The school hot meals scheme began as a pilot involving 30 schools in 2019 and has since grown to include 1,600 schools, catering to up to 260,000 children.
This morning, one of the main suppliers of the hot meals announced a €7.5 million expansion that will see it capable of providing 100,000 per day.The Lunch Bag said it plans to triple in size, hiring 240 full-time roles at its headquarters in Nenagh, Tipperary and 450 part-time roles around the country.
The company is also this month beginning work on a 50,000 sq ft extension to its production facility to accommodate additional production lines.“This is an incredibly exciting time for our business,” said CEO Ray Nangle. “We’re immensely proud of the fact that in 2019 we set out to ensure every child in Ireland had access to a school meal service and we have seen that come to fruition in under five years.