Hawke’s Bay school praises new lunches

• Central Hawke’s Bay College reports positive experiences with its new school lunch supplier, despite initial scepticism.
• Assistant principal Ed Breen says meals are hot, timely, and enjoyed by students, with minimal waste.
• The school receives 514 lunches daily, with meals like beef rissoles and butter chicken delivered by 11am.

While some schools around the country are decrying the new school lunches, one Hawke’s Bay high school says students are enjoying the lunches, with any issues being chalked up to “teething issues”.

Central Hawke’s Bay College in Waipukurau has been involved with the school lunch programme since its inception in 2020, initially receiving its meals from a supplier in Havelock North. Assistant principal Ed Breen was a big fan of the old model and was sceptical that the new model would work for his school.

“But I have been pleasantly surprised,” Breen told Hawke’s Bay Today.

“Things have always arrived on time, the meals have been hot, the students really enjoy the snacks that come with it, and we’ve got very little waste.”

“The bottom line is it just sort of works better for our school than I thought it was going to, and I’m really pleased with how things have gone so far this term.”

Central Hawke’s Bay College currently receives 514 lunches each school day from the School Lunch Collective, which supplies lunches to schools on the external model of lunches.

Year 12 Central Hawke's Bay College student Ebony Taylor enjoys her new school lunch. Photo / Ed Breen

External model schools have their meals cooked off-site and shipped in, while internal model schools’ meals are made at the school.

The external model is the one that has made near-constant headlines this term with exploding meals, and complaints about lateness and poor quality echoing throughout the country and the halls of Parliament.

According to the Ministry of Education, schools choose whether to go with internally or externally supplied meals.

Breen says the new meals are nutritious and his students have been thoroughly enjoying dishes like beef rissoles with mashed potato, butter chicken, and cottage pie.

Lunches are delivered to the college at 11am each day and come in containers that keep the meals warm. Students then collect their meals which are distributed with the help of a lunch lady.

Breen says there is typically enough left over for hungry students to get seconds and what small food waste is created is given to a staff member’s pig, but they are lucky to get half a bucket most days.

Breen says when his school’s previous lunch supplier started, it was “shaky”.

“But by his sort of second full year he got through a lot of his teething problems, and I’m sort of hopeful that that’s what’s happening with this programme,” he said.

“Outside of a few dietary meals missing at the start, whatever meal ends up being here, it’s been good.”

He said the students had eaten it and “long may it continue”.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.