The School Food Collective is strengthened by partnerships with businesses and organisations who share our commitment to quality, ethics, and community. These partners help independent school caterers access the resources, products, and services needed to deliver exceptional food programmes.
The companies listed below provide products or services to School Food Collective members. As our network grows, members benefit from collective purchasing power and trusted supplier relationships, whilst partners gain access to more schools.
If your business aligns with our values and you'd like to support independent school catering in Japan, we'd love to hear from you.
These standards ensure that every meal served is fresh, nutritious, and prepared with care—putting children's health and wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.
Achieve our 14 standards and display your School Food Collective certificate and member badge with pride.
Connect with ethical suppliers who support our values. Negotiate better terms together than you could achieve alone—collective purchasing power that helps small operators compete.
Direct access to fellow independent caterers who understand your challenges. Share supplier contacts, menu ideas, solutions to common problems, and celebrate wins together.
Join us once a year to meet face-to-face, share experiences, learn from guest speakers, celebrate independent School food and strengthen our community.
Be listed on our Member Schools page, showing families and communities your commitment to quality, independent school food.
We welcome independent school food caterers in Japan who:
✓ Operate at a single school (not part of a corporate chain)
✓ Are committed to fresh food preparation from whole ingredients
✓ Want to work toward our 14 shared standards
✓ Believe community comes before corporate interests
✓ Are willing to share knowledge and support fellow members
Whether you're already meeting our standards or working toward them, if you share our values, we want you in the collective.
Read through our 14 shared standards to ensure they align with your values and goals.
Email us to express your interest. We'll arrange to visit your school for a face-to-face conversation about your food program, answer your questions, and explore how the collective can support you.
After our conversation, if we're a good fit for each other, we'll welcome you as a member. You'll receive your certificate, member badge, and access to our supplier network and community.
Begin sharing and learning with fellow independent caterers who understand your world.
We keep costs minimal—just enough to cover administrative expenses like website hosting, annual gathering venue costs, and communication tools.
Annual membership fee: ¥20,000
This is a not-for-profit collective. Every yen goes directly into supporting our community, not into salaries or corporate overheads.
Let's start a conversation about how the School Food Collective can support your independent catering operation.
We look forward to meeting you and seeing your kitchen in action.
The School Food Collective connects independent school caterers across Japan through shared standards, developing supplier relationships, and peer support.
Together, we're proving that operators focused on a single school can outperform corporate caterers: meals prepared from scratch, menus that respond to real feedback, and food service rooted in community rather than contracts.
© 2025 School Food Collective. A not-for-profit collective supporting independent school caterers across Japan.