Meet Gabi, one of the SF4C caterers!
SchoolFood4Change brings together many fields of activity and areas of expertise. We are particularly grateful for the contributions made locally, in the cities, at the schools and in the school canteens. The change we are striving for is becoming visible and tangible thanks to the hard work of all the locally committed players!
The caterers in the many canteens that have signed up to our concept across Europe make an important contribution to the success of our work. Gabi Hofman, for example, is responsible for several SchoolFood4Change canteens in Nuremberg, Germany.
With her company “Panino Catering”, Gabi Hofmann cooks for four daycare centres and three schools. In this way, around 1,000 meals are produced per day. Different catering systems are used: A mixture of cook&serve/ hold/ chill. Fresh food is cooked on site at two schools. Another school and the daycare centres are then supplied from there.
Let’s meet and greet Gabi!
SF4C: Hi Gabi! Tell us – who are you?
Gabi: Hello, I’m Gabi, I’m 56 years old, I’m married and have a grown-up daughter. I was originally trained to sell baked goods (Konditoreifachverkäuferin), but worked in retail for a few years after my apprenticeship. My passion for good food led me to start my own business in 2007. For the first two years, I had a small bistro near two schools with a parallel catering business.
In 2009, we moved into our first school with a kitchen so that we could cook fresh food on site. Over the years, we took on responsibility for two further schools and four daycare centres.
How did you get in contact with the SchoolFood4Change project?
Gabi: I first heard about SchoolFood4Change at a meeting with the Nuremberg education authority and was immediately interested. Thanks to the participation of two of our schools, we have become a participant ourselves as an accompanying caterer, which I am very pleased about, as we are also very interested in sustainable and healthy nutrition.
What has changed for you as a result of SchoolFood4Change and what have you learnt from participating in the project so far?
Gabi: A lot has changed in our company! We have used the opportunity of taking part in the project to take a closer look at what we do! We asked ourselves: How can we serve even fresher and more varied food? As a company that has always had a low meat content, we have reduced both meat and fish even further and instead have significantly more fresh, predominantly seasonal and regional vegetables on the menu.
Further steps that were inspired by my participation in the “Kantine Zukunft” workshop offered by Speiseräume (SchoolFood4Change project partner) in Berlin:
- We now produce our own 100% organic vegetable seasoning paste.
- We make our own seasoning salts to make side dishes such as rice, bulgur, etc. more flavourful.
- We use convenience products less often. Instead we serve homemade patties (e.g. with our homemade apple ketchup) or pulses more often.
What would you like to achieve as part of the SchoolFood4Change project (for your school/canteen)?
Gabi: Our aim is to support our schools in establishing a better understanding of a fresh, varied diet and to strengthen respect for food and the way it is handled.
In your opinion, what role do caterers play in establishing a sustainable food culture in daycare centres and schools?
Gabi: I believe that caterers can play a very important role. To do so, however, they absolutely need the support of their customers, i.e. schools, daycare centres, local authorities, etc. The clearer the guidelines are defined, the easier it will be for everyone to work towards a common goal.
What special dish do you offer in the school canteen(s) and why?
Gabi: We make our menu as varied as possible and are constantly developing new recipes! One of our pupils’ favourite meals is pasta with our homemade pesto.
Where do you see challenges for a change in the food on offer at schools towards more sustainability and health?
Gabi: In our experience, it often takes a lot of patience to get children interested in new dishes because they usually prefer to eat what they already know. That’s why I think that food education needs to start very early, not just at school. It is not always easy to reconcile the ideas and wishes of everyone involved, especially as there is often enormous cost pressure.