More Welsh produce for local pupils' school dinners

More school meals in Newtown will be served up with Welsh produce... from a company in West Wales.

Powys County Council revealed this week it wanted to increase the amount of Welsh produce used by its catering teams in schools throughout the county. But the supplier will be Cross Hands based Castell Howell.
 
Cllr Jake Berriman, Cabinet Member for a Connected Powys, said: “This is an exciting partnership and I’m delighted that the council will be working with Castell Howell to continue to provide healthy, nutritionally balanced meals in schools across the county.

“As a council, we are looking to use more Welsh produce so our new partnership with Castell Howell will help us achieve this.  We will also work with them to produce more seasonal school meal menus that use produce grown here in Wales and, where possible, Powys.”
 
Matt Lewis, Managing Director at Castell Howell, said: “Castell Howell Foods have delivered food to businesses across Powys for numerous years, building partnerships with caterers and hospitality customers.
 
“We’re very proud to be nominated as new suppliers to Powys County Council and look forward to developing similar partnerships with the schools that play an invaluable role in the communities where these businesses operate. We’ve been working with local authorities for numerous years, supplying over 1,000 schools, helping to deliver the ingredients for an estimated 600,000 school meals every week.

“Evolving Welsh supply chains is important. We’re into year three of our ‘Welsh Veg to Welsh Schools’ collaborative initiative and are already working with a grower in the south-east of the county, and developing relationships with a grower to the east of Brecon.
 
“Our aim is to work to a three-year plan with Powys County Council, where a higher quantity of Welsh produce features in the school plate.  Powys have similar aspirations and there are numerous opportunities to realise our shared ambitions.”