School foodservice directors know that high schoolers can be harsh critics, and they certainly don’t prefer to arrive at school early. At Baldwin High School in Milledgeville, Ga., all students can receive free breakfast and lunch, but breakfast participation was low.
“In high schools, meal participation is really hard because these kids don’t even come alive until about 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. and to force feed them at 7:30 a.m.—that’s a hard thing to do,” said Susan Nelson, Director of School Nutrition at Baldwin County Board of Education.
Nelson learned about the Dairy Alliance’s popular “Moo Brew” recipe, which includes milk and decaf coffee, and started offering the new drink with a whole grain item and fruit juice to qualify as a reimbursable meal.
Their initial test was at the far end of campus at the opposite end of the cafeteria and wasn’t consistent. At the end of the year, a staff member got a grant that provided the funds for a part-time employee to work specifically with their burgeoning coffee program.
“This year, with the added part-time person, we’re able to run carts at both ends of the building. We went from doing about 100 beverages to now we’re right at 400,” said Nelson.
With a whopping 300% increase in participation, it’s safe to say the coffee program is a success.
“We have about 90% meal participation now at the high school and I've had even some parents and some of my employees tell me their kids are actually eating now because of the coffee bar because they love that."
“Every day, we pick up a few more kids and I was afraid it would take kids out of our regular hot line that were already having breakfast, but that’s not been the case; these are absolutely kids that have not been eating with us.”
In addition to the additional cart location, Nelson also largely credits the program’s success to the modifications they made to the original coffee recipe they offered.
“We do a mocha flavor and we do a fresh vanilla, and then we also have the sugar-free syrups if they want to spice it up a little more,” said Nelson. “It is 100% better because when we started using [the new recipe], several of the kids got it…and they started running around telling their friends, ‘Go get some, go get some; this is better!”
To keep their coffee ready for service, BCHS uses foodservice’s most trusted beverage server: the Camtainer®.
“We’ve been using [the Camtainers] either to help us in preparing the day before or holding the coffee overnight in the cooler, and then we also use it on the serving line itself at the bars,” said Nelson.
“We use them in all the schools. We use them for iced tea, teacher meals, lemonades and functions we have on school grounds.”
Not only is the coffee program popular with the students, but Nelson has also received many inquiries from districts across the country after posting about it on the TIPS for School Meals that Rock Facebook page.
“I have gotten a ton of direct messages and emails from those posts,” said Nelson.
If you’re struggling with meal participation at your high school, a coffee program could be just the pick-me-up you’re looking for! Click here for full details on the Camtainer, the product featured in this blog.
AUTHOR: ADRIANA COCHRAN IS THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AT CAMBRO.
