About us

At Ideal School Meals, we specialise exclusively in providing high quality catering services to the education sector. Operating from six kitchens across Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas, we proudly serve more than 80 educational settings and deliver over 7,000 government compliant school meals every day.

Our business is built on a strong foundation of hospitality experience, bringing together expertise in food service, menu development, and customer care. We understand the importance of delivering both exceptional food and outstanding service, and we work closely with schools to provide a catering solution that meets the needs of pupils, staff, and parents alike.

With a dedicated team and a passion for continuous improvement, we are committed to raising standards in school catering and creating meal services that schools can rely on every day.

The Lunchtime Experience

We see lunchtime as an important part of a child’s learning and development, encouraging pupils to take an interest in food and healthy eating from an early age.

Our varied menus offer a fantastic range of tasty and nutritious options every day. From traditional favourites such as roast dinners and cottage pie to modern, pupil friendly dishes including homemade pasties and BBQ pulled pork rolls, we strive to provide meals that children enjoy while introducing them to new flavours and experiences. Freshly baked jacket potatoes and filled baguettes provide lighter alternatives, alongside at least two vegetarian main meal options each day.

Our delicious range of hot and cold desserts are prepared in our kitchens, with fresh fruit and yoghurt alternatives always available. We are committed to meeting the needs of children with dietary requirements, allergies, and religious beliefs, ensuring suitable alternatives are available wherever possible. We cater for a wide range of allergies and dietary needs, providing like for like alternatives wherever we can, so that no child feels excluded from the lunchtime experience.

To make lunchtime even more engaging, we regularly host theme days throughout the year. From fun celebrations to curriculum linked events, these special menus help support learning, spark curiosity, and create memorable experiences that children look forward to.

By introducing children to a variety of colours, tastes, textures, and ingredients, we aim to foster positive relationships with food and help develop healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime.

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

Great meals start with great ingredients. Our dedicated team of food loving professionals bring together years of hospitality and catering experience, carefully selecting ingredients that help us create nutritious, tasty meals that children enjoy.

We work closely with trusted suppliers to source quality ingredients that meet our high standards for school catering. Alongside our wider supply network, we are proud to work with local suppliers who help us maintain the consistency, reliability, and quality of the meals we serve every day.

Our menus are thoughtfully planned to provide a balance of flavour, nutrition, and variety, helping children enjoy a wide range of foods as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Combined with the skill and passion of our catering teams, these ingredients enable us to deliver thousands of nutritious school meals each day across the region.

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 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.

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.