The Good Bite 4 September 2026

Friday 4 September

The Start of Spring Edition (for some)

Can you believe that we are alrady talking about spring, another year has just flown by, and we can start hinking about summer and the wonderful fun in the sun that we are going to have. Before that though we still need to get through the toughest time of year for our senior students, the dreaded exams. Some great news for our year 9 + students as we head into term 4 and beyond. We will be introducing a bigger size meal (moving from 240g portion size to 300g). What does this mean for you and your school? We will be introducing 2 new

meals in term 4 this year with the new size, so that means you will get an extra 60g of the delicious meal for that day, but it also means that there will be no snack served with that meal, as the meal will now be the correct weight for a year 9+ student.

As part of our Daffodil Day celebrations, the Taranaki CPK team decided to embrace the occasion by dressing in yellow and bringing some extra colour and excitement to our lunch deliveries.

Our lunch Cambro bins were decorated with yellow ribbon and Daffodil Day posters, helping to spread the spirit of the day to the schools along our delivery routes. The team also came

together to enjoy a themed morning tea, which was a great opportunity to celebrate together and show our support for such a meaningful cause.

We received some wonderful feedback from several schools, who really appreciated the extra effort and thought that went into the decorations.

One school shared:

“We really appreciate you going above and beyond with your decorations of the meal

containers, as we have embraced the day with all our students dressing in yellow and decorating the whole

school.”

— Hawera Christian School

It was fantastic to see the team get behind the initiative and to receive such positive feedback from our schools. It certainly created a little extra excitement around the lunch service and helped us connect with our school communities. This week, to celebrate the start of spring, we re-introduced one of our older favourites from terms gone by, the Chicken Pesto salad, and yet again it was a massive hit around the country. We also brought back the dietary version of this salad, the Potato Salad, for those students that are unable to enjoy the pasta salads.

Seeing as Justin and the team put so much effort into Daffodil Day, this week’s staff profile will be on him:

Justin Whalley

Area Manager – Taranaki | Acting Regional Manager – Taranaki, Manawatu & Wellington

Taranaki proud and born and bred in the Taranaki sunshine, Justin is a passionate advocate for his region and the people who call it home. He has a genuine appreciation for the many hidden gems Taranaki has to offer and loves sharing his enthusiasm for the region with others.

Justin brings a strong hospitality background to his role, having worked as a Pastry Chef, Functions Manager and Small Business Owner. For the past three years, he has proudly been part of Compass Group and the School Lunch Collective, where he has combined his hospitality experience with his passion for making a positive difference in the lives of tamariki.

Based in New Plymouth, Justin operates a Central Production Kitchen (CPK) with a small, dedicated team whom he considers an extension of his family. He takes great pride in creating a positive team culture and leading by example.

One of Justin's favourite parts of his role is getting out and about, building lasting relationships with schools, and connecting with students, teachers and school leaders. He feels privileged to work for Compass Group and the School Lunch Collective, knowing that the work he and his team do contributes to the wellbeing, experiences and futures of Aotearoa's tamariki.

Family is at the heart of Justin's life. He and his wife, Novaleen, have three children, including twins – a son and daughter who are both studying at Canterbury University – and another son based in New Plymouth. Outside of work, Justin and Novaleen enjoy exploring Taranaki together, particularly getting out for walks and enjoying everything their beautiful region has to offer.

Justin is also a passionate New Zealand sports fan, proudly supporting the New Zealand Warriors (Up the Wahs!!), Blackcaps and All Blacks.

Another lifelong passion is his model aircraft. From a young age, Justin has enjoyed building and flying model aircraft with his father, and what began as a hobby has developed into a significant part of his life. He has

proudly represented New Zealand in the sport, making it a hobby that has taken him well beyond the workshop and into competition.

Proud of his region, passionate about his people and committed to making a difference – Justin is proud to play his part in supporting Taranaki and the wider School Lunch Collective community.

One last thing before you go and enjoy your weekend, don’t forget that we are serving our delicious, individually wrapped pizza bread again next week Thursday 10th September nationwide.

I hope that you enjoyed this week’ edition, see you next week for another instalment.

Ngā mihi nui,

The School Lunch Collective