Local authorities in Courier country have said they can cope with the introduction of free school meals for younger school pupils.
Primary 1-3 pupils are now entitled to school lunches free of charge, saving parents as much as £330 per year.
Around 135,000 children across Scotland will be eligible for the new lunches, but concerns have been raised that the staffing and size of school kitchens might not be able to cope with the jump in demand.
Uptake on the new meals is expected to increase demand by around 50% across local authority areas.
Dundee City Council education convener Stewart Hunter said: “I welcome this new development, which will give P1-P3 children a free healthy school meal.
“Parents were informed of the changes before the Christmas holidays for the near 4,700 pupils who are eligible.
“The council has invested in an improvement programme to dining facilities at various primary schools across the city.”
Angus Thomson, senior manager for catering and cleaning and facilities management at Fife Council, said: “From the 5th of January, all Fife pupils in Primary 1, 2 and 3 will be entitled to receive free school meals under a new Scottish Government initiative.
“Having taken part in a trial of this particular project in 2008, we know how popular this is likely to be and estimate that around 75% of our entitled pupils will take up the offer.”
He continued: “As we expect the uptake to be quite high, we have prepared for the change by increasing numbers of catering staff as well as investing in more tables, chairs, kitchen equipment and tableware.”
The move, which is being provided with £70.5 million in revenue funding and £24.8m in additional capital funding by the Scottish Government, will provide P1-P3 children with guaranteed access to a healthy, nutritious meal.
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson explained how the council plans to cope with demand.
They said: “The principal focus of our planning and preparations has been on facilitating meal production capacity and ensuring that staffing arrangements will continue to support a positive dining experience.
They added: “880 weekly additional staff hours have been allocated across production, service and supervisory staff.
“All additional costs will be met within the allocated budget for the implementation of the new provision.”
Forfar Councillor Lynne Devine, who is vice-convener of the Children and Learning Committee, said: “The staff in all our primary schools have been working hard to make sure this provision takes place as seamlessly as possible.” Nigel Don, SNP MSP for Angus North and Mearns, said: “I welcome funding, which means that from the beginning of 2015 all children from primary 1-3 will be entitled to free school meals.
“This will enable families not already receiving this benefit to make a saving of around £330 per year per child.”