A matter with complexity close to the higher math: organization of school meals. CISC_Osokorky experience.

In order to feed a large number of children in school tasty and well, you must have certain strategic solutions. Because the good qulity nutrition includes many things besides the well coocked meals, and the list is quite long.

Co-founder of «Kabachok» catering service Vasyl Hatsko shared his thoughts about the specifics of  meal organization process in CISC_Osokorky.

The process of ordering and handing out the meals

The children can individually (the senior students) or together with parents make a preliminary order in our electronic system: they make the order of meals for a certain period through their personal profiles on the website.

A spacious and stylish Kid’s cafe is organized for meals in CISC. To receive your order, you must place your identification card to the reading unit near the food service counter. The operator will see your order on the screens, and so the meals are handed out.

Such solution helps to feed the school students and the staff members quickly and well,  everyone receives the orders quickly, they don’t have to wait long, there is no chaos or big lines of people.

A mini-cafeteria started functioning in CISC recently, where the children can get some tasty treats.

How did the children get used to that system

The children are quick to learn, so we had absolutely no problems. The adaptation took only one week. The students know what they need to do, and they cope excellently. Such approach promotes independence.

We usually tend to think that the children must be fed right until the moment they become adults. The parents often think that loving a child means solving all and any problems for the child. It’s true, but only partially. The children must also be engaged into making their own choices,  and raised to become responsible for their own lives. And the way we accept orders and organize the meals in the school is all about independence and responsibility.

At the first weeks of the school year and even now I personally attend the food court, and together with my team we carefully watch for the processes to be coordinated and harmonious.

The advantages of such approach to the organization of meals

The speed and the accuracy. Let’s imagine a classic school canteen with a standard menu, similar for all the kids. In that case, of course, no complex digital efficiency-oriented solutions are necessary.

Since in the CISC you can select from a variety of menus, combine a large number of dishes,  we can’t avoid the chaos without digital solutions. And it’s obvious that we must be always one step ahead if we want to sustain a high level of services for a large number of children.

Menu types

Our menus can be divided into two categories: standard and different.

In both cases we offer a wide range of dishes made with high-standard technologies. The difference is that in the second case we can satisfy the need for other nutrition types.  For instance, there are children who do not consume lactose, gluten, dairy protein, meat or meat products. A “different” type of menu may include 6-7 pasta options:  farfalle pasta with lactose-free milk, without milk, with olive oil, gluten free, gluten free with lactose free milk or olive oil etc. Meaning there is always a wide choice to satisfy every child’s needs.

How the menu is formed

Groups of experts work on creation of menus: the chefs, production engineers (both from our company and from the school). We even engage external production engineering experts into the creation of menus.

The results of the expert group’s work is not implemented in several days, nor even in a week. We prepare the menu for two-three months. After it has been prepared, we process each separate dish.  At this stage it’s important to understand how many ingredients each dish will include, the quantity and proportion of nutritious elements in each dish, the coocking technology for each dish. The process is really compex.