Food vendor for multiple Bay Area school districts temporarily shuts down

SAN RAFAEL — A food vendor that provides lunches for a number of school districts in the Bay Area announced it’s shutting down this week because it cannot keep up with demands.

Officials from the Miller Creek School district in San Rafael told families Wednesday that it received a notice from LunchMaster the day before saying the food vendor will be temporarily suspending all breakfast and lunch orders from August 25th to September 5th. Service is currently set to resume on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

“LunchMaster provides food service to a number of other districts in the county and region and due to the increase in demand, they are experiencing supply shortfalls, production volume and capacity challenges, and personnel issues which have forced them to take the unprecedented step to cancel all orders that were placed through September 2nd and redesign operations,” the letter to Miller Creek district families read.

Miller Creek and other school districts were forced to find alternative options in a hurry.

“The District began right away researching options in order to have alternative meals in place with a very short turnaround for these seven days. Please note these emergency meals may not be of the same nutritional guidelines as those provided by LunchMaster; however, we will ensure students with allergies have options. They might include sunbutter sandwiches, bagels, and/or processed lunch meats for both breakfast and lunch, with a fresh fruit option,” the letter stated.

The San Carlos School District and a number of other surrounding districts who contracted with LunchMaster were also impacted by the shutdown. The company said it is suspending service to a total of 120 schools.

The San Carlos School District was able to secure replacement meals based on orders that were previously in the LunchMaster system before it shut down. 

LunchMaster’s announcement comes during the first school session since the state adopted a free-meal program for all of its public schools, which costs $54 million annually. Any student can qualify for a free meal, no matter how much their family makes in income. 

The program, similar to those adopted in other states, was made possible by a massive budget surplus. But the state needs it, as officials say at least 60% of students in California qualify under federal standards – a family of four must make less than $34,000 a year to qualify for free meals and $48,000 to qualify for reduced-price meals.

“If you’re a hungry child, you’re not going to learn well,” said State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat representing Berkeley, after the program was approved. “Why should we have to go through a bureaucratic hassle to get a kid fed, when we could just have universal meals?”

LunchMaster is the first food vendor in the area to shut down due to new demands. The company was started by Ted and Marie Giouzelis in 1994. Before starting LunchMaster, the couple had several successful food businesses, including Nob Hill Chicken & Ribs in Union Square and Mr. Hofbrau in Belmont. 

The company released this statement Wednesday:

“Due to unanticipated levels of meal orders and supply chain issues, we will be temporarily suspending meal delivery from August 25th to September 5th. This time will allow us to reorganize our workflow, increase capacity, and align our supply chain. We will be resuming full service to all schools starting September 6th. We do not foresee any future interruptions with our meal service for the remainder of the school year. The LunchMaster sincerely apologizes for the temporary halt in service and we appreciate everyone’s trust and patience in this matter.”