RATIONAL Live Education Catering Demo with Holly Charnock

Practical solutions for today’s education kitchens

Rational UK is inviting education catering professionals to a live cooking demonstration with Holly Charnock, Rational Ambassador and former School Chef of the Year, designed to address the challenges facing today’s education kitchens.

Taking place on Thursday 7 May, from 14.40 – 16.30, at the Rational UK headquarters, the interactive session will demonstrate how catering teams across nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities can deliver high-quality, nutritious meals at scale, while working smarter, faster, and more efficiently.

Education caterers are under increasing pressure, facing tight budgets, reduced staffing levels, rising meal volumes, and higher nutritional standards. This hands-on event is built around those exact realities, offering practical, proven solutions that can be applied immediately in busy education kitchen environments. Cooking systems perform in real-service environments, and these demonstrations offer the chance to watch Holly prepare dishes live, including veg packed vegan cottage pie, beef ragu, her popular kung pao chicken, jacket potatoes, toasties and more, and gain practical insights into enhancing kitchen efficiency, speed, and consistency.

During the demonstration, attendees will learn how to:

• Maximise output with fewer staff
• Reduce energy consumption and overall running costs
• Deliver consistent, great-tasting, nutritious food, even at scale

Holly Charnock will share her firsthand experience from the education sector, offering actionable insights into streamlining production without compromising food quality or compliance. “Education kitchens are among the most demanding environments in catering,” says Holly Charnock. “These sessions are about giving teams practical tools and confidence, showing that it is possible to meet nutritional standards, budget pressures, and volume demands, all while producing food students genuinely enjoy.”

The live demonstration will also provide attendees with the opportunity to see the Rational Customer Experience Centre, ask questions, and connect with peers facing similar operational challenges. 

Event details
Date: Thursday, 7 May 2026
Time: 14.30 – 16.30
Location: RATIONAL UK, Unit 4 Titan Court, Laporte Way, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU4 8EF

Register here: https://www.rational-online.com/en_gb/cmp/expert-chef-event-education/