Manchester Fayre, Manchester City Council's school meals provider, is enjoying the sweet taste of success after figures show that the take-up of school meals where they cater is above the national average.

The survey, which was published last week (8 July) by the School Food Trust shows that Manchester also had the highest level of increase in pupils choosing school meals than anywhere else in the Northwest.

Nationally the take-up figures for school meals in primary schools is 41.1% and 35.8% in secondary schools.

But Manchester Fayre's take-up figures were 15% higher than the national average for primary schools at 56.4% and 20% higher for secondary schools at 55.9%.

Councillor Bernard Priest, Manchester City Council's executive member for finance and human resources with a responsibility for school meals said: "We pride ourselves on the quality of our school meals both in terms of taste and nutrition and the results speak for themselves. The figures make for very happy reading for all the team and shows that their hard work in delivering this service and educating families about healthy eating is paying off."

Manchester Fayre has just picked up an award for supporting the Change4Life project, by not only providing nutritious and healthy meals but for teaching pupils and families about the importance of eating a well-balanced diet. They picked up the accolade at the Local Authority Caterers Association awards last week.