Opaa! Food Management

What Opaa! Food Management does

Opaa! Food Management Inc. is a family-owned and operated K-12 school food service management company founded in 1978 by Kenneth Short in Chesterfield, Missouri. The company manages contracted school nutrition programs for 297 school districts operating 900+ schools across nine Midwestern and South-Central US states (Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Texas), serving approximately 300,000 students daily and employing more than 3,550 people. The operating company is now led by Kevin Short, son of the founder, as Chief Executive Officer.

The company's core offering is end-to-end managed food service for K-12 districts, delivered through direct contractual relationships. Service scope includes kid-friendly meals with up to three breakfast and six lunch choices made from scratch, smart snacks, adult meals for teachers and staff, beyond-breakfast-and-lunch programs (catering, summer meals, grab-and-go), nutrition education events, and allergen-aware menu management. Underlying technology includes the MySchoolMenus digital menu platform, built on a third-party Health-e Pro integration, which exposes menus with photos, calorie counts, ingredient lists, nutrition information, and allergen filtering for peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, sesame, eggs, and dairy; the company also operates an internal SharePoint-based Opaa!net employee portal.

The business model is managed-services contracts with K-12 school districts, generating revenue through government reimbursements (notably USDA National School Lunch Program payments) and district budgets. Distribution is exclusively direct, with sales pursued via district procurement processes and no reseller or marketplace channel. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company reports a 95% school district retention rate measured from 2016 to 2025 and adds new districts each year; the company is privately held with no external investors and no disclosed funding rounds.

Name

Opaa! Food Management

Legal name

Opaa! Food Management Inc.

Website

https://opaafood.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Opaa! Food Management is a family-owned K-12 school food service contractor, founded in 1978, managing nutrition programs across 297 districts and 900+ schools in nine US states and serving roughly 300,000 students through direct district contracts, scratch-cooking operations, and a digital menu platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

School Food Service Management

NAICS

Food Service Contractors (72231), Special Food Services (7223)

akta.pro primary industry

Meal Program Compliance & Administration (NSLP/SBP, Reimbursements) (EDAEAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Menu Planning, Nutrition & Dietary Accommodation Services (Allergens, Special Diets) (EDAEAEAD), Food Services Administration (Meal Eligibility, POS, Nutrition Compliance) (EDAJAHAJ)

Keywords

• School food service
• K-12 nutrition management
• Child nutrition programs
• Scratch cooking meals
• Food service contracts

Headquarters

HQ city

Chesterfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. School Food Service Contract Management: Opaa! manages K-12 school nutrition programs for contracted school districts. The company uses regional buying power and scratch-cooking approach to make food service programs self-supporting. Revenue comes from government reimbursements and district contracts.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Opaa! Food Management contracts with K-12 school districts to operate their child nutrition programs, providing made-from-scratch breakfast, lunch, smart snacks, adult meals, and extended meal services (summer, after-school, catering, special events) along with nutrition education. The company operates across nine U.S. states, serving more than 900 schools in 297 districts and roughly 300,000 students daily with a 3,550+ person workforce. Service delivery is supported by the MySchoolMenus digital menu platform (powered by Health-e Pro) and an internal Food Allergen Database that filters for common allergens and provides nutritional transparency.

Product overview

Opaa! Food Management is a family-owned and operated company (founded 1978) offering contract-based K-12 school nutrition management services across nine states. The company's primary offering is comprehensive school food service management, which includes made-from-scratch meal preparation, smart snacks, adult meals for school staff, extended meal programs (beyond breakfast and lunch), nutrition education, an allergen database, and digital menu access via MySchoolMenus powered by Health-e Pro. The company also provides an employee portal called Opaa!net for internal operations. The portfolio operates as a single unified service rather than a modular platform architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kid-Friendly Meals Primary K-12 student meal program featuring made-from-scratch entrées (chicken and waffles, pizza, spaghetti), up to three breakfast and six lunch choices daily, around-the-world themed food bars, salad bars, daily Fruit & Vegetable Bar, and action stations where dishes are prepared fresh in view. Designed for K-12 school districts contracting out food service.
• Smart Snacks Compliant snack program for K-12 students providing sandwiches, salads, fresh fruits and vegetables, pre-packaged snacks, and beverages that meet national nutritional standards for calories, fat, sugar, and sodium. Operated as part of district child nutrition contracts.
• Adult Meals Meal service for teachers and school staff with made-to-order omelets, grilled panini sandwiches, fully stocked salad bars, and action stations, priced for teacher budgets. Provided as part of contracted school food service programs.
• Beyond Breakfast + Lunch Extended meal services for K-12 districts, including field trip meals, grab-and-go meals, after-school snack programs, reimbursable holiday party meals, achievement test snacks, catering for award banquets, and summer school meal programs.
• Nutrition Education Wellness events and educational programs for K-12 students, including health and wellness fairs, fruit and vegetable challenges, and classroom visits from local farmers, delivered as part of contracted school nutrition programs.
• Allergy Database Digital allergen management system within MySchoolMenus that maintains a comprehensive database of recipes and manufacturer labels and allows filtering for common food allergens including peanuts/tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, sesame, eggs, and dairy. Used by students, parents, teachers, and staff in contracted districts.
• MySchoolMenus Digital menu platform (powered by Health-e Pro) providing interactive web and mobile access for students, parents, teachers, and staff to view school-specific menus with photos, descriptions, calorie counts, ingredient lists, and nutrition information, plus allergen filtering for nuts, wheat, dairy, soy, fish, shellfish, sesame, and eggs.

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Health-e ProcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership providing the MySchoolMenus digital platform for interactive menus. Enables students, parents, and staff to access menus with photos, descriptions, calorie counts, ingredient lists, and nutrition information. Also provides allergen filtering capabilities for nuts, wheat, and dairy.
• DailyPayminorOthersDailyPay is offered as an employee benefit providing daily access to earned wages for eligible team members.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Chartwells (Compass Group): Chartwells is the K-12 food service management arm of Compass Group and directly competes with Opaa! for outsourced school district meal contracts, serving public and private K-12 districts nationwide with comparable breakfast, lunch, and nutrition programs.
• Sodexo K-12 (SodexoMAGIC): Sodexo's K-12 education segment manages school nutrition, foodservice, and nutrition education programs for U.S. school districts under multi-year contracts and competes head-to-head with Opaa! on outsourced meal program bids.
• Aramark K-12: Aramark's K-12 business manages school nutrition and food services for U.S. school districts, offering comparable contract-managed meal programs and competing directly with Opaa! in district RFPs.
• Whitsons Culinary Group: Whitsons is a privately held contract food service management company serving K-12 schools, colleges, and other institutions with nutrition programs, scratch-cooking capabilities, and digital menu tools comparable to Opaa!'s offering.
• The Nutrition Group: The Nutrition Group is a K-12 food service management company that directly contracts with school districts to manage meal programs, including scratch cooking and nutrition compliance, in similar mid-market geographies to Opaa!.

Regional players

• Lunchtime Solutions: Lunchtime Solutions operates as a K-12 food service management company primarily across Midwest states with comparable scratch-cooking programs, regional buying power, and district contract structures to Opaa!.
• Southwest Foodservice Excellence (SFE): SFE is a K-12 food service management company focused primarily on Southwest U.S. school districts, offering contract-managed meal programs positioned similarly to Opaa!'s regional district contracting model.
• School Food Solutions: School Food Solutions is a regional K-12 food service management company providing outsourced school nutrition programs with comparable contract management and meal eligibility/reimbursement administration.
• GCA Education Services (Greater Cincinnati Aerie): GCA is a regional food service contractor focused on K-12 school nutrition in the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana region, offering district-managed meal programs that compete with players like Opaa! in their respective geographies.

Broad incumbents

• Elior North America (Aladdin Campus Dining): Elior is a large multi-segment food service contractor with K-12 and education clients, providing contract-managed meal programs at a broader portfolio scale than Opaa! but overlapping with its core K-12 nutrition offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Opaafood
• Facebookfacebook.com/opaafood
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/opaa-food-management
• Instagraminstagram.com/opaafood

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Opaa! Food Management