Barnsley College

LightFry improves efficiencies
at Barnsley College

Home to just over 11,000 students over 15 campuses stretched across the town centre and wider borough, Barnsley College is a nationally recognised further education college offering a wide choice of A-Levels, apprenticeships and vocational courses. Catering for thousands of students daily, across multiple sites, the college offers a choice of hot breakfast and lunch services, as well as grab-and-go options throughout the day and up until 18:00. Previously serving primarily fast-food items like pizza and chips, Martyn Hollingsworth, Head of Catering Services at Barnsley College, was inspired by years of experience working in the industry to make a healthier choice for the thousands of students and staff accessing the six outlets across the College’s campuses. Martyn wanted to make a difference by introducing a healthier change to the food menu, adding more variety and increasing kitchen efficiency and sustainability in the process.

Since taking over as head of catering, Martyn has introduced more pasta to increase energy and fibre, as well as chicken dishes to increase protein intake, alongside a variety of street food. But to keep up with the demands of a busy kitchen, the right equipment was needed. Martyn starts: 

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“I met Valentine and CuisinEquip at the LACA Exhibition and recognised LightFry from a program that I'd seen on TV. The episode showcased LightFry at Forest Green Rovers and I was intrigued to know how they managed using a commercial air fryer to cater for the capacity of a huge halftime football crowd. From that meeting and seeing the machine in action, I was sold on it and knew it was the equipment I wanted for the college. I proposed LightFry to the board, demonstrating the capabilities, sustainability, health benefits, long-term cost savings, and better working environment – each aspect that would benefit the college.” ​

Alongside keeping up with the sheer number of hungry students, the added health benefits were evident. Martyn explains:

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“I really wanted to provide a service with healthier, more exciting dishes that challenge what we typically expect from catering in an environment like a college. Chips were a popular menu item that needed to remain but when reviewing our menu items, I was shocked to see 30ml of oil in just one portion of chips. We were literally pouring oil into the students’ food. And we weren't recycling it to waste oil, when the oil was at the end of its life, we were getting rid of it, which is not only bad from an environmental point of view, but ultimately the majority of oil was going into our chips and therefore into our students. In a busy shift we can cook up to 100 kilos of chips in 2.5 kilo batches and, with LightFry, there’s now 80% less saturated fat in our chips, which means we can give guilt-free chips to our learners every day.”

But it’s not just health benefits that Martyn and LightFry have introduced to Barnsley College, it’s efficiency, sustainability and cost saving too. Martyn continues:

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“We’ve stopped burning natural gas. Before we bought the LightFry, our fryers were on from 07:00 until 15:00 daily, keeping an oil temperature of under 180 degrees, so they were burning constantly all day. LightFry only runs for the five-to-six-minute cycle which is significantly better for the environment. What’s more, we spent nearly £10,000 on vegetable oil last year, an amount that was unsustainable for the college, so a big selling point for the LightFry was cutting down on cost.”