It’s been a tough week for some Coastie families, with the sudden news that school lunch provider Libelle has gone into liquidation.

Libelle, which had been delivering around 125,000 lunches a day across New Zealand—including some here on the Hibiscus Coast—closed its doors abruptly, leaving several local schools scrambling to sort out what’s next for their students.

According to the Ministry of Education, the Healthy School Lunches Programme was designed to give a hand to the 25% of students most in need, making sure they receive a nutritious lunch every school day.

How The Programme Works

Here’s a quick recap of how the programme is set up:

• Schools that use external providers (like the School Lunch Collective) receive $3 per meal, per student.
• Schools that handle lunches internally get $4 per meal, per student. The extra dollar helps cover staffing, since they don’t benefit from the economies of scale that big providers do.

Every lunch must meet strict nutrition guidelines, with input from the Ministry of Health.

They also cater for students with specific dietary needs—whether that’s halal, coeliac, vegetarian, vegan, or other complex requirements.

And like many of us do at home, sometimes the veggies are hidden in the sauces to encourage kids to eat up!

What This Means For Some Local Schools

Libelle’s liquidation announcement has left some schools on the Hibiscus Coast in a difficult spot.

While the Ministry of Education is working on short-term solutions, it’s clear that finding reliable, long-term providers will be a challenge.

I’ve done a bit of digging to understand the costs involved, and how parents might manage to create healthy, affordable meals under a tight budget.

Using local Hibiscus Coast supermarket prices, a simple weekly menu with a variety of foods and a different menu each weekday could be put together for around $7.48 per child, per week—that’s roughly $1.50 a day for lunches made at home.

That's real food for thought.

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