The theme of this year's LACA Main Event is "Levelling Up School Food". With significant cost increases, staffing shortages, and funding shortfalls, providing nutritious meals to children has become increasingly challenging. In response to these challenges, LACA has launched a campaign urging all political parties to commit to a minimum funding level of PS3 per meal (index linked) in their general election manifestoes.
The programme and features at the Main Event will address the disparities in school meals funding across the nations and explore strategies to ensure that all children and young people receive the very best school food to support their growth and learning.
It has never been more important to establish common ground and a collective voice on the importance of school food and the growing pressures operators are facing to provide this vital service.
The ever-popular LACA Live returns with cookery demonstrations taking place in Hall 1 on Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th July.
View LACA Live Programme
Our informative Workshop Sessions will run on Wednesday morning with practical, interactive sessions.
View the Workshop Programme
Main Event Delegate Programme
The programme below outlines the closed sessions which are only accessible for delegates.
Wednesday 3 July 2024
| 9.30 | School Food Show exhibition opens |
| 10.30 | Workshop Sessions, Arden Suite |
| 10.30 | Workshop 1: The School Food Sector - a good place to work - focus on staff development - Beverley Baker |
| 11.00 | Workshop 2: Case Study - Thames View Infant School, Paul Jordan |
| 11.30 | Workshop 3: LACA Ask the Experts - Judith Gregory, LACA National Vice Chair; Brad Pearce, LACA Immediate Past Chair; Derek Wright, LACA Board member, Lee Petar, Menara Advisors. |
| 12.00-14.30 | Lunch & exhibition viewing Halls 1 & 2 LACA Live |
| 12.15 | Lentils.org Using lentils as a tasty and healthy protein subsititute will be the focus of the dishes developed during this session. |
| 13.15 | Strong Roots Demo The new plant-based range from McCain will be put through its paces as Development Chef Paul Murphy demonstrates its flexibility by producing healthy and nutritious school food standrad compliant dishes. |
| 14.00 | LACA Main Event sessions begin - Kings Suite Forum chair, Michael Hales LACA's year in focus 2024 |
| 14.15 | Opening Address and Introduction to this year’s Main Event Anita Brown, LACA National Chair Mark Sargeant, LACA Ambassador LACA’s National Chair will be joined by the new LACA ambassador to update delegates on current plans and objectives including campaigning. |
| 14.40 | Four Nations – Levelling up School Food Anita Brown, LACA National Chair Judith Gregory, LACA National Vice Chair Chris Ross, Chair, ASSIST FM Colm Bradley, Education Authority (Northern Ireland) The disparity in funding across the UK continues to be an issue and LACA have been campaigning to ‘Level it Up’ and ensure all children get the healthy and nutritious meal they deserve. The four nations panel will discuss the campaign and its progress as well as sharing thoughts on current challenges and the solutions they are using to overcome them. |
| 15.40 | What is AI going to mean to the school food service? Peter Russell FIH, Chief Technology Officer, Russell Partnership |
| 16.10 |  An interview with Shirley Ballas Shirley Ballas, renowned judge on "Strictly Come Dancing," has recently spoken out about the significance of free school meals and will join forum chair Michael Hales on Wednesday 3 July at the Main Event, to talk about the importance of them to her growing up, and the positive impact this vital service can have on children's lives. |
| 17.00 | Forum day one closes |
| 19.30 | LACA informal icebreaker evening, Kings Suite |
Thursday 4 July 2024
| 8.30 | LACA Forum delegate registration opens - hotel and hall 2 foyers LACA School Food Show - exhibition opens, hall 1 and hall 2 |
| 9.30 | Forum day two opens Forum chair, Michael Hales Welcome and LACA Year in Focus 2024 |
| 9.45 | You are what you eat – panel session David Titman, Raising Nutrition Steve Thomas, Ample Marketplace Nadim & Tanya Ednan-Laperouse OBE, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation Allergen Inclusivity Three presentations updating delegates on key areas such as allergens, UK farming developing towards net zero+ delivery and current thinking on nutrition and how to educate children on this subject will be followed by an investigative Q&A session. |
| 10.35 |  The missing voice: What we aren’t talking about within the school food sector. Luke Hall, ex Youth MP for South Tyneside and Advisory Rep for Biteback 2030 |
| 11.00 | Independent Review into Public Sector Food Procurement - Will Quince, Review Lead This DEFRA instigated review was never published before the government called the election for July 4th 2024. Instead Will Quince, who led the review and has now stepped down as an MP, will share the findings of the review and the recommended actions as well as advising the sector on the best way of approaching the new government to get the recommendations actioned. |
| 11.30 | Calculating the price of a school lunch Brad Pearce, LACA Immediate Past Chair and Myles Bremner, CEO, Bremner & Co. School Food Matters healthy zones programme have conducted detailed research into determining what it costs to produce delicious, nutritious and sustainable meals in primary, secondary, special schools and alternative provision settings in England. Brad Pearce chaired the advisory group on the project and will share the findings that we hope will support LACA’s call for a minimum funding of £3 per child per meal. |
| 11.55 | What is the Buying Better Food & Drink framework? How does it support school food caterers? And, why is understanding farm soil health so important for a resilient, high-quality and affordable food supply in the 2020s? Rich Osborn, CEO, Equilibrium Markets Dynamic Food Procurement has been called for by national inquiries, the national food strategy, and most recently in the Independent Quince Review of 2024. Entegra, a Sodexo company, will launch the Buying Better Food framework to school caterers in November 2024. Rich will share how Entegra’s use of AgileChain technology can underpin a more reliable food supply for school caterers into the late 2020s. |
| 12.20 | Lunch and exhibition viewing including LACA Live in Hall 1 LACA Live |
| 12.00 | LACA Grab 'N' Go Challenge sponsored by SchoolGrid - Now in it’s second year, the winner of the 2024 Grab & Go competition will be announced on Wednesday 3rd July and will demonstrate their winning dish on the LACA Live theatre on Thursday. |
| 12.45 | Mark Sargeant, LACA Ambassador - Former National Chef of the Year and now LACA Ambassador, Mark Sargeant will give us his spin on tasty and nutritious meals for school customers. |
| 13.45 | Tilda and Vegpower - The third award winners of the Tilda/Vegpower Award Janine Bowen and Karen Ross will be demonstrating their winning Tilda Rice recipe with Harv Deol from Tilda. Dan Parker from Veg Power will be giving an exclusive sneak preview of their latest research on how households decide to have school meals |
| 14.30 | Forum resumes - Kings Suite |
| 14.45 | Getting the attention of the educated buyer – Mastering Customer Obsession: Aligning Sales, Marketing, and Engagement in the Digital Age John Douch, Sales Tribe John will concentrate on the concept of 'Customer Obsession'. The presentation will underscore the rapid evolution occurring across various industries and the unprecedented importance of aligning sales, marketing, and customer engagement teams to adapt to these changes. |
| 15.15 | ParentPay Group Research 2024 & the LACA Cost of Living Survey Update Ricky Nelson, Key Account Manager, ParentPay Group and Judith Gregory, LACA Vice-Chair The annual survey of parental views on the school food service is now a vital benchmarking process for LACA. Parentpay Group will share the results and Judith Gregory will give an update on the LACA Cost of Living research as food prices settle but we enter an election year. |
| 15.30 | Political and General Election Update Lee Petar, Menara Communications What can we expect under different Governments? Some time in 2024 or January 2025 at the latest will see a general election in the UK. LACA’s political and lobbying advisor Lee Petar will tell us what school food policies we can expect under the different party leadership and when. |
| 15.45 | Keynote session: Kate Quilton Kate Quilton is a journalist, producer and presenter. She is one of the main presenters on C4’s longest running food series ‘Food Unwrapped’ which investigates the science and provenance of food and has run for over 10 years. Kate’s other credits include ‘Why Is Food So Expensive’ for BBC1, ‘Price Rises: The Secrets Of Your Shopping Bill’ for ITV1, ‘Food Unwrapped Investigates’, and ‘How To Beat…’ both for C4. She has also fronted ‘Animal Rescue Live’, ‘Superfoods’, ‘Tricks of the Restaurant Trade’, ‘Be Your Own Doctor’ and ‘The Shopper’s Guide to Saving Money’. |
| 16.30 | Finishing Touches 2024 Presentation of Finishing Touches Best in Show winner followed by Chair’s handover and conference close. |
| 16.45 | Forum day two closes; exhibition ends |
| 19.00 | Drinks Reception, Pavillion Suite |
| 19.30 | LACA Awards for Excellence Dinner, Kings Suite |