Cecile Meier

Auditor General launches investigation into school lunch programme

📢 The Auditor General will conduct an inquiry into the Ministry of Education's school lunch programme. It will cover planning, procurement, and contract...

YouTube video by nzherald.co.nz BusinessDesk investigates Compass Group

Had a blast (and went right outside of my comfort zone) working on this video about school lunches and the multinational business at the heart of it all with Garth Bray. No paywall on this one!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Huov...

Good question. Not been able to get an answer so far though.

An “upfront deposit” covering an agreed number of meals was paid to Compass when the contract was signed.

The ministry told BusinessDesk it has not given any financial or non-financial guarantee in support of Compass buying Libelle. 4/4

The ministry said it had no concerns around the financial viability of the company when it was awarded the contract.

It ran Centrix business credit checks as part of preliminary financial due diligence on Libelle, which did not raise any red flags. 3/4

The revelation comes as an initial liquidators’ report into the failed school-lunch provider estimate $14.3 million as owing with the company “clearly insolvent”, when liquidators started their work. 2/4

Officials warned Libelle could fail to deliver cut-price school-lunch contract Securing the revamped school-lunch contract was “critical for the viability of Libelle”, and could push the company to make “commitments they...

Securing the revamped school-lunch contract was “critical for the viability of Libelle”, and could push the company to make “commitments they are unable to deliver on”, officials warned last year. 1/4

businessdesk.co.nz/article/inve...

Definitely not as good as S1 and 2. Characters so unlikeable it's hard to keep interest. But still worth watching :-).

Would an anti-woke banking law change how banks lend? NZ First's Bill promising to stop "woke ideology" in banking wouldn't stop banks considering climate risks, experts say.

Would an anti-"woke" banking law change how banks lend when it comes to heavy emitters and climate risk?

- audio from Morning Report today embedded with the web story here -

www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

Remembering the lives lost, the injuries, all those who suffered the trauma of the Ōtautahi mosque massacres.

Whoever did this website - good work. www.seymourslop.nz

Frozen food to a school w/o heating facilities today was more brilliant public-private market work from the libertarian party.

Last week they were burning kid's skin off, sending them to ED.

This week, it's stone cold and frozen.

#nzpol

Three weeks of ugly headlines and ACC's leadership crisis just got worse Drunken inappropriateness, ‘physical contact’, a shirtless video call, conflict of interest concerns. What are ACC execs up to?

ACC staff are not happy, which is why more tips keep coming in. That right there should be indicative to management of serious problems. Here’s a wrap of where things are at after three weeks of reporting these issues.

The Compass Group has bought Libelle’s school lunch operations under a conditional sale. Will be interesting to explore the role the school lunch contract has played in Libelle’s demise.

Loss of Libelle leads to drop in quality, schools to close canteens with short notice Libelle, which provides about 125,000 meals a day for the government's revamped school lunch programme, went bust on Tuesday.

Loss of Libelle leads to drop in quality, schools to close canteens with short notice www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Frozen pizza rolls are the latest school lunch blunder Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the idea that the programme had "given up" on Kiwi suppliers altogether and flown the lunches in from Australia was "frankly ridiculous".

"Maybe this is a short-term fix," he said, adding that Seymour was "fully accountable" for the programme's delivery.

"He's working hard at it, so let him close it out."

MPI confirms complaint of flies in school lunches "It was revolting"

“The child opened a meal yesterday & a couple of flies came out...it looked disgusting...We don’t know where the flies are from. Some schools have meals coming from Australia - what if something gets through?”

open.substack.com/pub/emilywri...

Thanks Justin!

some great reporting from @cecilemeier.bsky.social on the school lunch procurement process, and how the school lunch collective got chosen in the first place -- one that paints the more interesting story imo

School lunch provider turns to Australia for help With its main food manufacturer, Libelle, in liquidation, the School Lunch Collective has turned to Australia to ensure it had enough meals.

How can this make sense financially? Not to mention all the local jobs that were lost in the shift to Compass.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

My school uses Subway & Pita Pit for (parent-bought) school lunches, and it’s pretty expensive. Don’t get much for $10. Still MUCH nicer than the Compass meals, and would probably be cheaper if done en masse.

Libelle's downfall raises question about school lunch procurement process Pita Pit and Subway were runners-up for the revamped school lunch contract, but BusinessDesk understands that they wouldn’t do it for less than $4. T...

More in the article about the procurment process, including an interview with an expert in the matter, and a raft of complaints received by the Ombudsman, ComCom and the Auditor General.
businessdesk.co.nz/article/poli...

The same Thursday evening, Libelle's director Jonanes Tietze first approached Deloitte liquidators to raise insolvency concerns.

Using Watties microwavable meals was another solution the collective found to plug the gaps. BD understands Libelle had been stockpiling the meals, until the Ministry of Education told the company on Thursday to stop serving them after a student received second degree burns.

- The School Lunch Collective has been outsourcing a significant portion of meals. Pita Pit is one of the companies plugging the gaps, and is charging the collective $4.50 a meal, BD understands. Unclear who paid for this, but it could have been Libelle, to make up for its production shortfalls.

- Pita Pit and Subway have a good track record in the programme and the infrastructure in place to deliver through franchisees around the country (unlike Compass and Libelle, whose poor track record prompted officials to raise concerns when they learned they were short listed to win the contract).

Serious questions about the procurement process that awarded the revamped school lunch programme to Compass and Libelle need to be answered.

Today, we reveal:

- Pita Pit and Subway were jointly the runner up for the revamped school lunch contract last year but would not do it for less than $4.

School lunch provider Libelle Group tipped into liquidation Liquidators have been appointed to school lunch provider Libelle Group by the shareholders of the company. On Tuesday morning, Robert Campbell and David We...

Libelle has gone into liquidation.

The company is making most of the meals distributed by the School Lunch Collective.

It will be a challenge for Compass to find an alternative caterer able and willing to provide about 125,000 lunches daily for $3. More to come.
businessdesk.co.nz/article/reta...

Insurers look to price in climate change with individual risk ratings If you're lucky enough to own a house, it's probably your biggest financial asset. But the value of many properties is at risk as insurers move to price in climate change with individual risk ratings....

None of this will be news to most of you, but I think it would surprise the average person how immediate the implications of climate change are for house prices

Audio from this morning 📻 here - >

Insurers look to price in climate change with individual risk ratings www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

In my experience Europeans hug less than Kiwis. More kisses on the cheek though for the French.