Dame Julie Chapman: KidsCan CEO on the organisation receiving positive feedback for school lunches

A nod of approval for the KidsCan school lunches scheme.

A Ministry of Education ECE report shows consistent near 100 percent satisfaction scores for reliability, food safety, and communication.

KidsCan CEO Dame Julie Chapman says it costs $2 dollars per meal, on average - under their not-for-profit model.

"You're talking 30 to 50 kids, as opposed to, you know, hundreds or potentially thousands of kids. So that bespoke model for early childhood works really well." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You wouldn't guess it from the headlines, but some parts
of the school lunches program are actually working well. In fact,
most parts are working well. You just hear a lot
about the moldly school lady from christ Church. However, Kids Can,
which provides meals to around ten thousand early childhood centers,
is as set students, I should say, is getting some
great feedback. Ninety seven percent for consistency, hygiene, ninety eight percent,

(00:22):
ninety five percent for service as a whole. Dame Julie Chapman,
as the Kids Can founder with me, Dame Julie, good.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Evening, Good evening, Ryan, how are you very well?

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Thank you? Things are going well at your.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
In then, Yeah, I mean it's amazing to get that feedback,
and I think that it's a real testament to the
team at kids Can and the work that they've put in.
And I guess the way that we actually run that
particular food program, which is quite separate from the school

(00:56):
lunches and it's a bit more bespoke in the way
that we do it. We're super proud of it.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
What yeah can tell us about what you're doing because
I'm imagining because the younger kids you're not doing hot
meals all the time? Is it more basic stuff than that?

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well, what we do is, essentially we've worked with a
group of nutritionists, the Heart Foundation in the past to
develop a range of nutritious, wholesome, you know, kid friendly,
I guess, recipes for children under five. Those ingredients for
those recipes are delivered on a weekly basis through our

(01:34):
supply partner, and they go to each individual center and
then within the center, depending on the menu that they've chosen,
they will prepare and cook those recipes. A lot of
them are hot meals, but they're prepared from scratch using
the ingredients on site. And I guess the point I
would make is, you know, we're talking about a lot

(01:56):
smaller kind of role numbers. You're talking thirty to fifty
kids as opposed to you know, hundreds, potentially thousands of kids.
So that bespoke model for early childhood works really well.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
More of my food bag situation where you seend the
stuff and then but you've got to cook it yourself.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, and a lot of early childhood centers they are
already set up to have kitchen facilities, so it's kind
of ingredients that can be put together. Kids love it,
and I guess the results that we're seeing from that
in terms of, you know, our service, but importantly more
importantly kids participation, trying new foods, eating more veggies. We're

(02:38):
just loving that as well.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Awesome, don't judy. What does a meal cost?

Speaker 2 (02:42):
On average? It costs us around two dollars to provide
the meal, so that's the ingredients, the distribution, everything included.
And I guess you know, we're not for profits, so
we're able to do that and we have some amazing
partnerships with suppliers of food.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Keep it up, don Julie, keep up the good work.
Don Julie Chapman. Kids Count founded with founder with us.
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