SINGAPORE - From January 2026, students 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 located 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. These include CHIJ Kellock, Radin Mas Primary and River Valley Primary.

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

Gourmetz will also serve Outram Secondary’s York Hill campus until it closes in 2027. The school is currently operating from two locations until its complete move to Sengkang.

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

A spokesman from the Education Ministry (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.

Yusof Ishak Secondary School students eating meals from SATS Food Services during recess on Sept 3.

ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

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 .

The school has also worked with Sats to operate three more stalls offering snacks, noodle soup, and fresh fruit. This is alongside vending machines for beverages, snacks and hot sandwiches.

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With all these options, wait times have been “significantly reduced”, said Mr Chen , adding that the automated dispensers enable food collection within five minutes during peak periods.

While most schools have enough canteen stalls, MOE said some are finding it more challenging to fill vacancies despite low rents.

“Schools also face competition for stallholders from food courts, hawker centres and other public eating houses, which serve a greater customer base,” he said.

Mrs Jennifer Pang, principal of River Valley Primary school, said the decision to switch to a central kitchen model was made “after careful consideration of the long-term challenges” in finding new stallholders to replace those who are retiring.

She said the school will support their existing stallholders by helping them find new job opportunities with the vendor, Gourmetz, or in nearby schools.

Mr Melvin Cher, principal of Northoaks Primary School said it had been struggling with the high turnover rate of canteen vendors in the last couple of years.

“We have vendors who come in, and then after maybe a few months or a year, they will tell us they can’t really sustain their business due to issues such as cost of ingredients going up,” he said.

And for some schools with smaller pupil numbers, attracting stallholders is even harder .

Mr Cher said that Northoaks Primary’s enrolment of about 800 p upils is much lower than other typical primary school sizes of between 1,200 to 1,400 pupils.

Mr Melvin Cher, principal of Northoaks Primary School said it had been struggling with the high turnover rate of canteen vendors in the last couple of years.

PHOTO: NORTHOAKS PRIMARY SCHOOL

Located furthest from the train station along Sembawang Drive compared to other primary schools in the area, his school is served by only one bus route and surrounded by fewer housing blocks, he said.

“So it is a less convenient option at this point of time but the school will be able to serve the future residents of the upcoming Sembawang North estate well,” said Mr Cher.

Madam Alenus Lee, vice-principal of Kranji Primary School, said her school’s enrolment of about 500 has also affected the business of its canteen vendors.

With its current location in a mature part of the Choa Chu Kang estate, Madam Lee said the demand for primary school places in the area has been steadily declining in recent years.

Pupil numbers will dwindle with the school’s impending relocation to Tengah in 2028, as it is not taking in any more Primary 1 pupils until then.

Though Kranji Primary’s canteen can house eight stalls , only three or four have been in operation since 2022. It now has three open : a halal stall, a Chinese rice stall, and a drinks/snacks stall.

“In terms of time-tabling, we have to spread out the crowd so that they have more time to actually purchase their food since there are only three stalls,” said Madam Lee.

Kranji Primary School students eating their meals during recess time.

PHOTO: KRANJI PRIMARY SCHOOL

Canteen vendors also grapple with manpower shortage issues.

Said Madam Lee: “Most are single owners, so they need one more person to help out and deal with the recess crowd. But they can’t pay them for the whole day, because they only need help for that period of time (recess).”

How the central kitchen model works

The Straits Times had previously reported in April 2024 that a handful of schools had independently found their own operators to supply food through central kitchens and pre-ordering systems.

This includes Spectra Secondary, which in 2023 turned to catering by Select Group to replace manned food and drink stalls. Food from the caterer’s central kitchen is plated and served by its staff, who also operate a snack bar with items such as bread rolls, burgers and fruit cups.

Apart from Yusof Ishak Secondary and Blangah Rise Primary, Northshore Primary is the latest school to adopt an alternative meal service model earlier in 2025 .

The three vendors supplying food to the 13 schools in 2026 have different ways of operating.

Yusof Ishak Secondary School students taking meals from the meal dispensers during recess on Sept 3.

ST PHOTOS: AZMI ATHNI

Madam Lee said Chan Chee Mee Wah Food Ind will provide automated meal dispensers, called terminals in the school canteen. Each terminal can store 64 trays of pre-packed hot meals.

Students can tap on the terminals with their bus passes to retrieve their pre-ordered hot meals.

Schools can request for drink vending machines if needed.

And for Wilmar Distribution, students will not just get pre-packed meals, said Mr Cher from Northoaks Primary. They can also buy food from four stalls manned by Wilmar staff, selling economic rice dishes, noodles, Western or Korean food, as well as drinks and snacks.

The Satay Chicken with Fried Rice menu from SATS Food Services for Yusof Ishak Secondary School students during recess on Sept 3.

ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

They can also purchase instant hot meals from a vending machine, stocked with items like lasagna, laksa and fried rice.

“With more menu options, I think that’s something parents and students will welcome,” said Mr Cher, adding that new meal prices will not differ greatly from current prices.

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More support from MOE

MOE said it will work with schools to refer existing stallholders t o other schools with vacant stalls, or recommend them to the central kitchen operators for employment.

While the central kitchen model could be one solution, MOE said the existing Individual Stallholder System remains the default model for school canteens.

“MOE will continue to support these schools, such as by seeking favourable utility rates from the energy market and charging nominal rental fees for canteen stalls,” said the spokesman.

The ministry will continue to explore different ways to operate school canteens and study how feasible it is to extend these options to more interested schools.