Support the school meal reform in Ukraine

Launched in 2020, Ukraine’s school meal reform aims to provide children with high-quality, nutritious food and promote healthy eating habits. Education Finland and Finnpartnership invite Finnish companies to meet with Ukrainian stakeholders and present their solutions on 8 June in Helsinki. 

A delegation responsible for Ukraine’s school meal reform will visit Finland in early June as part of a visit coordinated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The delegation is particularly interested in nutrition, kitchen solutions, as well as school meal chain models and training programs. 

The program includes a meeting between the delegation and Finnish private-sector operators offering school meal solutions and services. The event will be held at the Finnish National Agency for Education in Helsinki on 8 June at 15:30-17:00, in cooperation with Education Finland and Finnpartnership.

Registration 

If your company or organisation is interested in meeting the delegation and discussing your school meal solutions, please register by 3 June at 4:00 PM via the link below. 

Background information 

In 2020, First Lady Olena Zelenska launched a school meal reform in Ukraine. The main objectives are to create equal opportunities to access quality and nutritious food for every child and to promote a culture of healthy eating among children and their families. 

By 2027, the goals are to provide a free school meal to 3 million children (with priority given to frontline regions), to modernise infrastructure in 6,196 schools (renovating dining facilities and building 15 central kitchens), and to develop staff by training 12,000 cooks and launching 30 culinary hubs.  

The reform particularly emphasises: 

• Implementation of new nutritional standards 
• Restoration and modernisation of kitchen infrastructure
• Professional development and upskilling of staff 
• Monitoring, safety, and quality control 
• Cultivating a culture of healthy eating 

The key challenges school meals face in Ukraine include: 

• Food quality and taste (unappetising, cold meals, poor appearance and smell, lack of trust regarding food quality) 
• Violation of sanitary standards (dirty dishes, bad odor, unsanitary conditions, presence of insects) 
• Lack of dietary requirements (children with specific nutrition needs, no adapted meal options) 
• Limited product variety (monotonous menus, lack of fruits, fermented dairy products, use of semi-finished products) 
• Process organisation issues (queues, not enough food for all pupils) 

For more information, please contact:

Maria Palmu, Senior Specialist, Education Finland, Finnish National Agency for Education , maria.palmu@oph.fi  

 Topi Hukkanen, Business Partnership Officer, Finnpartnership, ​​​​​​​topi.hukkanen@finnpartnership.fi