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(Based on the Stroud pilot scheme as initiated by the Stroud and Mid-Glos Education Business Partnership)
In the Stroud scheme, Fruit tuck Shops (FTS), initially ran on Wednesdays.(It was agreed to start small, one day per week to see how it worked out). A delivery was arranged with a local wholesaler, between 8.30am and 10.00am in time for the school break.
Small Cox’s apples, Satsumas and grapes which all retailed at 10p (10p for 10 grapes), and bananas for 15p, were identified as the most popular fruits to sell.
The orders were faxed through on a Friday and usually the quantities were rounded up to the nearest 10.
Invoices were sent weekly, brought with the order, and the schools paid these. The Stroud EBP paid for the first two weeks to give the schools a ‘float’.
Schools in the pilot did some market research and took orders to ascertain demand, but once the scheme settled down, they were able to place a regular order each week with little or no waste (staff being prepared to buy any surplus).
The fruit was very fresh and of a good quality as the ‘middleman’, the supermarket had been cut out of the chain, hence the very good value. Teachers and parents are now buying from the schools. Grapes have to be washed, which although a chore, they are so popular, that schools have continued to sell them. All schools informed parents by either by pupil or teacher letter.
In some schools, the Y6 ran the whole business as a mini-enterprise so that pupils took the orders, faxed them through, sold the produce, kept the books etc.
Some schools kept a ‘Food Diary’ before starting the project to give them a basis for evaluation.
Resources for download:
A Whole School Approach
School Dinners
"A Year In the Life of the Farmers' Market" project
Setting up a Junior Farmers Market
Junior Farmers Market case study
A Children's debate on farmers' markets
Farm Visits
Apple Days
Bees In The Curriculum
Wheat, Barley and Oats
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