The Food Teachers Centre

What The Food Teachers Centre does

The Food Teachers Centre is a UK-registered, volunteer-run, non-profit community support organisation founded in 2013 by Louise Davies to serve food education teachers in UK secondary schools. Its core offering is a closed Facebook community group (10,000+ members as of October 2025) that functions as the primary hub for peer support, knowledge sharing, and CPD signposting, supplemented by 37 curated topic 'Guides' and weekly rituals such as Teaching Tips Thursdays and Food Science Tuesdays. The underlying technology stack is modest and largely off-the-shelf: the Facebook group, the CADEMY online learning platform (food-teachers-centre.cademy.io) for course delivery, Google Drive and Dropbox for the community Resource Bank archive, and a WordPress website for marketing and newsletter distribution.

The commercial offering sits on top of this community foundation and spans paid online courses (NEA Together at £25/year, GCSE Boost, Vegan High Level Skills, Food Science Tutorials, 360 Food Training for KS3, Recipe Led Food Science), face-to-face accredited training (Foundations in Food at £250 standard / £50 bursary; Food Safety in Classrooms at £160), and the annual Food Teacher Day event (£20/attendee, delivered at 60+ UK venues). A Resource Bank is monetised via voluntary tiered donations (£10 trainee / £15 self-funded / £20 school-funded teacher). The third revenue lever is grant-funded bursaries, principally via a 2025 partnership with the Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation that is subsidising training for 700+ teachers in 2026.

The go-to-market is community-led, product-led, and event-driven: free community membership drives top-of-funnel, the CADEMY platform enables self-serve conversion to paid courses, and the Food Teacher Day national event functions as both a brand-building ritual and a revenue event. Customer segments are horizontal within education: practising food teachers (primary), food technicians and support staff (secondary), and trainee/early career teachers (tertiary). The organisation also engages in national policy advocacy around curriculum review and Progress 8 inclusion of food subjects, and runs brand-sponsor-supported competitions (Tunnock's Teacake Challenge, QuornPRO, Fish Heroes) and past programmes (Schools Game Changer with Taste of Game, 2017–2020).

Name

The Food Teachers Centre

Legal name

The Food Teachers Centre

Website

https://foodteacherscentre.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Food Teachers Centre is a UK volunteer-run, non-profit community founded in 2013 that supports secondary school food education teachers through a 10,000+ member closed Facebook group, paid CPD courses on the CADEMY platform, face-to-face accredited training, a national Food Teacher Day event, and policy advocacy on curriculum reform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Teacher Professional Development

NAICS

Technical and Trade Schools (61151), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Institutional & Commercial Kitchen Training (Schools/Healthcare/Corporate) (EDAOAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Restaurant & Foodservice Operations Management (EDAOAKAE), Nutrition, Special Diets & Wellness Cooking (EDAOAKAJ)

Keywords

• Teacher professional development
• Food technology education
• CPD training
• School curriculum support
• Educator community

Headquarters

HQ city

UK

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Course and Training Fees: Revenue is generated primarily from paid training courses delivered online (via CADEMY) and in-person. Courses include NEA Together (£25/year), Food Teacher Day (£20), Foundations in Food face-to-face (£250 with bursary £50), Food Safety accreditation (£160), GCSE BOOST, Vegan High Level Skills, and the Empowering Food Teachers INSET day (£40 full, £20 for trainees/ECTs/self-funders).
2. Resource Bank Membership Donations: The Resource Bank, a community archive of shared teaching resources, is accessed via voluntary donations: £10 for trainees, £15 for self-funded teachers, £20 for school-funded members.
3. Third-Party Funding and Bursaries: External funding from the Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation enables bursary-supported training places (over 700 teachers targeted in 2026), effectively subsidizing member access to training at reduced or no cost. The All Saints Educational Trust also provides grants for trainees and teachers in Food or Textiles.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Food Teachers Centre is a UK-based, volunteer-run non-profit community organization that provides continuing professional development (CPD) and training resources for food teachers working in UK secondary schools. The organisation operates a closed Facebook community of more than 10,000 members and delivers online training via the CADEMY platform, offering courses and resources to support food technology educators.

Product overview

The Food Teachers Centre is an educational support organization offering a comprehensive portfolio of professional development services for food education teachers in the UK. The core offering includes face-to-face training courses (Foundations in Food, Food Safety in Classrooms), online on-demand courses via their Cademy platform (GCSE Boost, NEA Together, Food Science Tutorials, Vegan High Level Skills, 360 Food Training for KS3, FAST, Affordable Food Lessons), and community-based resources (Resource Bank, Facebook Community). They run national events (Food Teacher Day / One Mission), educational programmes (Fish Heroes, Tunnock's Teacake Challenge), and provide bursaries through the Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation. The organization serves food teachers across all levels from KS3 through GCSE and vocational qualifications, offering both practical skills training and curriculum support materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CPD courses via CADEMY platform Online continuing professional development courses for food teachers covering curriculum updates, food safety, and classroom practice, delivered through the CADEMY platform.
• Food Teachers Centre closed Facebook community Free closed Facebook community of more than 10,000 UK food teachers used for peer support, resource sharing, and discussion.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 89,000 students took P8 exams in food and catering in 2025; national average pass rate for GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition was 68.4% (Grades 4–9)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Tunnock'scoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTunnock's (through Sales Director Fergus Loudon) sponsors the annual Tunnock's Teacake Challenge competition for food students. The challenge, now in its 8th year (2026 theme: 'Around the World in a Bite'), requires students to decorate Tunnock's Teacakes for presentation skills practice (linked to GCSE/vocational exam requirements). Tunnock's provides prizes for winners in Over 14, Under 14, and Most Novel categories, and entries are published in an annual competition book.
• Taste of GameminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership (2017–2020) between Taste of Game and Food Teachers Centre to deliver the Schools Game Changer programme, training teachers in game meat preparation, providing free game directly to schools, and running the Game Stars competition. More than 40,000 pupils were introduced to game meat and 200+ teachers trained.
• QuornminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuorn sponsors the QuornPRO competition, a plant-based food challenge for students launched as a pilot competition to engage students before summer break.
• British Nutrition Foundation (BNF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBNF partners with Oak National Academy to support the launch of a Cooking and Nutrition curriculum for National Curriculum KS1–3 (108 lessons). The Food Teachers Centre supports this programme and provides CPD to teachers on using the Oak curriculum. BNF receives financial support from the All Saints Educational Trust for this dissemination.
• Oak National AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOak National Academy, in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation, launched a new Cooking and Nutrition curriculum for KS1–3 (108 lessons). The Food Teachers Centre actively supports and promotes this curriculum and provides free training to help teachers integrate it into their schemes of work.
• Countryside ClassroomminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Food Teachers Centre is a Countryside Classroom partner. Countryside Classroom is a portal connecting schools with food, farming, and natural environment education resources. FTC is committed to working with this partnership to reduce duplication and increase quality of services.
• Westminster Kingsway CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for the Young Chefs' Academy Saturday School programme in London. Westminster Kingsway College provides the venue and culinary instruction from a Michelin-star trained head chef, with 5-week programmes culminating in a graduation lunch cooked by students for their parents.
• CADEMYcoreTechnology or IntegrationCADEMY (food-teachers-centre.cademy.io) is the online training and course delivery platform for all Food Teachers Centre CPD programmes, including NEA Together, GCSE BOOST, Foundations in Food booking, Food Science Tutorials, and bursary-funded courses. The platform includes course forums, chat support, and training room access.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Chefs Adopt a School: UK charity connecting professional chefs with schools to deliver food education, including teacher CPD and student workshops. Comparable as a school-focused food education intervention that also runs training programmes and competitions (e.g., the Young Chefs Academy).
• British Nutrition Foundation (BNF): UK charity providing food and nutrition education resources, training, and curriculum support to schools and teachers. Directly comparable to FTC as a co-partner on the Oak National Academy Cooking & Nutrition curriculum and as a CPD resource provider for food teachers.
• School Food Matters: UK charity focused on improving school food and food education through policy advocacy, teacher training, and pupil programmes. Comparable as a school food education advocacy and training organisation operating in the same UK K-12 food education space.
• Countryside Classroom: UK partnership portal connecting schools with food, farming, and environmental education resources. FTC is a named partner; comparable as a hub organisation aggregating food education provision for UK schools and teachers.
• Food - a fact of life: British Nutrition Foundation's free food education resource platform for schools and teachers, providing curriculum-linked materials across age ranges. Comparable as a teacher-facing food education content and CPD resource operating in the same UK K-12 market.
• The Design and Technology Association: UK subject association for design and technology teachers, historically covering food technology as a sub-discipline. Comparable as a subject-association model providing CPD, resources, and advocacy for a teacher community within an overlapping curriculum area.

Broad incumbents

• Oak National Academy: Government-backed provider of free curriculum resources across subjects, including a 108-lesson Cooking & Nutrition curriculum. Comparable as a teacher-facing educational content provider in food education, though operating at much larger scale with public funding.
• Leiths School of Food and Wine: UK-based culinary training school offering professional cookery certificates and teacher-attended CPD courses (Leith's Academy partnership with FTC). Comparable as a culinary education provider serving both aspiring chefs and food teachers seeking advanced skills training.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/FoodTCentre
• Facebookfacebook.com/foodteacherscentreuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-food-teachers-centre
• Instagraminstagram.com/foodteachers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 The Food Teachers Centre