The Information Office for Fruit and Vegetables (OFG) is a private foundation that works to increase the consumption of fresh fruits, berries, vegetables and potatoes in Norway. The Skolefrukt [School Fruit] project will provide greater access to fruits and vegetables in schools, and contribute to good eating habits, enjoyment of school life and better health among children and adolescents.
OFG now seeks to enter into framework agreements with suppliers to the Skolefrukt project for the period 1.7.2014 – 30.6.2016.
As of August 2014, there will most likely be only one national scheme for fruits/vegetables at compulsory schools, and the tender is based on this. This scheme will be referred to as the subscription scheme, and will then apply to all compulsory schools from forms 1 – 10.
The subscriptions scheme is a subsidy scheme where students subscribe to Skolefrukt for a semester or a full academic year at a time. In most cases, the students' parents pay for the fruit/vegetables, but schools that want to pay for students may also enrol in the scheme to get the same subsidies as guardians. The assumption is that schools register at skolefruktsys.no and participate on current conditions in terms of price, delivery and choice of local supplier. Municipalities that continue with free fruit/vegetables and have their own tenders on their own terms will not receive subsidies.
The school fruit scheme is discussed in the national budget. The purpose of the Skolefrukt subscription scheme is to encourage increased consumption of fruits and vegetables among students. The Skolefrukt program is also a tool to meet government guidelines for school meals. The scheme is administered by the Information Office of Fruits and Vegetables on behalf of the Health Directorate. The scheme is based on the regulations of 1 April 2004 No. 623 for grants for price markdowns of fruits and vegetables in elementary compulsory schools (attached as Appendix 1).
In the scheme, OFG will collect payment from the parents/schools/municipalities on behalf of the suppliers. OFG will not be able to pay out more money than it collected from the supplier's schools. Suppliers must cover the loss in cases where parents enrol the student, but do not pay the subscription. OFG sends two payment reminders, and reports unpaid subscriptions.
The agreements with school-fruit suppliers for the autumn 2014 – spring 2016 period will include deliveries to the subscription scheme for pure primary schools, combined schools and pure secondary schools.