Child Care Center Meals
Child Care Center Meals
At Stock Pot Malden, we are passionate about providing nutritious, delicious meals that children love, while making the lives of educators and parents easier. We work closely with child care centers to offer culturally diverse, nutritionally balanced meals, specifically designed to meet the needs of young children, including toddlers and preschoolers. Our service eliminates the stress of meal planning for child care centers and parents, ensuring that the meals served are high-quality and fresh. We take care of the entire process—meal preparation, delivery, and menu customization—so you can focus on caring for the children.
We require a minimum of 20 students to begin serving your child care center.
CACFP-Compliant & Affordable
We understand that child care centers need affordable meal options that also meet strict nutritional guidelines. Our meal service is fully compliant with CACFP standards, ensuring that the meals we provide meet the necessary nutritional benchmarks for reimbursement. We work within CACFP pricing models, so you don’t have to worry about additional costs. This ensures our meals are not only nutritious but also budget-friendly for your center.
We charge the following prices (meal prices include milk):
| Number of meals per day | 20-30 | 30-50 | 50-100 | More than 100 | CACFP Reimbursement Rate |
| Lunch | $5.00 | $4.75 | $4.50 | $4.43 | $4.43 |
| Breakfast | $2.70 | $2.60 | $2.45 | $2.37 | $2.37 |
| Snack | $1.30 | $1.26 | $1.23 | $1.21 | $1.21 |
Why Choose Stock Pot Malden for Child Care Meals?
Nutritionally Balanced: Each meal is crafted to meet national standards for balanced nutrition, providing children with the right mix of proteins, vegetables, whole grains, fruit, and dairy.
Culturally Diverse Menus: We partner with local ethnic chefs to create exciting, diverse menus that introduce children to different cultures and flavors.
Dietary Accommodations: We offer vegetarian, dairy-free, and allergen-friendly options to meet the needs of every child.
Convenient & Affordable: We deliver fresh meals daily to your center at no extra cost, making it easy and cost-effective to provide high-quality food for your children.
Save Parents Time and Effort: Our service saves parents from the agony of preparing breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for the entire week. With busy schedules, parents no longer have to worry about meal prep for their kids, as we take care of it.
Local Kitchen Advantage
We are able to serve small child care centers because we collaborate with local partners located close to the centers we serve, unlike many competitors who rely on large, centralized “food factories.” This approach allows us to provide several key benefits:
Competitive Pricing: Since our trucks travel shorter distances, we can offer more competitive pricing, making it feasible to serve even smaller centers.
Fresher Food & Reliable Service: Shorter travel times mean fresher food upon delivery, and there’s a lower risk of delays due to traffic or other long-distance transportation issues.
Sample Menu
Every child care center has unique needs, and we work directly with administrators, teachers, and parents to customize meals. Whether it’s accommodating allergies, special preferences, or serving the pickiest of eaters, our meals are designed to make mealtime enjoyable for everyone. We craft balanced menus that kids love, even those who might be more selective with their food. Our goal is to ensure every child, no matter how young, receives a meal they will enjoy and that meets their nutritional needs.
Here’s an example of what our delicious, nutritious meals look like:
Custom menus available upon request!
Data Collection Tool: Lunch Survey
We work hand-in-hand with child care administrators, teachers, and parents to ensure that our meals not only meet the strict nutritional guidelines of the CACFP but also appeal to children’s preferences. Our chefs continually adjust and improve menus based on feedback from schools and child care centers. A great example of this is our lunch surveys, where we gather real-time input from kids and their families to better understand their preferences and ensure everyone feels involved in the creation of the menus.
Example Results from Surveys
Beef Meatballs and Penne Pasta
| Tuesday, Oct 8 | Like | Ok | Dislike |
| Kindergarten | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Grade 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Grade 2 | 6 | 2 | |
| Grade 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| Grade 4 | 9 | 5 | |
| Grade 5 | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| Grade 6 | 7 | 1 | |
| Total | 40 | 14 | 3 |
Mexican Bowl
| Wednesday, Oct 9 | Like | Ok | Dislike |
| Kindergarten | |||
| Grade 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Grade 2 | 4 | 3 | |
| Grade 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| Grade 4 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| Grade 5 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| Grade 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 30 | 17 | 8 |
These surveys demonstrate our dedication to providing meals that children enjoy and look forward to, while maintaining a connection between our chefs, children, and families. This collaborative process ensures that the menus are not only nutritious but are shaped by the input of those who experience them daily.
Let’s Work Together
We’d love to help make mealtime stress-free for your center while providing children with meals they’ll love.
Schedule a tasting or contact us to learn more about our child care meal program and how it can benefit your center.