Another school left with no lunch under new Government programme
Wednesday, 5 February 2025
The provider of the Government’s new school lunch programme is taking steps to address delivery issues following another school which did not get its lunch delivery in the first week of term 1.
In a letter to parents, De La Salle College principal Myles Hogarty told parents the supplier of its school lunches was unable to provide lunch “due to some ‘technical’ issue” on Tuesday.
“We were only informed of this this afternoon and understand that this situation is totally unacceptable,” Hogarty said. “If we had earlier notice the college could have made some arrangements to provide food for our young men, this was not the case.”
On Wednesday, associate principal Dermot English said the students did receive their lunch.
He said the students were “fairly resilient” and carried on with their day on Tuesday. The delivery was going to arrive after school had finished so the school told the provider not to bring it.
“It’s the start of the year, there’s things that happen,” English said. “It’s a new system, I’m hoping it settles down.”
The Ministry of Education (MOE) confirmed the school’s provider was the School Lunch Collective, a partnership between Compass Group NZ, Libelle Group, and Gilmours.
Compass Group, a multinational food service company, was awarded the contract to lead the new healthy school lunches programme Ka Ora Ka Ako, touted by the Government as nutritious, filling and cheap.
Associate Minister of Education David Seymour championed the $130m savings of the new programme, with each meal costing the Government $3.
Compass was criticised for previously delivering mouldy food to schools and the programme was labelled a tardy “fiasco” by principals, last week after a number of schools did not get their delivery or it arrived late.
Sean Teddy, MOE Hautū (leader) operations and integration said most regions had 100% of lunches delivered on time, but there had been ongoing delivery issues in Auckland and Waikato.
More than 538,000 meals were delivered to schools since the first day of term 1, he said.
The provider had taken steps to address the issues including expanding the delivery fleet, increasing the number of production kitchens in Auckland and starting heating meals earlier.
A new supplier of special dietary meals would also be joining the collective to resolve supply and labelling issues as well as the contact centre team being doubled to eight people. An 0800 number would be added from next week, Teddy said.
If School Lunch Collective meals were expected to be late or do not arrive, schools could purchase food items for students which would be reimbursed by the provider.
Seymour acknowledged it would be “difficult for many” as the provider brought its delivery process up to speed, ensuring consistent quality.
The Collective was holding itself to account and he expected the processes to improve.
“The majority of those meals have been delivered on time and at the right temperature on the first attempt.”
Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board chairperson Tauanu’u Nanai Nick Bakulich said he was “furious” when he found out De La Salle College had not received their lunch on Tuesday. It was “unacceptable”, he said.
It was the second school in his board which had not received their lunches since the start of the term last week. McAuley High School in Ōtāhuhu, had lunches delivered as the school day was about to finish.
“It’s families in high deprivation areas that try and manage their budgets as best they can and depend on this particular provision.”
The lunch programme and its changes had also been in the pipeline for some time so it was unacceptable that they weren’t able to deliver, Bakulich said.
Correction: Schools will be reimbursed by the provider, not the Ministry of Education, for purchases if meals are late or don’t arrive. (Amended February 6,2025, 10.30am)