School lunches company The Lunch Bag to add 240 full-time roles at Nenagh headquarters

Irish healthy school lunches company The Lunch Bag is to add 240 full-time jobs and 450 part-time roles as part of a €7.5 million expansion that will see the company triple the size of its Nenagh operation.

The jobs, which will take the company’s workforce to almost 900 from the current 200, will be in place before May next year. Among the 240 full-time jobs at the Co Tipperary facility will be general operations, HR, admin, warehouse, logistics staff and van drivers. The 450 part-time staff will be based around the country to operate the service daily in the schools.

The Nenagh-headquartered company, which delivers lunches to children all over the country, is planning to increase the number of hot school lunches it currently provides from 35,000 daily to 100,000 following the Government’s announcement that it would extend its hot school meals scheme to a further 900 primary schools.

The commitment was made by Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys as part of Budget 024.

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“This is a hugely significant moment for The Lunch Bag as we welcome more people into our rapidly expanding business,” said managing director Ger Killian. Yet while our recruitment numbers are significant, the biggest impact will be that of a free hot meal to all primary school children. Hot school meals are proven to improve attendance, attention and achievement rates within schools and that’s the feedback we’re getting from schools.”

The company already operates a 25,000 sq ft premises at the Lisbunny Industrial Estate, and has begun expansion works on a 50,000 sq ft extension at the adjacent 3.5-acre site it acquired two years ago in anticipation of increased demand for its services.

Founded in 2019, The Lunch Bag currently delivers cold meals to 600 schools around Ireland, with 315 of them to qualify next year for hot lunches under the Government scheme.

“This is an incredibly exciting time for our business. We’re immensely proud of the fact that in 2019 we set out to ensure every child in Ireland had access to a school meal service and we have seen that come to fruition in under five years,” said chief executive Ray Nangle. “The impact on childhood nutrition will be monumental, as we ensure a minimum of 65,000 children every day will have hot, healthy and tasty meals delivered to their desks. To also be able to bring 900 jobs in total to this new industry is an achievement in and of itself.”