The ‘positive’ emails David Seymour has received about school lunches

Tuesday, 4 March 2025

“Positive” emails shared with the minister responsible for school lunches, David Seymour, reveal not all schools are unhappy with the controversial lunches provider - but do show the programme is very much a work in progress.

“The meals are much better this week!!!!” wrote one happy principal. “The Mac n Cheese was actually eaten by heaps of kids today.”

“They are now starting to like the meals,” wrote another. “It is pleasing to see the students starting to like the meals, which have been better recently.”

“The special dietary meals are now clearly marked,” said another.

Seymour is under pressure after a litany of issues with the school lunches provider including meals not showing up and schools having to buy alternatives, food arriving frozen, under heated or over cooked, or food arriving with plastic baked into it - the latter of which Seymour said was “a major failure”.

READ MORE: What happened when our journalist tried the new school lunches menu

One student previously told The Post the lunches “look like cat food” and the New Zealand Principals' Federation, representing more than 2000 principals from the education sector, has written to Seymour expressing concern.

Compass Group, a multinational food service company, has the contract to lead the programme, Ka Ora Ka Ako. Seymour has touted its $130 million savings, with each meal costing the Government $3.

He said the food would be nutritious and filling, as well as cheap, previously criticising “woke” lunches on offer like sushi and quinoa.

On the menu for schools this year is curry, katsu, pasta, rissoles, beef and beans. Compass confirmed to Stuff that in one short-term arrangement it had delivered frozen Wattie’s fish pies to a Gisborne school.

Compass’ involvement in delivering school lunches is not new - it has been a school lunch contractor for four years. But previously schools had a choice of supplier, including local options.

Seymour has said meals were now being delivered on time and “we will overcome the issue around the complaints on quality”.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Tusday morning acknowledged some of the meals hadn’t been “up to scratch” but that Seymour was “all over the detail”.

“Ultimately he will fix it. He needs to. He’s well aware of the issues and challenges we’ve seen.”

Education Minister Erica Stanford has also asked Seymour for an explanation. The two were due to meet Tuesday morning.

Seymour had previously said he was “getting a lot of feedback from principals who actually say they believe that their children think that the food is better than the previous offerings'.

The Post asked Seymour’s office for examples of letters he’d been sent, and received back two documents with dozens of feedback from principals, teachers and students, with names redacted.

One included the comment, “much better than last year!” Others said the students seemed to be enjoying the food, the selection was good, and food was arriving hot.

Other feedback included: “Lots of good-sized pieces of chicken”; “Moist and very tasty”; “students loved the pies yesterday” and “We have escaped a lot of the issues other schools are facing”.

Others alluded to previous problems that had since been rectified. “Meals are now arriving on time,” wrote one. “Thanks for your help and responsiveness to any issues we have,” wrote another.

Some feedback was particularly specific: “The second observation from the children was that there was sauce. It was still creamy, not thick and congealed. The pasta looked like pasta. The meal was reasonably hot …”

One effusive email said students had lined up eagerly with “an air of anticipation and curiosity. The aroma wafting from the trays as they were distributed created an atmosphere of excitement. It was clear something had changed for the better.”