We Are Ireland’s Leading Hot School Meal Provider
In 2019, we started with a simple ambition: to improve children’s nutrition while empowering and educating the next generation to build healthier eating habits for life.
What began in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, as a small team with a big passion, has grown into the people behind every step of the school meal journey, now operating from our headquarters in Tipperary. From reputable suppliers to your child’s school desk, we bring together nutrition experts, trusted suppliers, reliable systems and local teams to make nutritious, compliant, top quality meals for generations to come. Learn more below!
Your Menu 
Our CORU registered dietitians craft every meal to meet the standards. We work with suppliers to reformulate kids’ favourites, such as goujons and sausages, especially for us. Reducing salt, sugar or fat while keeping them on the menu. We add lentils to mince dishes to help address Ireland’s childhood fibre gap. Sauces are packed with vegetables, while free fresh fruit in classrooms helps children reach their recommended daily intake. Every decision is guided by the latest nutritional evidence, supporting healthier futures. For every meal, we provide full nutritional transparency, so you can make informed, educated choices.
Nutritional Breakdown
See the energy, fat, sugars, protein and salt in every meal.
Healthy Ireland
See how each meal compares with Healthy Ireland standards.
Variety Score
See the range of plant-based foods included in each meal.
Ingredient Lists
Know exactly what’s in each meal, with every ingredient listed.
Shaping Ireland’s School Meals System
Inspired by successful school meal systems in cities such as Tokyo, Paris and Rome, Ireland is home to one of the world’s newest and most progressive universal hot school meal programmes, giving every child access to a nutritious meal each day, approved by CORU-registered dietitians and developed in line with Healthy Ireland guidelines.
Strengthened Communities
Designed around community resources, local staff, school policies, ingredient sourcing and food culture.
Better nutrition
Raising the bar for nutrition in households, in line with the EU Child Guarantee and Healthy Ireland Guidelines.
Increased Opportunity
Hot meals support better nutrition, concentration and learning, while helping to reduce long-term healthcare and social costs.
''We source the finest ingredients and prepare every meal to meet Healthy Ireland Nutrition Standards.
We prioritise nutrition, quality and food safety at every step, working with local teams for smooth and safe delivery. Inspired by international best practice, we've developed a model that works for Ireland!''
Our Approach
We’ve created a school meal approach unique to Ireland. By balancing international best practice with Irish policy, Farm to Fork principles, local infrastructure and community needs, we’ve developed a school meal service that’s safe, sustainable and designed to protect schools and families from rising operational costs.
Tipperary Central Facility
A centralised approach brings together local partners, approved suppliers and expert systems to ensure every meal is nutritious, safe and fully compliant.
EXPERT SYSTEMS
Technology plays an incredibly important role in the safety and sustainability of our school meals, from allergen management and precise portioning to predictive ordering and full traceability.
Fuelling local communities
Once we’ve brought together approved ingredients, food safety standards and full traceability, meals are carefully delivered to school desks through your local network, supported by GAA and community connections.
Sourcing the Best Supply
Did you know?
While Ireland grows a fantastic range of seasonal vegetables, our climate doesn’t allow year-round production. That’s why trusted international sourcing plays a vital role in ensuring a consistent supply of fresh produce throughout the year.
Source: Adapted from Teagasc.
Ireland’s climate, growing seasons and the school calendar all influence how we source ingredients and plan our menus. We work closely with local suppliers to help them plan production around the demands of school meals, making the most of Irish produce whenever it’s in season.
By bringing together the best producers, partners and expertise, we create the cream of the crop, ensuring every ingredient meets the same trusted standard before it reaches your child’s desk.
Innovation Through Collaboration
Working closely with trusted suppliers allows us to develop products specifically for schools and children. By combining nutritional expertise with years of food production experience, we can improve existing products, develop new ones and continually raise the standard of school meals across Ireland.
Together with Glenhaven, we created a chicken goujon that meets the standards. Baked, not fried, with reduced salt and fat, it delivers the taste children love with the nutrition they deserve. A game-changer in food production!
We bring fresh, wholesome veg from Willowbrook’s family farm into school meals across Ireland. From mashed potato and carrots to cabbage, their ingredients help us create nutritious, high-quality meals every day.
Loughnane’s of Galway has created a sausage exclusively for The Lunch Bag. Made with 100% Bord Bia Quality Assured Irish pork, it’s steam cooked, free from MSG, phosphates and preservatives, and produced in a fully sustainable seaweed casing.
Extended Impact
The impact of school meals extends far beyond the classroom, supporting suppliers, employment, households, schools, and communities across Ireland. At the same time, hot school meals have been proven to positively support children’s health, wellbeing, social development, and overall academic achievement, showing how small daily actions can contribute to long-term national impact!
Back to The Community
We partner with local GAA clubs and community facilities across Ireland.
Our trained local teams heat and prepare meals in community hubs before delivering them hot to nearby schools, creating local employment and supporting the communities we serve.
As every school is different, this is just one of the delivery models we offer. Depending on your school’s location, facilities and requirements, we tailor our service to provide the most suitable hot meal solution.
Our Lunch Bag teams become part of the school community. They build positive relationships with pupils, support waste management, and help encourage healthier eating habits every day.
By creating local jobs and investing in communities across Ireland, we’re strengthening local economies while making a meaningful difference in the places families call home.
Making School Meals Work
The ‘cultural need’ shift. Today’s priority is ensuring every child has access to safe, nutritious, high-quality food.
ACCESS FOR EVERY CHILD
Every child in Ireland should have access to a fresh, high quality meal every day.
CHALLENGES ACROSS EUROPE
Across Europe, school meals are delivered in many different ways, with every system facing its own challenges around funding, infrastructure, staffing and consistency.
THE IRISH CHALLENGE
In Ireland, most primary schools weren’t originally designed with commercial kitchens or catering facilities, making the delivery of school meals a unique challenge as the programme continues to grow.
Our Appraoch
Our specialist teams work together under one roof, giving us complete oversight from sourcing to the child’s desk, ensuring every meal is prepared, quality checked and delivered to one trusted standard.
Empowering Healthier Choices
We believe school meals should support more than nutrition alone. They can help children build confidence around food, develop healthier habits, and create positive relationships with eating from an early age.
Through educational resources, classroom engagement, and food learning initiatives, we aim to support a wider school food culture that empowers children for the future.
