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Solving Compound Challenges with Innovative Solutions

Whitsons School Nutrition is prepared to welcome students back to school this fall. We have worked diligently to develop food service options, under pandemic-regulated conditions, and are ready to support districts as they reopen, enabling all students to enjoy nutritious, well-balanced school meals.

The USDA recently extended waivers, including the option for schools to offer free meals to all students through the 2021-22 school year. While this has many districts excited about the expanded access to meals, it also brings a variety of new challenges.

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) Back to School 2021 Survey of 1,368 school meal program directors nationwide reveals serious financial, regulatory and operational challenges for the upcoming school year.

• 82% are concerned about low meal participation
• 90% worry about staff shortages
• 86% ranked financial sustainability of school meal programs as a concern

Watch: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Make Sure You Are Operating in Compliance This Fall

Whitsons Partners with Districts to Keep School Nutrition Programs Viable

At Whitsons, we are prepared to provide our school district partners with a wide variety of new programs for the upcoming school year, said Kelly Friend, Chief Operating Officer, Contract Management. Our goal is to support the communities that we serve by providing nutritious and delicious school meals to all students in new and innovative ways, continued Friend.

Whitsons partners with school districts by providing groundbreaking school nutrition programs for their community. Some of our service solutions include:

• NEW POP-UP SHOPS – Young customers are craving new and interesting ways to enjoy food and Whitsons is on the cutting edge by bringing this service to the K-12 marketplace. Pop-ups provide an ideal opportunity to showcase emerging and favorite trends for a limited period of time, while driving meal participation, and can be setup in a variety of formats to increase points of service.
• MOBILE MENU APP – Our mobile meal planning menu platform brings menu planning, nutrition information, meal ingredients and real-time allergen information to the fingertips of students, parents and school district staff. Districts may also opt to add the meal pre-ordering tool, allowing secondary students the opportunity to customize and pre-order grab-and-go meals and increase the speed of service.
• OUTDOOR MOBILE KIOSKS – Outdoor mobile kiosks under large tents lets students safely socialize while eating outside when weather allows. Grab-and-go items are offered, complete with socially distanced lines, tables and seating.
• TASTEFULLY PLATED ® GRAB-AND-GO MEAL OPTIONS – Tastefully Plated ® grab-and-go meals are chef-prepared, ready-to-serve, individually packaged meals. All meals arrive manufacturer sealed and can be served anywhere in the school to ensure proper social distancing.