Between 40-60 per cent of dishes on contractors’ menus are now healthy option dishes, says the British Hospitality Association’s (BHA) 17th annual Food and Service Management Survey 2006.

The survey, sponsored by Unilever Foodsolutions, says that the growth in the number and variety of healthy option dishes featured in past surveys has continued in 2005 with possibly even greater commitment.

However, in his introduction to the survey, Phil Hooper, chair of the BHA’s Food and Service Management Forum and corporate affairs director at Sodexho UK, concedes that 2005 posed some challenges for the industry.

Key developments this year include a decline in the number of outlets by 2.3 per cent, partly due to some contractors resigning contracts for economic reasons, and some consolidation in Ministry of Defence contracting.

Jamie Oliver’s television programmes are criticised for having raised the expectations of some local education authorities and parents, leading them to believe that the food quality of school meals could be improved without an increase in food costs.

Many contract caterers had become reluctant to bid for some local authority tenders and in some cases operators resigned school meals contracts altogether.

The Food & Service Management Survey is free to members and is available on request.

For non-members the survey costs £50 for a hard copy, or £25 for a PDF version.

To order your copy, please contact the BHA on +44 (0)20 7404 7744, or email [email protected]