This October 16 — 17th, Lunch Ladies and Lunch Guys from across Canada gathered at Stage West in Mississauga for our 5th Annual Retreat. It is always amazing to feel the energy in the room when we all get together each year. We operate nearly 50 franchises that are spread out all across Canada, so the Annual Retreat is an important time for all of our franchise partners, to meet, talk and collaborate on new plans for the company.

At this year’s retreat we made two very exciting announcements!

1. The 2010 — 2011 Lunch Lady Challenge

The Lunch Lady Group has been serving Canadian schools since 1993. In that time we have grown to 815 schools across Canada. On October 16th we challenged our franchise partners to reach 1000 schools by the end of the 2010 — 2011 school year. Its a lofty goal, but we know our franchise partners have what it takes! If we reach our goal of 1000 schools by the end of June, our founder Ruthie Burd, will be shaving her head to commemorate the event! We'll keep you updated on our progress over the coming year. You can also check our homepage at any time for an up to date count!

2. New Partnership with Cameleo Photo

We were joined at the Retreat by Pierre  Mouton and Nicolas Bergeron who helped to announce a new partnership between the Lunch Lady Group and Cameleo Photo. Like the Lunch Lady, Cameleo Photo is dedicated to providing innovative products and services to its customers. Cameleo Photo was founded in 2004 by Nicolas Bergeron whose vision was to combine revolutionary school photography software, green technology, and online ordering to serve schools across Canada. Cameleo currently serves 350 schools in Quebec and starting this fall Cameleo services are being offered exclusively to select Lunch Lady schools, outside of Quebec. We are very excited to be able to offer this new service to our schools! Please talk to your Lunch Lady kitchen or email us at info@thelunchlady.ca to inquire if this new opportunity is available in your area

In addition to being a place for major announcements, our Retreats are always a great time for franchise partners to gain new leadership skills and receive updates on the state of our industry across Canada. We were lucky enough to be able to bring in two guest speakers to join us for the event. Bobby Umar worked with us to conduct and electrifying and fun session on brand leadership and Luana Felato ran a very informative session discussing the new School Food and Beverage Act and other resources available to schools and food service providers through regional public health offices.

Thanks again to all of our franchise partners for your enthusiastic participation in this year's Retreat. We already can't wait for the next one!

Learn more about our guest presenters through their bios below:

Bobby Umar, Professional Speaker

Bobby has an eclectic range of interests. With an undergraduate degree in Engineering and an MBA in Strategic Marketing. He has acquired over 15 years extensive experience in leadership training through recreation and leadership programs across Canada as well as several teaching positions.  Most notably, Bobby currently serves as a Faculty of Arts & Leadership for McMaster University’s Shad Valley summer program for gifted high school youth.

Luana Felato, Registered dietician for Peel Public health

Luana Felato is a Registered Dietitian with Peel Public Health on the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Team. Currently, Luana is involved in the development of a healthy beverage display and theBeing Active, Eating Well website (a teacher resource).  Her primary role focuses on supporting the planning and implementation of a pilot program for the School Food and Beverage Policy.