Mass Catering
laborating with each other on this initiative, as we can imagine it to be a Herculean task. “We have worked actively with all the agencies involved in providing a considerably high list of menu items, as per the definition of healthy food for school children. Our panel of nutritionists and doctors have screened through the recipes to understand what ingredients and foods should work, and we have been able to put together a menu based on sound science. “Today our key challenge is providing good, healthy, wholesome foods to children within the price band and the list of approved products. To list products as approved, understandingly, takes time. However constant innovation and introduction of new products goes a long way in ensuring that students are enthusiastic about consuming healthy food.” Shetty suggests that BiteRite entered the business of school meal provision as an educational initiative. She adds: “We can impact the future eating habits of young leaders of tomorrow, thereby contributing to improving at least 60% of their journey towards a healthy life. Catering to this segment is a natural fulfilment towards our vision of a healthier generation, and our mission of making healthy food available everywhere.” Chef Achint Kakkar at BakeRite adds: “There are more and more players coming into the foray but how they actually perform when it comes to offering healthy options is what parents and schools should be aware of, especially regarding the regulation of levels of salt, sugar, and whole meal and the methods of preparation used.” Having provided school meals for eight years, and most recently for GEMS schools, Samer Harkous, business development executive at CityChef, also confirms that the price point is a crucial divider today. He says: “Price versus expectations is our key challenge. Many schools opt to run the canteen themselves, with the aim of buying from the caterer at a low price and then adding their own margin before selling on to the students. They demand quality and nutritious food and expect to pay a low price for the same. Competition here is intense as many catering companies are capable of producing for schools.” 18
Catering NEWS ME November 2015
“The lifestyle of children in UAE is predominantly sedentary and makes them more susceptible to health disorders such as obesity, so the demand for healthy meals certainly exists. ” Chef Achint Kakkar Speaking about the latest initiative of the UAE School Specification for Healthy Foods Committee, and the growing interest in nutritional and healthy foods, led by government directives, Harkous says: “The government here seems to be moving to enforce healthy and nutritious foods to be served at schools. Although this has little impact on us as we tend to push the health drive from our end as well. “We also use a software that provides you with all the nutritional details of all the food items. For example, if we input the ingredients of any sandwich, salad,
meal or dessert, the system will automatically break it down for us and give details of all the fat, protein, carbs and sugars.” On menu design, Chef Kakkar adds: “Our team of expert chefs design a menu based on feedback from students, schools and, in some cases, parents. Menu development is based on the ingredients that have been approved by our nutritionist. Each recipe formulation goes to our highly qualified and experienced nutritionist for approval. The nutritionist decides if the recipe will work and provides the portion size and calorie count, etc.” He adds: “ADEC in Abu Dhabi has made it mandatory for school canteens to offer menus that are approved by ADEC and the same applies to schools in Dubai. The lifestyle of children in UAE is predominantly sedentary and makes them more susceptible to health disorders such as obesity, so the demand for healthy meals certainly exists. “The need of the hour is to make the children realise the importance of healthy eating. Introducing healthy well balanced meals at an early age makes the children realise the importance of eating right. We intend to continue with our commitment of providing wholesome meals to schools even in the future. The trend for healthy, nutritious meals is here to stay.” Furthermore, Shetty believes that the growing involvement of the government in legislating the diet and wellbeing of children has increased demand for BiteRite’s services. She adds: “We are able to succeed in entering schools only because of government legislations. Before that we were knocking on closed doors because of administrators comfort with their current systems and suppliers and also lack of concerns towards this issue. “The interest and need was highlighted and taken nationwide only because of the commitment of the Government and we are happy that their focus is to also enter other segments of the food industry making operators more responsible to the impact of their products. “The emirate of Dubai is also working on a similar model. We are extremely thankful to them and also admire them for engaging us in collecting feedback and industry expertise in devising a successful unique model.”