Kindy kids get healthy taste of World Pasta Day
9 October 2026
A Shailer Park cooking business and Loganholme childcare centre are partnering to serve up a combo of 'delicious and nutritious' lessons for kindy kids in time for World Pasta Day.
Pasta is now on the plate at Queensland Childcare Services’ (QCCS) Hyperdome Early Education Centre in Loganholme, where educators are combatting the unhealthy food problem in childcare with the provider’s industry-leading nutrition education program.
A 4.5 tonne international delivery of BioItalia pasta was arranged by the centre's in-house healthy food partner, The Healthy Cooking Company (HCC) - a Shailer Park-based business with a mission to deliver nutritious food to its community.
The shipment arrived in time to celebrate World Pasta Day on Saturday 25 October, and is enough for 75,000 serves of pasta. It follows on from a first shipment which saw the HCC cook 50,000 pasta serves in the past 6 months.
HCC first looked to Italy after struggling to secure suitable high quality and healthy wholemeal pasta in Australia. The cooking company says the meals have since won over families, who are placing online orders for home each week.
QCCS General Manger Laura Faalili says the second shipment shows healthy choices can still earn rave reviews from even the smallest of diners.
'Children have embraced the pasta, and families are choosing the meals at home too, which tells us we have found something both nourishing and genuinely enjoyed,' Ms Faalili says.
'Through family-style dining and programs such as Veggie Fun and Taste the Rainbow, we make healthy food fun and help children build confidence with new flavours, colours and textures.'
She says integrating healthy food education into the curriculum builds positive eating habits and makes mealtimes easier for parents.
HCC Operations Manager and Executive Chef Shannon Griffin says Bioitalia’s certified organic whole wheat pasta is made in Sarno near Italy’s Amalfi Coast, and traceable from sowing to the finished product, aligning with HCC’s focus on quality and responsible sourcing.
Mr Griffin says the second shipment of the certified organic whole wheat pasta, which includes spirals and macaroni that are popular varieties with young children, will be on QCCS menus across 6 centres.
'Wholemeal pasta is not always an easy sell with little ones, so it has been fantastic to see children tuck in and ask for more,' Mr Griffin says.
'Importing 4.5 tonnes from Italy takes careful planning, but the response from centres and families shows the effort is worth it. With another 75,000 serves ready to go, there are plenty more pasta parties ahead.'
PHOTO AT TOP: HCC Executive Chef Shannon Griffin serving up pasta for local kindy kids.