Busy Bees are delighted to announce we have been awarded the prestigious bronze Food for Life Catering Mark from the Soil Association for serving fresh and healthy meals in our nurseries. This guarantees that all 14,000 meals served to children at Busy Bees nurseries every day are fresh and healthy – so parents can rest assured that their little ones are getting the good food they deserve.

The Catering Mark is a unique scheme which recognises food providers who serve fresh food which is free from undesirable additives and better for animal welfare. The bronze Catering Mark is a guarantee that meals are made with seasonal ingredients, all eggs are from cage-free hens and no GM ingredients are used. All meals are free from additives which have been shown to affect children’s behaviour, including MSG, tartrazine and aspartame.

Busy Bees employ a dedicated catering team at each of our nurseries, all of whom are required to complete an exclusively developed Early Years Nutrition course.

Commenting on the bronze Catering Mark, Mel Fox, Catering Manager at Busy Bees, said, “We are proud to have achieved the Food for Life Catering Mark. This award means that parents can be certain that the food their children are eating at nursery is freshly prepared using quality ingredients. The Catering Mark offers recognition for the standard of our food and provides an independent guarantee from the Soil Association that we’re really providing the best food service for the children.”

Explaining the importance of the Catering Mark, Rob Sexton, Chief Executive of Soil Association Certification, said, "The bronze Catering Mark is an excellent achievement which recognises the vital role that fresh, seasonal meals play in healthy and planet-friendly menus. One in four children are overweight when they start primary school so developing healthy eating habits at nursery is vital to get them on the right path for the future. The Catering Mark reassures parents that their children’s meals at nursery are prepared from scratch and free from GM ingredients and trans fats.”