Qualità & Servizi S.p.A. (Q&S) is a public joint-stock company, currently owned by seven Municipalities, that provides in-house school meal services to 105 public schools across the Piana Fiorentina (a peri-urban area near Florence) and, as of 2025, the Municipality of Capannori (Lucca). Operating from a central kitchen in Calenzano and several satellite kitchens, Q&S serves approximately 10,500 meals daily. Strategic Objectives and Community-Driven Model The core mission of Q&S is to deliver high-quality, palatable meals while prioritizing healthy and sustainable diets. Crucially, the company operates as a public tool for territorial development, embedding itself deeply within the local community. Its objectives extend beyond catering to include: Support for local farmers through stable, fair contracts. An educational mission to foster "food citizenship" via active engagement among students, families, teachers, and producers. Co-production of value by leveraging the local rural endowment and natural resources. This public, community-based-driven model contrasts sharply with its past.

Founded in 1996 as a public-private entity, Q&S initially adopted a market-driven, industrial approach that led to declining food standards, quality concerns, and reputational damage, culminating in food-safety incidents. Following remunicipalization in 2007, the true transformation began in 2017 under new management, guided by the Slow Food ethos of "good, clean, and fair food."

Cultural Shift and Operational Changes The cultural shift resulted in four major operational reforms:

• Menu Transformation A significant shift toward plant-based meals, replacing ultra-processed ingredients with fresh, local, quality, and organic products. The menus incorporated traditional local gastronomy. Procurement data highlights this commitment: 74% organic fruit, 55% organic vegetables (plus 25% local from conservation/regenerative farming), 95% organic eggs, and 100% organic and local bread/pasta and tomato pulp.
• Redefinition of Cooks' Role: Cooks transitioned from simple food processors to cultural mediators and knowledge bearers of healthy, local cuisine, making them central actors in the food delivery process. New Supply Chain: Creation of a short, direct supply network based on stable, long-term fair contracts with local and organic producers, including a scouted network of producers outside Tuscany.
• Integrated Food Education: Education programs for children and families, extending to initiatives like “Orto in Condotta” (school gardens) in collaboration with teachers and local partners such as Slow Food. These changes positioned Q&S as a forerunner in achieving environmental, social, and economic sustainability in public procurement, anticipating Italy's Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM) legislation (2020). 

Overcome by involving cooks and developing nutrition education, resulting in higher acceptance of plant-based dishes and a significant reduction in food waste (30% in Q&S schools vs. 45–50% in industrial canteens).

1. Logistics and Sourcing: Addressing the difficulty of securing constant, high-volume local and organic produce while navigating public procurement rules that prioritize low cost. Q&S is addressing this by advocating for local food hubs and adopting flexible membership criteria for producers.
2. Bureaucratic Burden: Mitigating the financial and bureaucratic risk for small family farmers converting to organic production by offering guaranteed, multi-year contracts. The transformation, driven by strong political will and strategic leadership, has yielded measurable results. Q&S ascended from the lowest ranking in a national school meal service assessment in 2015 to the first position in 2025 (Foodinsider ranking).
3. Impact and Local Development Engine Q&S has become a powerful engine for local development: Strengthening Local Networks: The company actively scouts and builds trust with small-scale producers, offering guaranteed contracts that facilitate investment in organic conversion and infrastructure upgrades.
4. Innovation in Supply: A major innovation was the creation of an Associazione Temporanea di Imprese (ATI), enabling local farmers to collectively respond to tenders, ensuring a steady supply of seasonal, fresh products aligned with menu calendars.
5. Community Governance: The initiative led to the formation of the “Comunità del Cibo Bio-diversamente Piana,” a multi-stakeholder governance arrangement recognized by the Tuscany Region, involving businesses, municipal authorities, universities, and associations to protect agro-biodiversity and further develop the local food system. By tying school catering and public procurement closely to local, sustainable production, Q&S has demonstrated how public policy can generate economic, social, and environmental value, transforming the school meal service into a vital community asset.