Operator Healthy Canteens taking the reins of 80 school tuck shops

Busy parents who need to earn a living and complicated government-imposed food guidelines could lead to the extinction of tuck shops within 10 years as more schools lease them out to professional operators.

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Parents unwilling to volunteer their time and complicated government-imposed food guidelines are driving the demise of school tuck shops run by mums and dads.

Experts say volunteer-run canteens will likely disappear within 10 years amid a huge jump in schools leasing out their tuck shops to professional operators.

The number of public schools who lease their canteen for a yearly lump sum payment has skyrocketed by 38 per cent — from 357 schools in 2014 to 496 last year — according to data from the NSW Department of Education.

There are predictions school canteens could disappear in the next decade.

Healthy Canteens Australia is among the large number of operators jumping on the bandwagon, with the business taking the reins at 80 school canteens across the state.

Owner Graham Bernard predicts that volunteer tuckshops will no longer exist in the Sydney metropolitan area in 10 years time.

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In addition to complying with the new healthy food regulations, Mr Bernard said large mortgages made it hard for parents to work for free when they had to earn a wage.

“A lot of people running the canteens, typically older ladies who have been running school canteens for 20 or 30 years have said they’re retiring at the end of this year because they can’t make the (healthy menu) change after so long,” Mr Bernard said.

The Department’s Healthy School Canteen Strategy will become mandatory at the end of this year. The program requires strict portion sizes for certain foods and no more than a quarter of the menu can be “occasional” food.

Tuck shops have been forced to sell healthier options under government-imposed food guidelines.

It’s part of the reason private operators are paying more than $100,000 year to lease canteens at some of the state’s biggest schools.

Westfield Sports High School received $120,000 from their licensed canteen in 2018 while Cecil Hills High School received $135,315 in the same year.

A NSW P and C Federation spokesman said he was concerned the increase in commercial operators would increase prices for students.

“Under a for-profit private operator, these things will be decided on a purely commercial basis rather than on the best needs for that community,” he said.

President of the Central Coast District P and C Association Sharryn Brownlee said some schools had been chased and fined by the ATO because of poor recordkeeping, which made outsourcing the canteen an attractive option.

“I know a couple of high school with a quick changeover of leadership have had fines from the ATO for late payments, and had to fundraise to pay a fine,” she said.

“A lot of schools can’t manage the hassle that goes with the ATO, filing BAS statements.”

She said if a canteen employees people volunteers could be involved in Fair Work procedures.

“A P and C president is the employer in the eyes of Fair Work and so P and C members are shying away from taking on the president role,” she said.

A NSW Education Department spokesman said it was responsibility of the canteen license holder to viably manage their business.

Originally published as Operator Healthy Canteens taking the reins of 80 school tuck shops