This summer has proved to be very busy with many exciting changes.  We are very pleased to announce that The Lunch Connection is joining forces with the Lunch Lady Group, after the Lunch Connection was acquired by the Lunch Lady this past summer.  The Lunch Connection operates primarily in the Hamilton/Niagara Region and has grown to nearly 100 schools in just 3.5 years. Lunch Connection Schools will be converting to Lunch Lady schools this Fall and co-founder of the Lunch Connection, Steve Robinson, will be joining the staff of the Lunch Lady Group as Director of Sales and Marketing.

Introducing Steve Robinson, Director of Sales & Marketing

In his new role, Steve Robinson will help us better serve our existing customers and expand our network across Canada. He comes to us with lots of experience in both the School and the Lunch Program worlds. Steve lives in Hamilton with his wife, Cindy, and their three teenage sons. They are a very active family, with Steve coaching one of his son’s hockey teams, and often partaking in skiing and camping in their spare time.

For much of his career, Steve was Territory Manager, Trainer for Josten’s School Photography and serviced Elementary, Secondary and University level students. During this time, he won numerous awards for Sales, Leadership, and Photography across Canada. Over the past 3 years, Steve has been the co-owner and founder of The Lunch Connection, which served healthy school lunches in Southern Ontario. Steve has always enjoyed working with people, whether it is serving the lunches, talking to the school staff or training members of the team.

He brings with him valuable experience and enthusiasm to his new position with the Lunch Lady Team.

More details on the transition will be provided as we enter the school year. Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Katherine Hague

Communications, The Lunch Lady

katherine.hague@thelunchlady.ca

We're hosting Franchise Info Sessions in the Niagara Area August 12th!

Have you ever wished you could make a secondary income for your family while maintaining a flexible schedule? Do you like working with kids and being involved in your community? Are you ready for a more fulfilling career? If so, a Lunch Lady franchise may be the perfect opportunity for you.

Lunch Ladies and Lunch Guys not only provide a valuable service, but they also enjoy a flexible schedule which allows them to operate on ‘teacher’ hours and vacation time. For many franchise partners “The Lunch Lady” was exactly the lifestyle change they were looking for.

With over 17 years of experience, the Lunch Lady is Canada’s largest elementary school lunch provider. Last fall Lunch Lady founder Ruthie Burd was selected as one of Canada’s Top 50 Mompreneurs of 2010 by Mompreneur Magazine.

Thanks to the Lunch Lady, many parents can now benefit from an individually catered hot lunch program in their school. Today the Lunch Lady serves over 940 schools and more than 2 million lunches a year through a network of nearly 50 franchises across Canada.

We’re growing quickly! The number of communities we serve has more than doubled in the past three years. The Lunch Lady might just be the business opportunity you’ve been waiting for. To learn more about this exciting franchise opportunity please visit the Franchising section of our site or contact franchise@thelunchlady.ca.

Live in the Niagara area? Attend our upcoming info session.  Email franchise@thelunchlady.ca or call 1-800-603-6656 to reserve your spot!

Session information is provided below:

Friday August 12th - 10:00 AM

Niagara Falls City Hall; Com. Room #2

4310 Queen Street

Niagara Falls, ON

Your child’s safety and happiness are our first priority. Having served schools for over 18 years, we know that maintaining high standards for our products and services is essential. We are committed to serving meals that are not only consistently nutritious and delicious, but safe for your children to enjoy.

Here are just some of the many things that the Lunch Lady does to ensure top quality food at an affordable price:

Our Kitchens

• All food prepared in regularly health inspected commercial kitchens
• Frequent monitoring by our Head Office Operations Team
• Menu and product testing through our corporate test kitchen in Vaughan, ON
• Random in-kitchen and in-classroom quality testing by Franchisees and Head Office

Our Food

• Menus developed by a highly trained menu planning team
• Recipes designed to meet and exceed all provincial nutrition standards
• Nutritional analysis, publically available to all customers
• Ingredient & allergy listings for all food items
• Only the highest quality ingredients
• All franchise partners are required to be Food Safety Compliant and take a Regulated Certified Food Handler course recognized by the Ministry of Health.

Our Suppliers

• Food sourced through commercial suppliers
• Documented research on every food vendor
• Constant engagement with manufacturers to develop and source new products
• Routine sampling of new products

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lunch Lady food prepared?

Every Lunch Lady lunch across Canada is made in a Regional health inspected commercial kitchen.

Does the Lunch Lady meet provincial nutrition standard?

The Lunch Lady is committed to exceeding all provincial nutrition standards, including Ontario’s new PPM150. We fully comply to the Ontario Ministry of Education policy with every ingredient and our goal is to have our menu items above and beyond 80% Sell Most.

Who prepares the food?

Every Lunch Lady franchise partner is independently owned and operated by a member of your community. Franchise partners are hand selected by Lunch Lady Head Office and are constantly monitored by a team of highly trained operations managers.

How does the Lunch Lady source its products?

We source our products exclusively through a commercial distribution system.  Every supplier is required to provide us with product information including nutritional and allergy declarations to ensure food safety.

How are new ingredients and nutritionals monitored?

The Lunch Lady Group’s menu planning team, which includes a nutrition manager, formulates exact specifications and measurements for the preparation of our lunches. For every new menu, our team researches nutritionals, ingredients, and allergens for every product on every menu across the country. The ingredients we use in our recipes are never altered. Recipes are followed with no deviations. (i.e. adding “extras” or more product than specified).  All lunches have been formulated to be consistent in nutritional values and allergy management. We have created these particular formulas for our lunches so that the end product is constant wherever our lunches are served and so that allergy management and nutritional values are maintained.

Nutritionals for all menu items are available through your local Lunch Lady.

Are franchisees trained in food safety?

Our franchisees and at least one of their employees in a supervisory position are required to take a course to be a Certified Food Handler, recognized by the Ministry of Health.

Nothing is more worrisome and disheartening for a parent than a child who will not eat, or one who will only eat one or two things.

Our son Brendan, now 15 was a shining example of a fussy eater. Part of his resistance was that being autistic, he did not like the tactile feel of most foods. I know that experts often advise, “when they are hungry enough, they will eat” but we could never be sure with him because his need to stick to his rigid attitudes was stronger than his appetite.

However, he, like most young children liked games, so we made trying new foods into a game and it worked like a charm.

We used a combination of things he liked and foods he refused.

Here’s an example of how to turn snack time into a fun time

To play you need:

• 1 picky eater
• 2  little pieces of a food that is liked [apple]
• 2 little pieces of a food child has refused to try before [broccoli]
• 1 “treat type” food [balance the good fun with fun.. make it an oatmeal cookie]
• 5 little squares [could be a cut up placemat]

The Rules

• Make a line with 5 little placemat squares in front of the child.
• Put a food item on each square as shown with the treat furthest away
• Eat your way to the treat [no shortcuts allowed]

You can use all sorts of foods like cheese, and crackers, and melon etc and even add more selections as you go by adding more pieces of placemat and more food items. Kids really like to help set it all up

Remember this is a game with no good or bad outcomes. It’s just a game.

Don’t get overly excited if they actually eat the previously refused item or too upset if they just can’t do it.

Just say “Oh, I guess you don’t want to play this game with me right now” and put it all away for another time.

You can also make a line for yourself and play along and take turns with your child. Maybe there is something you don’t like to eat!

Now you may be wondering how it worked out with our son. Well. I’m happy to say that today he eats lots of veggies and believe or not really likes Brussels sprouts and even spinach!

— Ruthie Burd President and Founder, the Lunch Lady