A major provider of school lunches has been placed into liquidation, marking the latest setback for the beleaguered program. Libelle Group, contracted by Compass to deliver 125,000 meals a day as part of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme, has been placed into liquidation by its shareholders.
Robert Campbell and David Webb of Deloitte New Zealand have been appointed as liquidators.
“The liquidators are undertaking a full and urgent review of all of Libelle’s operations, with our immediate focus being working with Libelle’s employees and affected stakeholders to ascertain the way forward, including ensuring students around New Zealand continue to receive their school lunches,” Webb said.
He said the liquidators have immediately engaged with Compass, which is working with the School Lunch Collective to “support continuity of service,” and employees, suppliers, and schools would be kept informed about the process.
Associate education minister David Seymour said it was a commercial matter between Compass and Libelle.
“To ensure the uninterrupted delivery of the school meals provided by Libelle central production kitchens, the Compass Group has told the ministry that it will assume operations during this transition and take responsibility for providing meals every school day.”
“I was informed by the Ministry of Education that insolvency was being considered by the subcontractor on Thursday.”
The school lunch programme has been mired in controversy with complaints about inadequate and poorly prepared meals.
The School Lunch Collective, of which Libelle is a member along with Compass and Gilmour’s, said its priority remained ensuring the students continued to receive the meals.
Labour Education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said it was “another day, another disaster for David Seymour’s botched school lunches
programme.”
“We said from the start that cutting funding for school lunches to pay for tax cuts was a bad idea.”
Prime said Seymour needed to explain how this contract was signed and what other problems he was aware off when he signed it.
Prime said Education Minister Erica Stanford and Seymour needed to meet and “sort this out”.
In Parliament, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said it was “crystal clear” Seymour had upset parents, whānau and educators in the education system.
When asked if it was time for Seymour to step away from the programme, Swarbrick said it was time for a change in government.
Libelle Group is a member of the School Lunch Collective alongside Compass Group NZ and Gilmours.
Libelle was one of three companies in the School Lunch Collective which won the contract to provide cut-price meals to 466 schools in the free lunch scheme, Ka Ora, Ka Ako.
It has 500 staff and operates out of 15 locations.
The others were food and support services company Compass Group and food and beverage wholesaler Gilmours.
Education Ministry documents showed Libelle and Compass indicated early in last year’s procurement process the government’s $3 price cap for the lunches would be a stretch.
“Existing suppliers such as Libelle and Compass have expressed an interest in being part of the alternative solution, however indications are they may not be able to meet the $3 price cap,” the document said.
The collective said it provided lunches for about 120,000 children a day and Libelle was contracted to provide 125,000 each day.
Libelle’s website said it had been involved in school food services for 20 years.
It was a provider under the free school lunch programme and also ran school tuckshops, a school lunch delivery service, and residential catering in school boarding houses.
The site said Libelle’s was a New Zealand-owned family business founded by Johannes Tietze.
It said it serviced several hundred schools and employed almost 600 people.
