This week saw the retail launch in New World Victoria Park of Eat My Lunch. This means that customers looking for a delicious lunch or dinner can purchase a Michael Meredith designed meal as part of their everyday shop, knowing that a New Zealand child will, in turn, be gifted a free school lunch.
“Our partnership with Eat My Lunch makes so much sense. Like them, we believe that good food is not a privilege, it’s a right. To date, they have provided more than 550,000 free lunches to children in need and by offering Eat My Lunch meals in our stores we can extend the reach of this innovative social enterprise even further. Our first day in New World Victoria Park, saw 90 extra lunches being made available to children – and it will only get bigger," said Chris Quin, CEO Foodstuffs North Island.
The same meals available online through the Eat My Lunch ordering system is available in store. Fresh, wholesome, delicious and generous – they cater to customers looking for a lunch, standard dinner, a ‘hungry’ dinner and a kid’s dinner. Each meal is made and delivered daily into the store from Monday to Friday.
The customer response has been fantastic, with many commending the store for being the first to offer the range. Next up is Fresh Collective Alberton with others to follow when supply gets up to speed in Auckland and Wellington metro areas.
“We are delighted to be part of the next phase in Eat My Lunch’s drive to move from feeding 1,500 tamariki to 25,000,” said Jason Witehira, Owner-Operator of New World Victoria Park. “It’s a pretty big goal and they need a partner like Foodstuffs to help them get there. Already we’ve been able to help them streamline their processes to ensure a consistent, high-quality supply of delicious, healthful meals to store – which in turn will support the growth of the ‘give’ part of their programme.”
Once people get their heads around social enterprise they can see how developing and nurturing innovative businesses like Eat My Lunch is a great way to address some burning social issues. Chris Quin says, “Eat My Lunch can tap into Foodstuffs’ expertise in running an efficient, safe, customer-led business which in the end is more sustainable over the long term. Profits are fed back into the operation to grow and expand to meet community needs.”
Lisa King, founder and CEO of Eat My Lunch said it best when she states that she never wants Eat My Lunch to become a company that loses sight of the fact that they were built on a social purpose and values. "If financial objectives ever overtake our social ones, then we won’t be Eat My Lunch anymore. That said, as we grow we need more operational processes all while maintaining agility, and that’s one of the key areas we’re working on with the Foodies team," said King.
Looking ahead Eat My Lunch and Foodstuffs are aiming to make the products available in all Foodstuffs North Island stores. The implications for helping children across New Zealand flourish in school, thanks to learning with full tummies, is enormously positive. “Given that we are in every community in New Zealand, and we have wonderful customers keen to do their bit to help out, we see our partnership with Eat My Lunch as having a hugely positive, long-term impact on the health and well-being of Long-term impact on the health and well-being of an important group of New Zealanders,” said Quin.
