Local startup Munchly aims to take some of the stress out of weekday mornings by giving busy parents an alternative to the daily grind of school lunch preparation.
The brainchild of Queenstown-based entrepreneur Richard Docherty, Munchly's new ordering system will enable parents to pre-order healthy school lunches for their children online each week.
"We have lot's of Mums and Dads that come into Rehab every day for either breakfast or lunch. We were continually being asked if we could make healthy packed lunches that they could pick up. At Rehab we are fully focused on healthy and fresh food. I decided that if we were going to meet the demand, we were going to do it right. I wanted the lunches to be made that day and delivered to the school. As the idea developed it became bigger than Rehab. Out of that idea, Munchly was born."
Richard, who also owns and operates Rehab in Queenstown told us that, "People kept asking me if we (Rehab) could deliver food to schools locally, so Munchly was created to fulfil a demand that was already there."
If you're not a parent yourself, it may be hard to appreciate the added stress that comes from having little people run around in the morning who need to be fed, clothed, and prepared for school... on top of getting yourself ready for work as many parents do!
"We looked at the real cost of school lunches, which showed us that parents spend an average of $6-$8 on food for their children each day across New Zealand" Richard explained.
"However, when you add in preparation time around 15-20 minutes or more, the total cost of lunches is much higher than most people expect."
Parents of children in Queenstown Primary School will be the first to benefit from the launch of the solution next term. Soon after, Munchly aims to make orders available to other schools in the Wakatipu basin.
Food orders will be made fresh each day from the healthiest locally sourced ingredients and delivered directly to schools in time for lunch, which means that parents can take one more item off their list of things to do each day.
