While the days of ordering your child’s lunch using coins and a paper bag may be gone, tuckshop favourites remain steady across the country, according to new research from Flexischools.

The variety of food available in Aussie schools has expanded in the last decade, catering to the changing tastebuds and dietary requirements of Aussie kids, as well as changing household budgets. Our kids still love chicken nuggets, sausage rolls and flavoured milk, though if choosing healthier options, favourites like sushi, sandwiches and fruit salads rank as the most popular. West Australian kids like to sit in the middle, with toasties their top order over anything else.

As for who is spending more? Victorian carers spend the most on their average order at $8.77, while New South Wales carers spending the least, at $7.02 per order via the online platform that takes the hassle out of school lunches.

With 71% of Flexischools orders being placed by the female carer, the term ‘sandwich generation’ has never held more weight, defining a group of middle aged adults who care for their own children as well as their parents. Mixing that with the mental load of having to get kids ready of a morning, manage the school lunch runs, uniform ordering and cleaning, school projects and homework, away days and more can be a lot! That’s why Fridays are the overwhelmingly busiest day for Flexischools, colloquially attributed to the weekend grocery shop being almost finished and the exhaustion of parents by the final day of the school week rating high. Anything that eases the load is welcome – we’ve heard stories of mums throwing their phones to their kids in the back of the car on the way to school, to place their order themselves.

Mum and new CEO of Flexischools, Rachel Debeck, says: “While the school landscape has well and truly evolved, thinking about school lunches remains a constant in the mental load for busy families with school-aged kids. We’ve brought the tradition of school canteen lunches into the digital age, ensuring fast, convenient, cashless ordering, on the run.”

More than half of all Australians rate sustainability as extremely important during their shopping*, but have you thought about foods ordered by school canteens that don’t get eaten? It has the potential to impact school budgets as well as food wastage. With pre-ordering options, Flexischools helps school canteen managers forecast orders and reduce food waste.

To see if Flexischools is available at your school, visit Flexischools.

* Statista, https://www.statista.com/topics/10534/sustainable-consumption-in- australia/#topicOverview

Tell us in the comments below, what is your child’s favourite lunch order?