Global catering giant Compass Group will not be a supplier in the next round of the Government's school lunch programme, with new regional providers set to charge up to $5 a meal for participating primary schools.
Ten regional suppliers have been selected to deliver lunches to 188 contributing primary schools (years 0-6) from the beginning of Term 1, 2026 – a shift from last year's centralised model under the School Lunch Collective in which Compass was a major component.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour said the two-stage roll-out of the programme was agreed to by Cabinet in 2024.
Suppliers had been invited to apply for the Healthy School Lunches Request for Proposals in July, with 30 applications received by the Ministry of Education.
"The regional approach was found to best meet the needs of contributing primary schools in New Zealand. For example, many small primary schools serve remote communities," he said.
Contract winners included long-term providers, such as Cafe Mahia, which Seymour said had "the know-how" to deal with each region's unique needs.
The other successful bidders were Appresso Pro Foods, Montana Group, Ka Pai Kai, KDJ Catering, Star Fresh, University of Canterbury Student Association (UCSA), Knuckles (The Food Company), The Y Gisborne, and Pita Pit and Subway.
Seymour said the weighted average cost of a lunch under this programme would be $3.46, based on a per meal cost to suppliers of between $3 and $5. He said this was expected to save $145 million in 2026.
Primary schools would be included in the scheme from Term 1, and Seymour said this would be funded from efficiencies made to the wider programme by introducing more flexible ordering.
Some suppliers in the existing programme would be affected, which Seymour said "will be tough".
"However, the emphasis of the programme is to ensure students get healthy meals at an affordable cost to the taxpayer."
Govt has conceded school lunch 'failure' – Labour
Labour's education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said the Government had "finally conceded that its cheap school lunches have been a failure".
"We welcome the move back to local suppliers and raising the funding cap for some schools – but, with most schools still on the cheaper model, they should go further and fully reinstate the programme."
She said children had been served food that was burned, undercooked, and that contained plastic.
"Teachers and communities repeatedly raised concerns about the loss of quality, nutrition, and the wider benefits for kids but the Government ignored them until now."
Compass Group has been contacted for comment.
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