School caterers are increasingly having to alter menus and rely on more processed ingredients due to continuing cost and supply pressures, a new survey has found.
Research from the LACA, which represents school caterers, found its members had on average experienced a rise of 30 per cent in the cost of food items since May.
The findings, from a survey of organisations providing services across 9,874 schools, also showed that supply issues were continuing in kitchens.
Ninety-one per cent said they were still experiencing food shortages and substitutions in September, while 60 per cent said the situation had not changed or worsened since May.
