The social enterprise, Eat My Lunch announced it was a victim of Covid-19 in December of 2022. For seven and a half years, the organisation provided a free lunch for every catering product purchased on its website and supported over 1.8 million school-aged Kiwis.
Lisa King, the business’ founder, said that the pandemic killed the buy one, give one business model as it relied on customers being in the office. The ‘new normal’ has meant many offices are now hybrid, and the Eat My Lunch revenue was simply unable to bounce back. It ceased operations on December 16th.
King announced that the company would rebrand and continue its work with Auckland schools but is yet to publicly share details of the plans.
With the company’s liquidation, there was uncertainty surrounding what would happen to the schools being supported by the company in Wellington.
“The Ministry has supported all schools in Wellington previously supplied lunches by Eat My Lunch to select alternative suppliers. The new suppliers are ready to provide lunches to these schools from the start of Term 1, 2023,” said Sean Teddy, Leader of Operations and Integration at the Ministry of Education.
“As part of the rebranding for Eat My Lunch Auckland, the Ministry is working with the new Eat My Lunch brand to support the continued supply of lunches to the schools in Auckland that they currently hold contracts with.”
