Published on:
16
May 2007
Since opening its doors 18 months ago Class Cuisine, the kitchen that supplies school meals in Clackmannanshire, has gone from strength to strength.
And now word of the healthy food on offer has spread as far as the Border, with Scottish Borders Council contracting Class Cuisine to supply meals to 18 of their primary schools.
The contract means that two new members of staff have been recruited at the Sauchie-based facility, bringing the number of employees up to 14.
Bruce Geary, Service Manager with the Council said: "This is an exciting new chapter for Class Cuisine and a new concept for Council catering. When we won the contract we were up against real competition, major players in the frozen food business, and we were chosen on the quality of the food and our compliance with Hungry for Success, rather than on cost."
More than £500,000 was invested in creating Class Cuisine, which uses specialist freezing equipment to rapidly freeze cooked meals, sealing in the nutrients. All of the meals are cooked from scratch on site at Sauchie in large trays - with portions of between 9 and 12 per tray - and health and nutrition are the number one factor.
As food is frozen quickly, early in the production process, flavours are locked-in and vitamin content is retained. Evidence suggests that cook-freeze systems result in better vitamin C retention than conventional systems where food is kept warm for long periods. Meals are then transported to schools were they are heated to the perfect temperature.
Staff at Class Cuisine cook 8,000 meals a week for Clackmannanshire's school pupils, and now with the Scottish Borders contract and additional 2,100 meals a week are being created.
Bruce added: "Class Cuisine is a tremendous facility and I am delighted that we are able to share our top class school meals with children further a field. We have established an excellent working relationship with our counterparts in the Borders and are now looking to tender for other Council catering contracts which could mean even more jobs are created."