It's always difficult for small producers to access public sector contracts; either they cannot guarantee continuity of produce or they don't have the network to cover large areas. In Shropshire, the County Council took a creative approach when they put their schools' fruit and veg contract out to tender, enabling local producers to compete.

“We are a progressive county and we decided that if we split the area we could use smaller producers, who could bid for all or part of a contract according to their resources,” said Bill Campbell. “It meant modifying specific criteria, like the BRC accreditation, but we enabled seven or eight new contractors to bid for our school meals' supply.”

Shropshire County Council provides meals to 162 schools in the county daily as well as providing catering services to four sixth form colleges, a secondary school in Colwyn Bay, one in Telford and two independent schools.

In Worcestershire, where there is no school meals' service, they supply 33 schools.

Family fruit and veg wholesalers Grinnalls, in Stourport on Severn, is one of those who triumphed, winning half of the overall contract, and since September last year this contract has impacted heavily on their overall profitability.

Keith Elliott, one of their directors said, “This is an established local business run by the third generation of Grinnalls, and everyone is chuffed to bits with this opportunity. We source as much as we can from local farms, it's seasonal, it's fresh and of course it doesn't travel so far. As far as our overall profitability is concerned, this contract supports four jobs.”

“As well as securing jobs, fruit and veg prices for school meals have come down 11%, overall, quality has improved, as has efficiency in the supply chain, and there's less waste and more flexibility,” says Bill Campbell from Shire Services.

“The take up rate of our meals is consistently up from 47% in some schools to over 70% or 80% in others, so we know parents and children are with us,” Bill adds, “and we are developing partnerships with local businesses, supporting local jobs and, in response to local concerns over battery chickens, we recently awarded a contract for free range eggs within the county, developing our network still further.”

The groundbreaking work being undertaken in the West Midlands to open up public sector contracts is just part of the overall Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative, which is seeking to re-establish and improve the links between public sector contracts and producers. Working with health authorities and other partners they are hoping to make the links stronger and more effective.

Liz Kenny, who works on the Initiative, said,

“Shropshire is a beacon of excellence nationally because there is a real desire to make it happen.”

Find out more about Public Sector Procurement through Liz Kenny at West Midlands Government Office on 0121 353 5389

For more information about the public procurement policy in Shropshire contact Bill Campbell on 01743 254439