Boston Public Schools announces $17M contract with Black-owned City Fresh Foods

BOSTON - Roxbury based and minority-owned City Fresh Foods is taking on the responsibility of providing meals to almost 50,000 Boston Public School students starting on July 1. 

City Fresh Foods is the brainchild of CEO Sheldon Lloyd. He started the company nearly 30 years ago right outside Nubian Square with the goal to provide nutritious, fresh meals to seniors and minorities in the Boston area.  

"This is the community feeding the community right here, many of my cooks are going to be feeding their own," Lloyd said. "We make diverse food, so you have the flavors of the community."

Mayor Michelle Wu announced the $17 million contract is the largest non-construction contract the city has ever issued to a certified black-owned business.

"City Fresh will cook delicious locally-sourced culturally-relevant foods from scratch in our city, in Roxbury," Wu said. "We are so proud it is a local Boston based business." 

Lloyd, whose own children are in BPS, said his goal has always been to hire straight from the community and now calls the chance to feed the children of the Boston Public Schools a full circle moment. 

"The mission was to hire local and feed local, hire younger and serve the older community," Lloyd said. "We were selected because we are from Boston, we had the best proposal, we know the city well and we have a special connection to the community because we are a reflection of the community."