The school cafeteria is the only type of business where the list of products is directly determined by regulations regarding food procurement. In a café, you decide what to sell; in a cafeteria, the criteria set by the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Health determine what can be sold. That’s why, when sourcing for a cafeteria, the first question isn’t about price—it’s “Can this product be sold in the cafeteria?”
Santral Gıda has been making deliveries to Istanbul’s 39 districts six days a week using its own vehicles since 1995. When supplying school cafeterias, we compile our product list from items that comply with regulations and schedule deliveries according to the seasonal cycle.
What can and cannot be sold in the school cafeteria?
The basic rule is this: when it comes to beverages, almost everything other than water, ayran, and pasteurized milk is prohibited in the cafeteria—including carbonated drinks, energy drinks, fruit juices, and sports drinks. As for snacks, fried foods, potato chips, chocolate and wafer-based products, candies, cakes, cookies, and products containing artificial sweeteners are not permitted.
| Items for Sale | Items That Cannot Be Sold |
|---|---|
| Drinking water, natural mineral water | Carbonated beverages, energy drinks |
| Ayran, pasteurized milk | Fruit juices, flavored beverages, sports drinks |
| Yogurt, pasteurized cheese | Chips and fried foods |
| Freshly squeezed fruit/vegetable juice | Chocolate, wafers, candy |
| Fruit, raw vegetables, salad | Cakes, cookies, and other sweet treats |
| Dried fruit and nuts | Foods and beverages containing artificial sweeteners |
| Hard-boiled eggs | Products containing guarana |
| Whole-wheat and multigrain bread, vegetable sandwiches | Tea and coffee (except in high schools) |
Important notice: This list has been expanded over time and continues to grow. When creating your order list, please refer to the current criteria of the Ministry of National Education and the announcements issued by the provincial or district office responsible for your school. We supply the products; compliance verification is the responsibility of the operator.
The cafeteria’s product list is established in accordance with the regulations
In practice, the correct order is as follows: first, the current list of approved products is compiled; then, the brand and packaging of the items on that list are selected. Working in the reverse order—purchasing the product first and then checking its eligibility—is the most common problem encountered during cafeteria inspections, and any remaining stock cannot be returned.
Most of the items on the approved list are available in our catalog: nuts and dried fruit, milk, ayran, and yogurt, cheeses, water, and mineral water.
Cafeteria season: September–June and the breaks in between
The cafeteria is a business that operates for about nine months of the year and shuts down completely twice. Mid-year and summer breaks are central to inventory planning. A large order placed in the final week before a break turns into a product whose shelf life has expired by the time business resumes after the break.
The right approach is to gradually reduce order quantities as the holiday approaches and save items with a long shelf life (nuts, dried fruit, mineral water) for after the holiday. Since we deliver six days a week, placing small, frequent orders during the season is both cheaper and safer than maintaining a large inventory.
Exam periods, parent-teacher conferences, and school events also significantly affect consumption. If you let us know these dates in advance, we’ll plan our shipments accordingly.
Why is single-serving packaging so important?
A serving in the cafeteria is the amount a student will consume in a single sitting. Buying large packages and dividing them up in the cafeteria creates two problems: responsibility for hygiene shifts to the operator, and portion standards are lost. Furthermore, the label information for the portioned product (ingredients, allergens, best-by date) does not reach the student—and this is one of the first things asked during an inspection.
For this reason, individual packaging is almost always the better choice on the cafeteria list than bulk packaging; the difference in unit price is more than offset by the risks of waste and audit issues.
Shelf-Life Management: The Hidden Cost of the Cafeteria
Most of the items in the cafeteria have a short shelf life (milk, ayran, sandwich ingredients), and sales volume is concentrated during the two recesses throughout the day. When these two factors combine, waste becomes the biggest drain on the cafeteria’s profits.
A simple rule that works: Buy products with a short shelf life two or three times a week in small batches, and buy products with a long shelf life once a month in a large batch. For products requiring a cold chain, the time from delivery to the shelf is also important; placing products delivered in a refrigerated vehicle into the refrigerator immediately upon arrival at the cafeteria is a prerequisite for maintaining the product’s stated shelf life.
There is no storage space in the cafeteria—the frequency of deliveries makes up for it
In nearly all school cafeterias, storage space consists of nothing more than a cabinet and a refrigerator. This should be a deciding factor in choosing a supplier: a supplier who delivers once a month imposes a stocking model that the cafeteria cannot physically handle.
Here’s what it means for your pantry that we deliver to Istanbul’s 39 districts six days a week: you can reduce your restocking days and keep your pantry stocked with fresh products.
Price, budget, and transparency for parents
Cafeteria prices are closely monitored by the school administration and parents; the cafeteria operator must be able to justify its prices. On the supply side, this translates to predictable pricing—a price list based on quantity that does not change frequently during the school year.
We price your orders on a quote basis; once the product list and quantities are finalized at the start of the season, we can establish a pricing framework that will remain in effect for the entire period. You can view our entire product lineup in our catalog.
How do orders and deliveries work?
You place your order by phone, WhatsApp, or email; we prepare a quote based on the product list and quantities. Once you approve it, the order is added to the next day’s delivery route. We deliver to all 39 districts of Istanbul 6 days a week using our own vehicles; products requiring a cold chain are transported in refrigerated vehicles.
Since 1995, we have been exclusively serving corporate clients—we do not offer retail sales or online payments. Prices are determined on a quote basis, and special volume-based pricing is available for regular purchases. You can view our entire product lineup in our catalog and contact us for a quote.
Our Other Areas of Activity
You can visit our pages on cafeteria and institutional food supply for school cafeterias and institutional food production, and hospital food supply for hospital kitchens. For an overview of all the sectors we serve, please visit our “Areas of Operation ” page. In this guide, we’ve explained what to look for when selecting a supplier.
