Our Story
WHO ARE WE & WHAT TO WE DO?
KA PAI KAI ROTORUA WAS FORMED IN JULY 2017.
Jasmin Jackson (BA Psychology, BSc Human Nutrition, PGDip Human Nutrition) is a Registered Nutritionist with a passion for childhood nutrition and sustainable food systems. Jasmin was a founding member of Ka Pai Kai South Waikato Inc, the inspiration for Ka Pai Kai Rotorua, which she later co-founded with representatives of the Rotorua community. Ka Pai Kai Rotorua was formed in July 2017, with one part-time staff member selling meals in two low decile kura.
If you were to randomly select a class of 30 students from any Rotorua school, and ask the students to show you what’s in their lunch box, you’ll likely find one or two children without lunch, one or two children with a healthy lunch, and about 26 children with packets of junk food, such as chips, high-sugar muesli bars, biscuits, high-salt crackers, and white bread with sugary spreads like jam and Nutella. Some may also have processed meats in their sandwiches, such as ham, which studies have proven to be cancer-causing. Or maybe they bought a pie or sausage roll on their way to school.
This kind of kai is harming our tamariki. But for many families, providing their tamariki with food that will nourish them and give them the nutrients they need to thrive at school is out of their reach.
Ka Pai Kai Rotorua Charitable Trust was born in response to this need. We are a non-profit social enterprise & governed by a diverse board of community members.
"Our mission is to make nourishing school lunches affordable and accessible, and most importantly, normal, for tamariki here in Rotorua."
When we started in May 2017, we were told children don’t like healthy food and healthy food is too expensive. We aim to challenge these perceptions by showing parents how much children can enjoy nutritious kai. Our lunches are made using high-quality ingredients, and compostable eco-friendly packaging wherever possible.
We know eating quality food at school is important for good education outcomes and we believe all tamariki should be able to eat a nutritious lunch, regardless of their parents’ income. All food on our menu has been nutritionally analysed and receives Heart Foundation approval.
Volunteer support allows us to keep our costs low and our lunches are sold with no profit margin. We seek support from generous sponsors, donors and businesses to subsidise the cost of our lunches in our lower decile schools to enable us to compete with poor quality kai like hot chips, sausage rolls and pies. We will work with the school to source a corporate sponsor to subsidise the lunches, if this is identified by the school as a need.
In a nutshell, schools come onboard with us, choosing what day/s they wish to have our service, order their lunches online and our kitchen makes and delivers the lunches to the schools at no extra cost.
SUCCESS AND RECOGNITION
In our first year of operation, we were honoured to receive the following awards and recognition:
- Rotorua X Pitch Night 2017 – Winners of Epic Pitch and People’s Choice Award
- Ministry of Health Volunteer Awards 2018 – Winners of Maori Organisation Volunteer Team Award
- Finalist, Rotorua Trustpower Awards 2018
we are proud to announce our success at the Tompkins Wake Rotorua Business Awards 2021!
