School Catering Croydon
At AiP, our top chefs and expert nutritionists collaborate to enhance pupils well-being with balanced, flavourful dishes made from locally sourced ingredients. We craft school meals that support pupil health and overall well-being in Croydon.
School Catering Croydon
At AiP, our top chefs and expert nutritionists collaborate to enhance pupils well-being with balanced, flavourful dishes made from locally sourced ingredients. We craft school meals that support pupil health and overall well-being in Croydon.
Prioritising Nutrition and Safety in Croydon
As seasoned education caterers, we are dedicated to providing healthy school lunches that enhance the well-being and safety of our pupils. We focus on delivering delicious school meals made with high-quality ingredients and exceptional nutritional value.
Through our partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), we promote healthy eating habits. The BNF, a respected public charity, keeps our teams updated with reliable nutritional information, helping us foster balanced diets in Croydon’s schools.
Food to make students smile
Founded over 20 years ago and operating in over 400 educational institutions, we’re the experts in school catering. Our local-first approach delivers innovative menus full of tried and tested recipes that support pupil happiness and wellbeing.
Food Smart
Built for primary school pupils, Food Smart is about having fun with food, investing in dining spaces, and offering engaging menus.
Kitcheneers
Retail-focused, our secondary school offering is a fresh approach to health and wellbeing with our health by stealth programme.
The Forum
Food Smart
Built for primary school pupils, Food Smart is about having fun with food, investing in dining spaces, and offering engaging menus.
The Kitcheneers
The Forum
Commitment to Sustainability
Sustainability is integral to our mission at AiP, with achieving net zero as our top priority. We strive to deliver a better service by measuring, reporting, and reducing our carbon footprint. Our goal is to become carbon neutral by 2025 and to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2045.
To achieve net zero, we focus on reducing rather than offsetting our carbon emissions, with both short- and long-term targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Understanding the connection between food waste and carbon emissions, we aim to cut food waste by 50% by 2025 using digital pre-order and waste tracking technology to reduce waste in schools.
Commitment to Sustainability
Sustainability is integral to our mission at AiP, with achieving net zero as our top priority. We strive to deliver a better service by measuring, reporting, and reducing our carbon footprint. Our goal is to become carbon neutral by 2025 and to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2045.
To achieve net zero, we focus on reducing rather than offsetting our carbon emissions, with both short- and long-term targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Understanding the connection between food waste and carbon emissions, we aim to cut food waste by 50% by 2025 using digital pre-order and waste tracking technology to reduce waste in schools.
Effective Allergen Management
We recognise the critical role of allergen management in providing a safe dining experience for all pupils. Our stringent allergen management policy includes offering allergen-free menu options and using the School Food United platform for straightforward allergen tracking and ordering. Our team collaborates closely with schools to identify students with dietary restrictions, ensuring meals are prepared, stored, and labelled separately with dedicated utensils as needed.
Enhancing Food Safety and Nutritional Standards
With the guidance of our expert nutritionists, we offer a balanced and nourishing meal service tailored to students’ lifestyles. We continually seek innovative ways to encourage healthy eating, such as chef-led sugar swap classes throughout the academic year to promote healthier choices in schools.
Awards and accreditations
We’re proud to hold many awards and accreditations that speak to our high standards for safety and sustainability
Why work with Us?
Producing delicious freshly cooked meals
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
Bespoke, Nutritionally Balanced Meals for Croydon Schools
With over 20 years of industry experience, we specialise in bespoke, digital, and sustainable catering solutions for schools in Croydon. Our meals are designed to provide flavourful and nutritious options for pupils of all ages.
We exceed Government School Food Standards and safety regulations, and our services are supported by numerous awards and accreditations. Our certifications include ISO 14001:2015, ISO 9001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018.
What food safety standards are followed by AiP?
- We have the following ISO accreditation : ISO 14001: 2015, ISO 9901: 2015, ISO 45001: 2018.
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?
Does AiP accommodate special dietary needs for secondary school students?
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.