4 minute read
Case Study - Libelle
Considering the current conversation surrounding the Healthy School Lunches programme, Educatering magazine wanted to get some insight from a tendered supplier about how they go about creating school lunches that kids love to eat.
Other concerns for schools and suppliers include price inflation and ways in which businesses are mitigating this, while still providing highly nutritious meals to Kiwi school children.
Educatering magazine talked to Lunch by Libelle, a proudly family-owned Kiwi business that has been serving hungry learners healthy and nutritious food in all corners of the country since 2004. They have been a preferred supplier for the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches programme from the very beginning in February 2020.
The team at Libelle have felt the recent price rises, and not just for fruit and vegetables, but across the board.
“Every household knows it and we do too. It’s been another tough element to a uniquely challenging time,” expressed Johannes Tietze, Founder & Executive Director Libelle Group.
“This has been a spur to us to invest time and effort in new ingredients and suppliers. Innovation and efficiency are key to our cost control and planning to keep prices down and nutrition up.”
For Libelle, it comes down to a lot of creative thinking and the ability to stay flexible.
“We have really drilled down into what the Ka ora, Ka ako programme offers our children and focused on providing food groups often missing in many children’s diets – wholegrains, proteins and vegetables.”
Tietze noted that hot meals are a great format to deliver these food groups in a tasty way. For many children it can be more palatable than sandwiches, rolls or fresh salads, so Lunch by Libelle are keeping hot meals on the menu all year.
LIbelle is also big on seasonality. Produce at its most plentiful, most affordable and in prime condition is central to meal planning and nutritional delivery. The business has been in school nutrition for nearly twenty years now and has long-standing supplier relationships where it can collaborate to fight higher costs while retaining a high quality.
“We are lucky to have suppliers as committed as we are to feeding hungry learners, but it’s a constant focus right now.”
Listening to the Tummy Grumbles
Feedback from students is essential to meeting their nutrition needs, which is why feedback is built in at every stage of Libelle’s service, from students and the wider school community, both formally and informally.
Libelle’s key innovation is its FEAST workshops, (hands-on food education classes) it runs with each of its schools at least twice per year.
“In FEAST we korero with the students about meal preferences, engage their curiosity about how Libelle lunches are healthy and balanced, and extend their flavour range as well as knowledge and vocabulary around food and eating. We watch, listen, and learn at least as much as they do, making, eating, and talking food.”
Menu development is ongoing at Libelle. Led by nutritionists and informed by various feedback channels, Libelle’s on-site kitchen teams hate waste and love feeding students, they are an essential tool for insight on both waste and what wins on its menus.
“Our delivery teams are on site with the students daily, looking and listening. This is then reported to our Menu Advisory Committee, who regularly review meal and recipe feedback. Atop this, our regional leadership teams meet regularly with Principals and school business managers on every element of our service and at the heart of this, is menu and meal popularity.”
As every parent knows, feeding children is a
challenging job! Libelle completely understands that children want what they know, and what they know is not always what will provide the best nutrition. They also understand the dynamics of a feeding relationship.
“Alongside providing meals that will be familiar we work hard to share our knowledge with our teams and our schools so that together we can provide a safe and supportive environment for our students to learn to eat a variety of foods and to learn about food in a constructive way that will support them to make healthy food choices later in life.
“This is where our FEAST workshops are so important, educating students on why they’re eating what they’re eating, rather than feeding them without explaining the benefits.”
Creating a Comfortable Eating Environment
nutrition culture within a school. It does not need to be the same as at home, but it gives a sense of belonging, a sense of “this is what we do here”.
Create a ritual around eating times and provide a safe, loving space for eating to happen. Encourage ownership of this space and time. Practice hands-on reconnection with food – through gardening, foraging, art classes, food preparation, building a recipe, baking, reading food books, and learning about how the body works. Research shows that this will support a child to have the confidence to try new foods.
Be mindful about the language used around food and eating – keep it neutral about the food, encourage extension of vocabulary about the food and keep the pressure to eat the food off.
“Children look to us to learn how to react and behave around food, so be a positive role model,” noted Tietze.
“Encourage respect – it’s ok to not like the food, but it is never ok to be rude about it. Don’t yuck someone else’s yum!
Our FEAST workshops, for example, are proven to increase uptake following completion. Why? Because children understand the why of what they’re eating and are keen to grow strong and healthy!” H
