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ClosedFood and drink

DfE School Food Strategy Catering Providers Market Engagement[E19]

London, United KingdomDepartment for Education[E1]

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In plain English

What they want
Department for Education School Food and Catering Market Engagement Process The Department for Education is seeking market engagement with existing Catering providers of School Catering that already have contracts with School(s).
Who can bid
No restrictions are stated in the notice data. The tender documents may set more.
Deadline
Buyer's deadline: 1 May 2026, 12:00 UTC+1. UTC: 1 May 2026, 11:00 UTC.
Published 27 Mar 2026.
Value
Not stated by the buyer.
Buyer
Department for EducationSee what else this buyer buys and when.
How to apply
Through the buyer's official process. Open the original notice on UK Contracts Finder (OCDS) (opens in a new tab) ↗
Tender documents

The tender documents for this notice are on the buyer's own portal, usually behind a free supplier registration. We link to them and do not fetch them, so the report is based on the notice only.

This opportunity is closed and its deadline has passed. Reports are not available for it.

Deadline[E4]
1 May 2026, 12:00 UTC+1
Value
Not stated
Published[E17]
27 Mar 2026
Procedure[E16]
Other - This notice is not a call for competition and will not result in a Contract opportunity
Source
UK Contracts Finder (OCDS) (opens in a new tab)
Last checked
7 hours ago

About the requirement

From the notice

Department for Education School Food and Catering Market Engagement Process The Department for Education is seeking market engagement with existing Catering providers of School Catering that already have contracts with School(s). This is a crucial part of the Department's wider efforts to build on existing knowledge and gain further understanding of the school food market ahead of the planned expansion of Free School Meal eligibility to all children in households in receipt of Universal Credit in September 2026. The Department plans to run a market engagement process over the coming months. This Market Engagement shall NOT result in a procurement opportunity and is solely intended to give Caterers the opportunity to offer valuable insight into how School Food and Catering is delivered. This market engagement is part of a wider programme of engagement by the Department with schools, Local Authorities and other stakeholders. If you are a current provider of school catering interested in engaging with the Department, please complete the questionnaire in the online form - link attached. The closing date for completing the questionnaire is 12PM on Friday 1st May 2026.[E5]

Eligibility and requirements

  • ConditionDelivery location: North East, United Kingdom.[E11]
  • ConditionDelivery location: North West, United Kingdom.[E12]
  • ConditionDelivery location: Yorkshire and the Humber, United Kingdom.[E13]
  • ConditionDelivery location: East Midlands, United Kingdom.[E14]
  • ConditionDelivery location: West Midlands, United Kingdom.[E6]
  • ConditionDelivery location: East of England, United Kingdom.[E9]
  • ConditionDelivery location: London, United Kingdom.[E10]
  • ConditionDelivery location: South East, United Kingdom.[E8]
  • ConditionDelivery location: South West, United Kingdom.[E7]
  • The notice data states no restriction on who may bid. Exclusion grounds and selection criteria in the tender documents still apply.

Risks and unknowns

  • UnknownThe notice does not state a value.
  • UnknownWe read the published notice, not the full tender documents.

Updates

  1. First seen · 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC

    The deadline (2026-05-01T11:00:00.000Z) has passed.

    Source document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343

Evidence

19 facts

Every fact on this page comes from the published notice. Each entry shows the document and the field it was read from.

  1. E1

    The buyer is Department for Education.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /buyer/name, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  2. E2

    The notice is classified under CPV 15894210 (School meals).

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/classification/id, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  3. E3

    Contracts Finder publishes United Kingdom procurement.

    “England”

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  4. E4

    Tenders must be submitted by 1 May 2026, 12:00 UTC+01:00.

    “2026-05-01T12:00:00+01:00”

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/tenderPeriod/endDate, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  5. E5

    The buyer describes the requirement in the notice.

    “Department for Education School Food and Catering Market Engagement Process The Department for Education is seeking market engagement with existing Catering providers of School Catering that already have contracts with School(s). This is a crucial part of the Department's wider…”

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/description, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  6. E6

    Delivery location: West Midlands, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/4, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  7. E7

    Delivery location: South West, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/8, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  8. E8

    Delivery location: South East, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/7, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  9. E9

    Delivery location: East of England, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/5, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  10. E10

    Delivery location: London, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/6, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  11. E11

    Delivery location: North East, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/0, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  12. E12

    Delivery location: North West, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/1, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  13. E13

    Delivery location: Yorkshire and the Humber, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/2, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  14. E14

    Delivery location: East Midlands, United Kingdom.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/3, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  15. E15

    This is a call for competition. Suppliers can respond.

    “tender”

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tag, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  16. E16

    The procedure is: Other - This notice is not a call for competition and will not result in a Contract opportunity.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/procurementMethodDetails, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  17. E17

    The notice was published on 27 Mar 2026.

    “2026-03-27T11:39:03Z”

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/documents/0/datePublished, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  18. E18

    Contracts Finder gives the tender status as active.

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/status, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

  19. E19

    The notice is titled "DfE School Food Strategy Catering Providers Market Engagement".

    Document fe211f44-56c0-4928-b29e-0d4730059f72-890343, field /tender/title, read 28 Oct 2026, 13:32 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

Contains public sector information from Contracts Finder, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (opens in a new tab). Personal contact details in notices are not stored or shown.