The founder of Lunch with Crunch, a former school lunch provider, says the new programme is "not to the standards that the children need".
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is expecting Associate Education Minister David Seymour to give the school lunch programme his "full attention" after Checkpoint revealed concerns from west Auckland schools about the lunches being late, inedible, repetitive, or failing to meet dietary restrictions.
Last week, Massey Primary school said Tuesday was the ninth day of having Pita Pit wraps, while Lincoln Heights Primary School said it had had butter chicken for the eleventh day in a row.
Luxon described these as teething problems.
"David Seymour will work his way through those issues and he's minister responsible for it and I expect he will and I know that he's well aware of the challenges and working his way through what have been some teething issues up front but he will work his way through that."
He said Seymour was "accountable for delivering" and Luxon had no doubt he would be able to.
The two had discussed the problems, Luxon said. "I think he knows exactly what needs to happen."
While parts of the programme were being delivered well there had been problems with being on time and meeting the contract, Luxon said.
"David will be giving it his full court and full attention and I expect him to do so."
Compass Group boss Paul Harvey told Checkpoint it was "mission critical" to meet their key performance indicators.
Lunch with Crunch founder Claire Kelly. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
Lunch with Crunch founder Claire Kelly said the rollout of the new school lunch programme had been "hard to watch".
"Sad, very sad," Kelly told Checkpoint's Susana Lei'ataua.
"The relationships we've built with parents and the trust that they've given us to feed their children has been shaken quite severely."
However, Kelly said she was not surprised.
"We always thought a $3 meal was not possible, not to the standards that the children need."
Sandwiches and fruit are an example of a lunch provided by Lunch with Crunch. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
The lunches provided by Compass were a lot smaller than the ones provided by Lunch with Crunch, Kelly added.
A jalapeño curry from Compass Group. The plastic film has been said to be difficult to remove for children. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
Her preference was to use an on-site kitchen as it saved on the cost of having to rent a kitchen space.
"Also, the kids get quite excited in the morning. They come running up and they're like, 'What are we having today?' The smells permeate the school, so they're kind of excited by that. Then when they sit down, they eat a lot more, eat better.
"It just seemed a much more humane way of eating as well - sitting together at a table."
Kelly said there was very clear evidence that sitting together and sharing a meal improved mental health outcomes.
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