Organic Out-of-Home Catering: The 2026 Full-Day Program Sets New Standards for Meals

Recent Study: Schools and Daycare Centers Lead in Organic Food Consumption

Just how relevant this timeframe is can already be seen from the current situation: A German study presented in July 2026 by AMI and Ecozept Germany on behalf of the BMLEH (German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture) shows that schools and daycare centers are already playing a pioneering role in organic purchasing. As part of the "Organic in Institutional Food Service" project, which has been running since 2025, school and daycare food service achieved the highest organic share – 6.1 per cent of total food purchases – among all sectors of institutional food service surveyed, ahead of full-service restaurants (4.4%) and company cafeterias (3.5%). Schools and daycare centres are thus already pioneers in the out-of-home comparison – albeit at a level that remains low overall.

Why Lunch Is Relevant to Public Health Policy

Initial Health Status

As all-day schooling expands and the proportion of children eating lunch at school increases accordingly, so too does the health responsibility of school meal programmes. This is evident in the fact that a significant proportion of children and adolescents in Germany do not meet dietary recommendations – leading to consequences such as nutrient deficiencies and obesity. Nutrition specialist Prof. Dr Berthold Koletzko highlighted this during a session of the Citizens' Assembly on Nutrition at the German Federal Parliament. He also emphasised that health outcomes depend heavily on social background and that inequalities often arise as early as childhood.

The Quality Standard of the German Nutrition Society as a Framework

Prof. Dr Wilhelm Windisch (Technical University of Munich) added during this expert discussion that lunch can make a significant contribution to the intake of essential nutrients – provided that the German Nutrition Society's quality standard for school meals is met. In addition to nutritional requirements, this standard covers other sustainability criteria, including organically produced foods, fair trade and animal welfare.

Organic Out-of-Home Regulations and Support Programs

Since October 2023, the Organic Out-of-Home Catering Regulation has established a nationwide framework for labelling the organic content in institutional catering. It introduces a standardised logo system (Bronze for 20% or more, Silver for 50% or more, and Gold for 90% or more organic content). It is supported by two federal funding programmes: RIZERT-AHV covers up to 80 per cent of certification costs (and even 100 per cent for daycare centres and schools), while RIBE-AHV subsidises consulting and training services by up to 80 per cent, provided that the goal is to achieve an organic content of at least 30 per cent of the cost of goods sold.

Practical Approaches to Increasing the Use of Organic Foods in School Meals

In addition to the political framework, practical educational and advisory approaches are gaining importance: one on the demand side – among children – and the other on the implementation side, in the kitchens.

Acker—Experiencing Food with All the Senses

Through the "GemüseAckerdemie" program, the social enterprise Acker brings nutrition education right to the schoolyard: Children grow their own vegetables and follow the process from seed to harvest. More than 1,350 schools are now participating, and since 2013, over 400,000 students have taken part in the "GemüseAckerdemie" program.

A learning garden at every elementary school could make exactly that possible: children would sow, tend, harvest, and prepare their own vegetables. According to Fischer, impact analyses of the "GemüseAckerdemie" program show that participating children come to value vegetables more highly, reflect on their consumption habits, and acquire knowledge about ecological farming principles – such as mulching, ecological balance, and crop diversity. This lays the groundwork for them to also engage with the criteria of organic farming.

Fischer also sees the potential for children to share their experiences with their parents, thereby making families more mindful of regional, seasonal, or organic produce. At the same time, she points out that nutrition education and sustainable school meals go hand in hand: "Knowledge and appreciation aren't enough if the framework conditions aren't right." The quality of school meals also depends on financial, political, and organizational factors – only when these are in place will healthy, sustainable meals for children become affordable, available, and appealing.

Haus der Kost, Munich – How Consulting Makes Kitchens "Organic-Ready"

The municipal advisory center "Haus der Kost" provides free coaching to institutional kitchens – including daycare centers and schools – for about six months as they transition to regional organic foods, supplemented by an "organic regional management" program that matches supply with demand.

Silke Brugger, head of the Sustainable Food division, sees the expansion of full-day programs as a major opportunity: If key quality criteria – such as a specified percentage of organic food in meal offerings – were incorporated into the programs, public agencies could fulfill their duty of care and specifically link the awarding of food service contracts to environmental and social sustainability.

Simply replacing conventional ingredients with organic ones on a one-to-one basis would quickly blow the budget – but cleverly adapted recipes using seasonal organic foods, such as those based on the Planetary Health Diet or the DGE quality standards, make it possible to increase the proportion of organic foods even within existing budgets.

The fact that political will and proactive procurement practices can make a difference is demonstrated by the new call for bids for fresh food for Munich's municipal daycare centers: Starting in 2026, the framework agreement will require that at least 80 percent of the food supplied to approximately 450 facilities be organic.

Brugger identifies seven key factors that will determine whether organic food becomes the norm in the foodservice industry in the future:

1. Profitability within the kitchen budget – According to Brugger, meal allowances are "often hardly adjusted over the years" and are "generally set too low in many places."
2. Legally compliant procurement practices – supported in Munich by the Biostadt Service Center, which provides sample wording and market research, and nationwide by the state-level networking centers for daycare and school meal services, as well as initiatives such as "BioBitte."
3. Establishing organic-regional value chains that closely link supply and demand – for example, through regional cooperation models such as eco-model regions.
4. Training for kitchen staff – For example, in 2023, Munich approved a training program to support the transition to a "fresh-prepared" kitchen model in all municipal daycare centers, in which meals are increasingly prepared fresh on-site rather than delivered as fully pre-prepared meals.
5. Ongoing rather than one-time consulting that guides businesses through a transformation process rather than providing support only on an ad hoc basis.
6. From compartmentalized thinking to swarm intelligence: Instead of constantly reinventing the wheel, experiences and solutions should be shared, and, for example, relevant experts from various city departments should network with one another.
7. Political commitment with ambitious, clearly communicated goals.

"It takes a lot of patience" – organic farming can only establish itself in the long term when all factors work together, according to Brugger.

Conclusion: Full-Day Schooling Can Serve as a Catalyst for Organic Farming

Whether the expansion of full-day programs in 2026 will become a true catalyst for organic food depends on whether "pull" and "push" factors come together: The "pull" arises from demand and appreciation – for example, when children, as in the case of Acker e. V., grow their own food, gain experience, and share these experiences with their families. The "push" comes from structural changes, such as those associated with the Haus der Kost: through procurement practices, funding programs, and concrete support for kitchen teams. For this transformation to succeed in the long term, additional political backing is needed: clear goals, reliable framework conditions, and the willingness to establish sustainable school meals as a public responsibility. Only when demand, implementation in the kitchens, and political leadership work in tandem will the 2026 deadline become more than just a missed opportunity.