Compass Group already knows how sensitive the subject of school meals can be: in 2006 it faced the ire of the public after celebrity chef Jamie Oliver revealed that it was serving turkey twizzlers – with questionable nutritional content – in school canteens. The FTSE 100 company this week found itself at the centre of another controversy, after its subsidiary, Chartwells, was identified among the suppliers of food packages to families in place of free school meals during the latest coronavirus lockdowns. Images of the packages posted by parents on social media suggested they did not meet government guidelines. The Labour party and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford both condemned the packages. Rashford spoke to Chartwells, which is a signed-up member of his campaign to end child food poverty, about the “unacceptable” amount of food provided. The row has highlighted once more the role of outsourcing companies in catering for the UK’s school children. Catering services are typically fragmented between many small providers, but Compass has profited from being one of the few catering companies with global scale and 550,000 employees. It also has political links to the Conservative party: Paul Walsh, a fan of big-game hunting who stepped down as chairman in December, donated to the party in 2010 and publicly backed David Cameron for prime minister in 2015. Since the start of 2016, Compass and its subsidiary have won contracts worth almost £350m for school catering, typically including free school meal provision, according to analysis by Tussell, a company that tracks public procurement. Among primary school caterers, Compass and Chartwells are easily the largest UK providers, Tussell said. Worcester-based Aspens Services was awarded contracts worth £75m between 2016 and 2020, followed by Cater Link with contracts worth £72m. During the pandemic Chartwells and other caterers have been forced to rapidly pivot to providing food at home to pupils eligible for free school meals, replacing an emergency system offering weekly £15 vouchers when the pandemic first forced all schools to close. As well as causing chaos for schools and pupils’ families, the pandemic has also dented Compass’s profits as canteens in offices, hospitals and military bases have remained shut around the world. Compass’s earnings before tax fell by 85% in the year to 30 September 2020 to £210m, but analysts expect them to recover fully by 2023 to more than £1.6bn. Compass chief executive, Dominic Blakemore, has highlighted that school catering wil be a key part of its recovery from the pandemic – highlighting the big financial rewards available for private companies in the public sector’s canteens. In an average year, the Compass CEO can earn 280 times more than the company’s dinner ladies. Blakemore’s fixed pay was cut in 2020 in recognition of the pandemic to a £1.2m salary, with no bonuses paid. He still received 54 times more than his median employee on £21,000. Compass was not legally required to report the pay ratio in 2019, when Blakemore’s pay was £4.7m. However, the High Pay Centre calculated that it was 283 times higher than the mean employee pay package. In a statement Compass Group said: “In our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry the quantity has fallen short in this instance.” It said that it was adding to its food parcels after the government gave an additional emergency allowance of £3.50 a week for each child.