By admin | Published: May 2 2012
Many people believe that fast food means junk food. I don’t think that has to be true. With the right approach, fast food can be good food too. Fast food, like so many things in business, is about recognising what customers need. At a roadside, you don’t want to be stopping for 2 hours, you [...]
By admin | Published: April 26 2012
People often ask me if fried food is bad for you. When I answer ‘not necessarily’ I sometimes get quizzical looks. That’s understandable, because we all have this notion of ‘fried’ as a ‘nice but naughty’ food choice. To my ‘not necessarily’ answer I add that it’s a case of all things in moderation. If [...]
By admin | Published: March 23 2012
Is healthy family eating a lost cause now? I’ll answer a confident ‘no’, to that, even though family life has changed so much in just a few generations. The good old days of the happy family sat down to dinner with Dad at the head of the table carving up the roast may be gone, [...]
By admin | Published: March 22 2012
We all know how tough things are at the moment. But some retailers are coping surprisingly well by re-focusing their product offerings onto smaller, lower-priced items. I’m convinced that a large part of our ongoing success is because we’ve always kept a sharp focus on affordability and value for our customers. We recently had several [...]
By admin | Published: February 22 2012
There’s quite a bit of strong opinion going around on the subject of Academies and school food standards, some of which I consider to be somewhat ill-informed.
By admin | Published: February 3 2012
In most of the current public discussions about school food, ‘price’ is being cited as the most important factor affecting school meal take-up. According to some of the most popular ideas being put forward at the moment, every student in every school would sign up to school dinners tomorrow if we made them free. Let’s [...]
By admin | Published: January 16 2012
Ash is King: Masterchef crowns a deserving champ
By admin | Published: December 23 2011
If you’ve read a few of my posts here, you’ll know something of the core beliefs that drive us at Cucina and set us apart from our competitors.
By admin | Published: December 16 2011
Well, that’s Christmas dinners done, and I must admit, I’m feeling fairly exhausted now.
By admin | Published: November 30 2011
Am I taken aback by these comments? No. I’m gobsmacked!
By admin | Published: October 31 2011
I’d love you to check out our free and newly-updated iPhone App (Top Banana Recipe Cards) if you haven’t already seen it you can do so here: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/top-banana-recipe-cards/id390996200?mt=8 The first thing you’ll probably notice is that we’ve designed the App with one main objective in mind – to get kids into the kitchen. Or in [...]
By admin | Published: October 18 2011
Being there. It’s the key to how fast we can grow.
By admin | Published: September 30 2011
Rewards for Teddington School team; back to the kitchen for me!
By admin | Published: September 22 2011
School food left behind. What 90% of secondary schools still need to learn.
By admin | Published: July 28 2011
Not long ago, we signed with an Oxford bakery …
By admin | Published: July 7 2011
School lays a yellow-brick road to McDonalds
By admin | Published: June 24 2011
I’m sure you’ve heard about the many benefits of ‘locally sourced’ food ingredients: lower food miles, fresher food, better for the environment, supporting local communities
By admin | Published: June 8 2011
Fish and Chips forever… economising without compromising on taste or value
By admin | Published: May 19 2011
Food advice from so-called experts can be confusing some times, can’t it?
By admin | Published: April 27 2011
I’m delighted to tell you that on Thursday 28 April, Cucina will be hosting Royal Wedding parties at each of its partner schools. All the planning is now done and we’re ready to roll. Well, apart from the music that is – so give us your ideas! Just click on the link below to suggest [...]
By admin | Published: April 11 2011
Winning back students to school meals is what we do a lot of, so I must admit I became very concerned when I first got wind of the following email from a parent and school governor at Teddington School in Middlesex. But then I read it all the way through – it’s hilarious! Read and [...]
By admin | Published: April 11 2011
I don’t think there’s any getting away from the fact that the world has a food crisis on its hands. Or that it’s going to get a whole lot worse very quickly unless we see some radical change. The UK is a predominantly service-led economy and has been for too many years. We now import [...]
By admin | Published: March 5 2011
“The child is father of the man,” said the famous poet. And I think this quote says it all when it comes to the impact that school food can have – and is starting to have – on modern family life. If you’re about my vintage (give or take!) you’ll remember those classic TV ads [...]
By admin | Published: February 9 2011
One of the things I appreciated most about ‘Jamie’s School Dinners’ when it first appeared on TV, was the fact that it didn’t patronise or talk down to kids. Instead, it proved something I’ve always known – that if you put the right things in place, young people will be motivated to choose good, healthy [...]
By admin | Published: February 2 2011
When our chefs win international food awards it helps make people aware of the high calibre of food that we are serving to 25,000 young people every single school day. It was such a thrill for us to see Cucina head chef Andy Wilcox take silver at the recent Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg, an [...]
