A Yarrabilba restaurant is tackling the economic onslaught brought by Covid-19 by diversifying into school tuckshops.
Thom and Ann’s Cafe at Yarrabilba has done deals with the Yarrabilba State Secondary College and soon-to-open San Damiano College to take over their kitchens and supply healthy food to students and teachers.
Scott and Fiona Roebig are well known in the area, with their three coffee vans and a food truck often used at charity and community events.
But the move into tuckshops was a new field of exploration for the caterers.
Mrs Roebig says pies and sausage rolls are about as unhealthy as it gets in school canteens these days.
“We needed to come up with a menu that was government approved, so we looked at what other tuckshops were doing and came up with a menu,” she said.
“We were mindful that it had to be affordable enough, and healthy enough to sustain the kids throughout the day.”
Tuckshop at the State Secondary College runs Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and has fruit juice slushies, fruit, salad, beef and gravy rolls, apple crumble cups and other goodies.
Some more cafe-type meals are available to teachers, as is coffee from a machine the Roebigs have stationed at the school.
“It’s a necessary element,” Mrs Roebig said.
All orders are submitted the night before via an online form, and payments at the canteen are cashless.
“We only really looked at the tuckshop option because the schools approached us, so now we’re more than happy to help and guide schools with their food safety applications – particularly when parents and friends groups are able to take back the tuckshop as a fundraiser.”
While the focus is on healthy food, there is one day a term when the food van goes in to raise money for charity. That’s the day mini pizzas, donuts and burgers take on popularity.
“We’ve always worked with the community since we opened in 2016,” Mrs Roebig said.
“It’s a great part of what we do and we really enjoy it.”
