13 Singapore schools to adopt central kitchen model in 2026

Pupils will buy food supplied by caterers amid shortage of canteen stallholders

- Elisha Tushara

From January 2026, children from 13 schools will buy food from caterers and vendors instead of individual canteen stallholders.

Their schools will be switching to a central kitchen meal model, where a single operator manages their canteen, amid difficulties finding stallholders.

Five schools in the west — Dazhong Primary, Kranji Primary, Pioneer Primary, Qifa Primary and West View Primary — will cater from Chang Cheng Mee Wah Food Ind.

Catering company Gourmetz will provide meals for five schools in the south, including CHIJ (Kellock), Radin Mas Primary and River Valley Primary.

Blangah Rise Primary School, which in 2021 engaged airline catering and logistics company Sats to cater meals, will switch to Gourmetz in 2026.

Gourmetz will also serve Outram Secondary School's York Hill campus until it closes in 2027. The school is now operating from two locations until it completes its move to Sengkang.

Four schools in the northern and eastern parts of Singapore will be served by Wilmar Distribution. These are Casuarina Primary, Chongzheng Primary, Northoaks Primary and Outram Secondary's Sengkang campus.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Education (MOE) said central kitchen operators need to provide at least one full meal priced at no more than $2.70 in primary schools and $3.60 in secondary schools.

They must also follow the Health Promotion Board's Healthy Meals in Schools Programme guidelines and provide a good variety of food choices.

The central kitchen model is being expanded to more schools, after Yusof Ishak Secondary School piloted it in 2022, said the spokesman.

Its principal Chen Ziyang said the school canteen runs on a hybrid model, combining Sats' central kitchen with supplementary food options. Students can collect pre-ordered meals from automated dispensers using their registered ez-link cards.