with our Primary Authority (Salford Council) which assures all of our food safety standards/processes
How does AiP address allergen management?
  • Any child with a dietary requirement complete our special diets form. The kitchen team and the school agree a plan to identify these children as they come into the dining hall at service.
  • The form is then given to the kitchen and our nutrition team. Together, they create the information needed for safe meals. In the instance of allergy or intolerances, they will create a menu with at least 2 daily options (in most instances) from which the parent/carer and pupil can choose their meals.
  • Once the parent has chosen the meals, the kitchen prepares the chosen items and holds them separately, labelled with the pupil’s name and allergen. This is then served to the pupil as they come into the dining hall with separate utensils and plates.
Does AiP accommodate special dietary needs for primary school students?
Yes, we can accommodate most special dietary needs. In some instances, we may ask for medical information to confirm that we are creating the correct meal to keep students safe. But, this is only requested in a minority of times when allergens fall outside the 14 regulated allergens or the need is very medically specific.
What Certifications do you hold to certify menu quality and sourcing?
  • Food For Life Bronze
  • MSC licence
  • All meat used is British Red Tractor Certified
Key considerations to take onboard when selecting a caterer for schools?
  • What is your number one requirement from a school meal provider?
    • Only supplies Education Catering. All of our insight, research, and development is focussed on providing freshly prepared, healthy, and tasty meals to schools, using the School Food Plan and Public Health information as our starting point.
  • Can you meet the needs of our diverse school population?
    • At AiP, we know that one menu doesn’t fit all schools. We offer a selector style menu so that you can tailor the menu to your needs.
  • Queues are a big problem at our school, we need to minimise wait times and get children eating within our timetable
    • At AiP, we have come up with several strategies to help decrease waiting times such as sign posting along the queue so that students know what is on offer before they arrive, pre-ordering so that meals are ready when they arrive, direct marketing to parents and students so they’re aware of what’s on offer before they arrive, and opening multiple servery points to split traffic. In addition, our primary school pre payment solution, School Food United, allows parents to pre order via the app to help improve speed.
Do you cater for different types of dietary preferences?
  • Yes, we offer at least 2 vegetarian options each day.
  • We strive to make our vegetarian options vegan friendly as well. We do offer at least one vegan option each day.
  • We participate in Meat Free Mondays.
  • All of our dessert options are vegetarian. Some of them are also vegan friendly.
  • We do not use pork gelatine in any of our desserts.
  • We can offer Halal meat if requested by the school.