School and Daycare Catering in Germany: Systems, Quality, Organic Food and Costs

School and daycare meals in Germany are usually produced in one of four systems: cooked on site (cook and serve), delivered hot from a central kitchen (cook and hold), or delivered chilled or frozen and finished on site (cook and chill, cook and freeze). The DGE quality standards for daycare centres and schools are the benchmark for what goes on the plate. Free advice is available from the state advisory networks for daycare and school catering. A federally commissioned study showed that the full cost of a school lunch is considerably higher than what parents pay.

The four systems compared

System	How it works	Strengths	Limitations
Cook and serve	Cooking on site, partly with prepared components	Freshness, taste, flexibility, short holding times	Needs a fully equipped kitchen and trained staff
Cook and hold (hot delivery)	Central kitchen cooks, food is delivered hot and kept warm	Little equipment on site	Long holding reduces taste and vitamins
Cook and chill	Food is cooked, rapidly chilled, delivered cold and reheated on site	Production and serving decoupled, short holding time	Requires regeneration equipment and training
Cook and freeze	As cook and chill, but frozen	Long storage life, easy planning	Energy for freezing, narrower choice

For hot delivery, timing is critical. The DGE school standard limits the time between the end of cooking and serving the last guest to 3 hours, at a minimum of 65 °C. Cook and chill has its own German hygiene standard, DIN 10536.

What good school food looks like

For lunch over five serving days, the DGE school standard (5th edition, 2023 reprint) includes:

• grains or potatoes every day, at least once wholegrain,
• vegetables or salad every day, at least twice raw and at least once pulses,
• fruit and dairy at least twice each,
• with mixed diet, meat or sausage at most once and fish once,
• a vegetarian option every day and drinking water always available.

The daycare standard (6th edition, 2023 reprint) also covers breakfast and snacks and treats shared meals as part of early education. In daycare, staff often eat with the children, who learn to serve themselves and try new foods together, so close coordination between kitchen and educators on allergies and cultural or religious needs matters. Good catering also depends on enough time to eat, a pleasant dining room, involvement of children and parents and reliable allergen information.

Organic food and sustainability

Organic food works in every system. Under Germany’s organic catering regulation, kitchens can display their organic share with a gold, silver or bronze logo, explained in organic food in canteens. Starting with staples such as potatoes, pasta, dairy or apples keeps extra costs manageable. Other levers are more plant-based dishes, seasonal produce, pre-ordering and cancellation systems to cut waste (see food waste in catering) and reusable transport containers and tableware.

Costs and funding

The most robust national data comes from the KuPS study on cost and price structures in school catering, published in 2019 on behalf of the federal food ministry. It is dated but shows the structure:

• In a model calculation (on-site kitchen run by the school authority, 200 meals a day), the full cost was €5.56 per meal. Staff was the largest item, while food accounted for only just over a fifth.
• The average selling price in self-operated settings was €3.19. School authorities covered the difference.

Food, staff and energy costs have risen considerably since then, and today’s parental contributions vary widely by state and operator. Because food is a smaller share of total cost, a higher organic share raises the meal price less than many expect.

Two recent changes matter:

• VAT: since 1 January 2026, a reduced rate of 7 % applies to food in restaurants, catering and institutional catering, while drinks remain at 19 %.
• Support for low-income families: Germany’s education and participation package (Bildungs- und Teilhabepaket) covers shared school and daycare lunches for eligible children without a parental contribution.

All-day schooling from 2026

Since 1 August 2026, children in first grade have a legal right to all-day care (Section 24(4) Social Code Book VIII). The right expands by one grade each year until all primary pupils are covered from August 2029. School authorities should plan rising meal numbers, larger dining spaces and flexible volumes when tendering, see public catering tenders in Germany.

Where to get advice

Every federal state has a network office for daycare and school catering. They advise operators, schools, caterers and parents and know the state rules. The National Quality Centre for Nutrition in Daycare and Schools (NQZ) coordinates them; you can find contacts on the NQZ website.

Checklist for schools and parents

• Which system suits the kitchen, space and meal numbers up to 2029?
• Is the menu planned to the DGE standard, and is this checked?
• How long are transport and holding times in practice?
• What is the organic share, and is there an organic logo?
• How are children and parents involved?
• How is food waste measured?

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