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Now in its second year, ProVeg UK’s Contract Caterer Ranking recognises contract caterers that put health and sustainability at the heart of their school food offer. Caterers are assessed on the promotion of plant-based foods, the quantity and quality of plant-based dishes, and the transparency and communication of sustainable, plant-based options across their menus and websites.
Our top-three placing builds on an already strong track record with ProVeg UK. We currently hold two School Plates Silver Awards for both our primary and secondary menus, reflecting our ongoing work to promote more sustainable choices and increase the availability and appeal of plant-based and vegetarian dishes in schools.
A core part of the Dolce approach is our thoughtfully designed, plant-forward menu. We run two dedicated plant-rich days each week – ‘Tasty Tuesday’ and ‘Try it Thursday’ – to encourage pupils to explore new flavours, while 55% of our overall menu is plant-based, with vegetarian and vegan options placed at the very top of menus every day and clearly labelled.
Neil Price, Head of Food Services here at Dolce Schools Catering, said: “We work hard on our menu offerings at Dolce, with an increased interest in plant-based meals in our schools. Our ProVeg-ranked menus now have the plant-based options at the very top of the menu, which really helps parents and pupils choose these dishes first.
“Across all of our menus, we have good plant-based options available every day. We focus on hearty, homemade dishes that will appeal to pupils and stand up well against their traditional counterparts including Ultimate Tomato Sauce Pasta, Creole Style Jambalaya and Planet-friendly Spaghetti Bolognese.
“After listening to feedback, we’ve also made small tweaks to existing dishes to open them up to more pupils, including plant-based pizzas every week, a hearty Tomato Pasta Bake and Butternut Squash Wellington. We also offer plant-based yoghurts, sorbets and ice creams where required, and all beef dishes on our primary menus include added plant protein, reducing overall beef content while maintaining taste and quality.”
Alex Jemison, Awards & Engagement Manager at ProVeg UK, added: “The rankings are incredibly important to acknowledge all of the hard work being done by school contract caterers to bring about food system change, to fuel children with food that prioritises their health and sustainability. We’re so happy to see Caterlink, ISS and Dolce in the top spots and to be able to celebrate their successes.”
Our team here at Dolce continue to work closely with schools and partners such as ProVeg UK to evolve our menus, helping pupils enjoy balanced, nutritious meals that support both their wellbeing and the planet.
We’ve had a busy few weeks speaking to various media outlets about our work with Hawarden High School – one of the oldest schools in Wales – where we led a complete redesign of their main dining area. Our flagship offering at Hawarden’s newly designed Food Court offers students a diverse culinary experience across four […]
One of the oldest schools in Wales has seen its school meal uptake rocket, following a complete redesign of their main dining area, in a project that the headteacher says has ‘revolutionised the catering experience’. Hawarden High School, in Flintshire, Wales, partnered with us at Dolce Schools Catering and we completed the full fit-out and […]
