Ani’s Catering has become a preferred lunch catering option for schools in the Far North providing home cooked, nutritious meals to students throughout Northland and the community is feeling thankful for this genuine service provided by local people for local people.

Lunches are offered to tamariki while at school as part of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako – Healthy School Lunches Programme, a governmental Child and Youth Wellbeing initiative.  Schools who do not have the facilities to provide lunch on site have welcomed Ani’s Catering as their lunch time provider with an emphasis on fresh, locally sourced ingredients which their students love. Ani works on several school sites and distributes to nearby surrounding schools.

Principal, Sacha Williams from Oturu Schoo, used innovative measures to source the best meals for her school by renovating a room in their school, to be used as a commercial kitchen for this service.  Sacha shared, “Ani and her team have made a transformative impact on Oturu School, becoming a valued part of our school whānau and forming strong connections with tamariki and staff. Their dedication to providing lunches that meet the unique needs of each child has gone beyond just offering nutritious kai. It has fostered significant positive changes within our school. With well-fed tamariki, the school has seen improvements in attendance and more importantly increased engagement in learning. Ani and her team’s care and thoughtfulness have truly been a ‘game changer”, strengthening the wellbeing of tamariki and contributing to our thriving school community.”

The menu features a variety of options, with room for student voice to tailor meals for individual schools all crafted with care to meet any diverse dietary needs. Meals are prepared to ensure freshness and are delivered to schools every morning, where they are served by school staff, making mealtime an enjoyable, social learning experience for students as part of their school day, the learning doesn’t just end in the classroom.

Yuka Nakamura, Pukepoto school staff explains “there’s a real difference between the pre-made meals which we used to have delivered compared to catering like this, which has made all the difference. The lunch is made to suit our children at the school. The kids love it! They enjoy lunchtime and run to the kitchen saying, ‘mhmm what’s for lunch?!’ It's real good food, better than what the kids can even bring to school and there’s no waste.”

Recognising the growing concern over healthy lunches in schools and the increasing reliance on processed pre-made lunches, Ani’s Catering expanded their services to deliver freshly prepared meals directly to schools. The heartwarming, locally sourced kai is made with love and care by the staff at Ani’s Catering. Creating jobs for local people, some who have tamariki of their own.  

The inspiration behind the meals is reflected in the company’s whakatauki which have been created and designed by staff and is on display in the kitchens - demonstrating a significant contribution to the value they put into the job at hand. The whakatauki are daily reminders and inspiration for the precious job they have of feeding our tamariki of the north.

“The intention is to ensure that every child has access to balanced meals that fuel their learning and growth” says Ani.

Addy Campbell who prepares kai for tamariki at Kaitaia Intermediate said “Our mission is to make healthy eating accessible and enjoyable for all students by providing meals that are delicious and nutritious. We hope to encourage healthy eating habits for our tamariki that last a lifetime, from local ingredients; and it’s something enjoyable they look forward to in their day when enjoying a meal with their class. It’s so rewarding seeing the kids when they come to get their kai, their faces. They are trying all the different foods now ‘That’s nice for a vegetable’, they say.”

Parents, teachers and the community alike, are feeling satisfied with the meals provided to their tamariki. The response from schools and educators has been overwhelmingly positive and evident in the letters and amount of thank you notes that Ani’s catering has received. Teachers across the motu have noted a significate change in students’ enjoyment of lunch, looking forward to lunch and a positive change in their energy levels and focus too.

Nadia Neho at Ahipara School shared, “Ani’s catering team provide our kura of 200+ students with YUMMY homemade kai every day. Meals are delivered to classrooms and done with a smile, those guys rock! They don’t just provide food, they nourish the minds and bodies giving our kids the energy they need to learn, grow and succeed. Our tamariki are excited every day for lunch now and we have zero waste, if anything, our tamariki are asking for more. Some of our favourites are chicken bento boxes, chicken fettucine and butter chicken. Thank you, Ani’s Catering, for making the kai we receive with love. We have seen a notable difference in the number of children enjoying and looking forward to the school lunches. The healthier, freshly prepared meals are making a massive impact. Definitely amazing quality and selection.  You really do notice with our kids that they can’t wait for lunch time now!"

Parents are happier with the lunch option too, expressing relief knowing that their children are receiving freshly, locally sourced wholesome meals. Parents have mentioned, it’s comforting to know that my child is eating healthy food at school.  We appreciate that Ani’s Catering cares about what the tamariki are eating and personalises menus for the students and schools. There’s a real care factor.”

In addition to improving student health, focus and interest, the lunches have had a broader impact on the community too. Ani’s Catering is able to source ingredients from local farms, supporting local agriculture and reducing carbon footprint. This commitment to sustainability resonates with many who are thankful for the effort and happy to know their tamariki are offered hearty kai from local sources and kai that is familiar to the kids.

Erin Rea from Herekino school has shared, “What a big difference Ani’s catering has made, the kids are always telling me that it’s awesome! It’s amazing! And what’s great is, that we have no waste! We used to fill up big buckets of scraps and now we have none. They love it. The kai is yum! They are actually looking forward to it and asking what’s for lunch tomorrow because they are looking forward to it so much! The anticipation of what it could be is just as exciting to what they are eating that day! The sad part would be losing Ani’s catering. If they could be offered an extra dollar for the school lunches, we want it to continue.  The comparison is incomparable, our previous lunches had plastic top mixed with foil container and it couldn’t be recycled. It was a lot of mahi, for not a lot of food value. Ani is A M A Z I N G and there is NO waste! The kids love their food so much that they think one of our parents’ home cooks it, the parent who helps to dish it up. That’s how good it is! Part of our kaupapa was to find someone local who can source local food for our local kids, waste free! We’re thankful to have a local provider, who loves what they do and are inspired to feed the kids food they love, sourcing local ingredients delivered fresh, healthy and nutritional meals to our rangatahi these tamariki are our future!”

Ani’s catering shows that a little dedication to nourishing the young minds and bodies of our tamariki can lead to a healthier, happy future. The love has recently been shared throughout the community as well, with Ani teaming up with MJ’z Seafood and Whanau Kai to put on a Community Christmas Lunch as a way to give back. Ani said she was so stoked that whānau brought their kids along, and was bought to tears by some of the stories that were shared, reinforcing how important her kaupapa was for filling bellies with decent kai.

Article written by Ebony Paaka, Healthy Active Learning School Connector