The new government has already come under fire for its decision to axe Labour’s plan to extend free school meals provision to a further 50,000 school children from poor backgrounds. With this in mind, a commitment to the healthy school food already in place – including that available in vending machines – will form a critical part of the policy making process moving forward.

Adapting to the standards has seen the introduction of new products such as flavoured water and combination drinks.

Naturally sugary snacks such as California raisins now offer children a more complex alternative to chocolate.

Product manufacturer Weetabix has launched a series of healthier snacks, including fibre-rich Weetabix Oaty Bars, which contain just 85 calories.

The list goes on. Rather than becoming a casualty of changing trends, vending machine, product manufacturers and schools themselves have embraced healthy eating, developing new products aimed at the modern consumer.

Lunch and break time refreshment in schools promises to be a really healthy experience thanks to pioneering UK vending machine manufacturer, Westomatic Vending Services Ltd.

The Devon-based Company has just unveiled its new ‘Chill Out!’ vending machine that dispenses high quality filtered water alongside a choice of up to three ‘school-friendly’ fruit juice drinks including orange, apple, cranberry and a choice of more exotic fruit flavours.

The fruit drinks are made from real fruit concentrate and mixed with chilled filtered water to provide natural tasting drinks that are free from additives and added sugars.

Conveniently for operators, the fruit concentrates are packaged in aseptic bag-in-boxes with a 12 month shelf-life and do not need refrigeration during storage or transit to the machine.

Mark Rhodes, Marketing Manager for Westomatic, comments: “The machine is tailor-made for the primary and secondary education sector and the concept of larger 12oz drinks made from real fruit is certainly striking a chord with both customers and operators. For those schools that really want to flex their green credentials, the ‘Chill Out!’ can also be set up for use with re-usable aluminium drinking bottles to help eliminate plastic waste.”

Munchy Seeds meanwhile, are working all hours carefully blending and gently roasting premium quality seeds.

They have created seven moreish varieties, some are sweet, some are savoury and some are hot! All are free from artificial colourings and preservatives and are packed with masses of flavour and goodness.

Seeds are an excellent natural source of essential vitamins, minerals, oils and fibre and can be enjoyed as a healthy snack or sprinkled on just about everything. They have also made healthy nutty and seedy oils to try on salads, roasted potatoes and dips.

Munchy Seeds come in 200g tubs, 500g tubs and 30g sachets. Flavours include Omega, Cajun, Vanilla, Pumpkin, Original, Chilli, Crunchy Bites and Granola flavours, plus their best selling Roasted Sunflower and Pumpkin oil.

SCHOOL FOOD TRUST CASE STUDY 2008

St Cyres Comprehensive School has almost 1,500 pupils split between two sites and is one of the biggest secondary schools in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, and Wales. The school started to look into the behavioural and littering issues related to their vending machines in 2004 and made the decision that healthier food and drinks options should be more available to pupils. The school introduced a gradual change to phase out the likes of pastries, burgers and sausages sold from the cafeteria and all the carbonated drinks (such as cokes and fizzy water), and artificially sweetened drinks from the vending machines.

There are four vending machines at the main campus, two of them are free of charge chilled drink vending machines supplied and managed by a local vending operator and two Carousel type machines which are lease purchased £480 quarterly by the school and fully managed by the Catering Department. The two chilled drinks machines and one of the Carousel machines are situated in the dining hall, allowing access for pupils during break time and the two lunch breaks whereas the other Carousel machine was put in the Sixth Form common room serving the 250 Sixth Form pupils. A range of real fruit juices, plain milk, organic milkshakes and bottled still water are offered by the chilled drinks machines. The carousel machines provide a selection of drinks, snacks and freshly made sandwiches which are stocked by the Catering Department daily. The contents vary from time to time according to meal deals and sandwiches they make on the day. The milk drinks and bottled still water are at a similar price to those in the chilled vending machines while dried fruit and snack items are also offered. Of all the items on offer, milk shakes are the most popular items in the drinks machines because they are chilled and cool, whilst sandwiches in the Carousel machines are very well accepted by pupils because they are quicker and easier to get than from the cafeteria.

There were some extra labour costs concerning loading up and maintaining the two Carousel machines but this was incorporated into the catering team’s daily workload. In 2008, when the case study was published by the School Food Trust, the revenue of the vending machines was £6000 a month, a figure which had gradually improved from the start. The school also receives 10% revenue from the drinks vending machine.

By phasing out the fizzy drinks and crisps smoothly through a six month period, the school bore the initial impact on sales and gradually picked up the loss with the introduction of healthy items like fruit juices and organic milkshakes.

The experience from St Cryes School was that vending had helped the queuing issue by offering more service points and flexible selling time. More importantly, it was said to be the gradual change and keeping good communication with pupils that brought success to the take-up of healthy food.

We have come a long way since then and Vending operators themselves are reacting to the health trend. Companies such as Eagle Vending recognise that vending must be consistent with the message the school wants to promote as part of a whole school approach, designed to educate children on leading a healthy lifestyle.

Offering ‘real choice' vending, producing machines stocked with healthy goodies ethically packaged to save on waste, Eagle Vending meets all of the different criteria laid out in government legislation.

Spurred on by the advent of the celebrity chef, older generations that grew up on largely processed foods are returning to a more natural approach. We are now reaching a stage where healthier food and drink is actually the preferred choice in schools, with untold health benefits for the next generation.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---