Ideal School Meals focus solely on the education sector, currently operating from eight kitchens throughout Lincolnshire and the outskirts, supplying over 60 settings and almost 6000 tasty and nutritious school meals every day.

We are passionate about providing home cooked, fresh and local food; improving the school meal service and making lunchtime an integral part of the whole school experience.

The Lunchtime Experience

We see lunchtime as another exciting part of learning and development that encourages children to take an interest in food from an early age.

Our varied menus ensure that children have a fantastic range of tasty options for their main meal, accompanied by fresh, vibrant vegetables and/or salad.

Our main meal choices range from hearty roasts and cottage pies, to on trend recipes such as Taco’s and BBQ pulled pork rolls. Freshly baked Lincolnshire potatoes and tasty filled baguettes provide a lighter choice, with at least two main meal options suitable for vegetarians each day.

With the exception of jellies and ice creams, our delicious range of hot and cold, home-baked desserts are made from scratch in our kitchens, with fresh fruit or Yeo Valley Yoghurt alternatives always available.

We meet the needs of the increasing number of children who have particular dietary or allergy requirements and those with religious beliefs.

Providing a choice and substituting like for like wherever possible, to ensure children do not feel singled out at meal times. By allowing all children to experience different colours, tastes, smells and textures we aim to help children understand the importance of a varied diet and form a long lasting, positive relationship with food and healthy eating.

Our Ingredients

Our dedicated and devoted team of food loving professionals can do magical things with food, but our creations can only be as good as the ingredients we use!

Sourcing fresh and local ingredients has many benefits. Food that travels less distance can be fresher, tastier, more nutritious, good for the environment and great for both the local economy and the people of Lincolnshire.

We have strong working relationships with two local suppliers who deliver quality ingredients every day of the week.

A renowned name within Lincolnshire – Simpsons prepare our products in their fully approved, EC licensed premises in Heckington or Sleaford, and provide full traceability back to individual farms. 

J Hull Wholesale Produce

Our fresh requirements are met by J Hull Fresh Produce of Sutterton – providing our potatoes, vegetables and salads, directly from the fields of Lincolnshire wherever possible, in addition to our fruit, free range eggs, milk, and cheeses. 

More recently, we have started working with the fantastic team over at Bloomsbury Bakery. This Grantham based company, managed by a Father and son, have been trading for over 30 years.