Pioneering Foodservice Awards Programme to Launch in 2020 in Bid to highlight great Food Provision in Scotland’s Schools
We have recently announced an independent joint venture for EP with Catering Scotland (CIS) in a bid to raise the bar for quality food provision in Scottish schools today. The EPCIS Education Excellence Awards aim to showcase the commitment of schools across Scotland towards improving the health and wellbeing of students via high-quality catering and nutrition.
The simple aim is to bring people together, to take a break from their often fast-paced and complex lives, to enjoy conversation and friendship built around these important themes.
Our view is that the industry is making great strides forward across Scotland and it is important to both celebrate this and also ensure that it is highlighted.
Set to launch in 2020, the awards will recognise and reward schools for innovation in foodservice, sustainability, healthy living and catering excellence. As well as celebrating the highest levels of achievement in foodservice provision, the awards will also help the education sector to reach new benchmarks in nutritional excellence across Scotland.
The link between substandard nutrition and poor mental health has become a central theme upon which more and more businesses are now focusing. Consequently, foodservice has never been more important in promoting health, nutrition and wellbeing.
Alex Buchanan, Co-Founder of the EPCIS Excellence Awards for the Scottish hospitality industry also spoke about the issues schools now face: “Schools and other educational establishments are making concerted efforts to accommodate increased demand from parents, staff and students for higher quality food service provision. Independent schools and colleges across the country are reinventing their offerings to reflect a healthier lifestyle including healthy eating, mental health awareness, wellbeing initiatives and greater nutritional and cookery education.”
It is clear that the education sector is starting to recognise the link between healthier lifestyles and the positive impact this can have on a child’s productivity at school. This is fuelling an appetite for real change in the sector particularly as demand for improving both the physical and mental wellbeing of the young continues to grow, schools are making the connection in terms of the important role food and nutrition plays.
The EPCIS Education Excellence Awards will celebrate Scotland’s schools, colleges, universities, caterers and suppliers who are forging new links with pupils, staff and students and reaching new benchmarks in excellence across Scotland. Judged by an independent panel of experts from the foodservice, education and business sectors, the EPCIS Education Awards include the following categories:
- The Community Benefits Award
- The Healthier Food Award
- The Hospitality Education Award
- The Healthy Living Innovation Award
- The Independent Education Chef of the Year Award
- The Bursar of the Year Award
- The Student Chef of the Year Award
- The Contract Caterer Award
- The In-House Caterer Award
- The Sustainability Award
- The Marketing Award
- The Mental Health and Wellbeing Award