How sustainable are school meals in Hong Kong? Advocates see a chance to teach students about the impact of their food choices. Providers point to dependence on imports

With sustainable school meals a hot topic in Hong Kong, food providers are taking up the challenge, but it’s not easy in a city that is not self-sufficient

Sourcing is key, and education could help influence responsible food choices. Caterers say they don’t always ‘get it right’, but are trying to play their part

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Kin Food Hall in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong, has partnered with Chinese International School to serve sustainable lunches in the 2023-2024 school year. Students will be offered a variety of options and encouraged to make healthy choices. Credit: Kin Food Hall

Nicole Tan

Published: 7:15am, 23 Aug 2023Updated: 5:18pm, 23 Aug 2023

Love them or hate them, school lunches provide students with a hot meal every school day.

Between Chartwells and Sodexo – two of the biggest names in Hong Kong’s school food catering industry – anywhere from 26,000 to nearly 40,000 meals are served per day to students. The two caterers are charged with working with more than 40 of the city’s schools – local and international, primary and secondary.

However, with this volume comes responsibility, both for ensuring that students are fed nutritious, sustainable meals and for minimising the food’s impact on the environment.

This was put under the magnifying glass in April, when the Sustainable School Food Summit – organised by food sustainability consultancy Grassroots Initiatives, The Alliance for Sustainable Schools, and Chinese International School students – highlighted sustainability challenges associated with school meals.

Sodexo and Chartwells, two of Hong Kong’s biggest catering companies, serve between 26,000 to 40,000 meals a day to school students. Photo: Sodexo

Kin Food Hall, a food court in Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay neighbourhood that is focused on sustainability, is one food provider taking on that task. Earlier this August, Kin announced its partnership with Chinese International School to provide students with healthy, sustainable meals in the coming school year.

Its menu, according to Kin, is built around farming cycles, and uses ingredients procured from carbon-conscious sources. The provider aims to give students the ability to select their meal from a variety of options, and build up the habit of making healthy choices.