APRIL 2021: Subway® New Zealand has opened their very first “Dark Kitchen” to meet the high demand of schools choosing to Subway as caterer of choice as part of the New Zealand Government’s health school lunch programme, Ka Ora, Ka Ako.  

Based in Whangarei, the restaurant site serves up 1,500 school lunches each day, providing local school children with fresh and nutritious food to fuel them for the day ahead. 

The site originally opened in late February but quickly grew to meet demand, more than doubling its volume of lunches per day from an original 600 to 1500 within the first few weeks.

Subway New Zealand Operations Manager, Daniel Weaver, says although the dark kitchen site only began servicing schools in 2021, he already has his sights on opening a second location to meet demand.

“Our first dark kitchen opened with the sole purpose of servicing local schools as part of the program and we’ve had a phenomenal response so far.”

“Work is already well-underway to scope out a second location to ensure we can continue to serve up nutritionally-rich lunches every day for Kiwi kids in need” says Weaver.  

Subway New Zealand Country Director Geoff Cockerill said Subway is committed to ensuring food insecure children have access to lunch each day – and dark kitchens are a great way to service this need without overwhelming existing restaurant sites.

“We’re proud to have opened our very first dark kitchen with a sole purpose of providing thousands of Kiwis kids with fresh, nutritious food to fuel them for the day ahead. The site allows us to expand our existing school lunch program in line with the New Zealand Government’s latest initiative, giving our hard-working restaurant teams the space to cater for such large volumes”.

“We’ve seen a fantastic positive response from our Northland schools so far and we look forward to rolling out further dark kitchen locations across the country throughout the year” Mr Cockerill said.

Subway New Zealand is proud to be included as an approved supplier of Ka Ora, Ka Ako, the healthy school lunches programme aimed at reducing food insecurity by providing access to a nutritious lunch in school every day. The dark kitchen currently services schools from Whangarei to Kaitaia, five days a week. 

For more information about Subway, visit www.subway.com.

ENDS.

For further information, please contact: 

PublicRelationsANZ@subway.com / +61 449 256 435 

ABOUT SUBWAY® RESTAURANTS 

Subway® offers a fresh alternative to traditional fast food. Guests can choose from millions of combinations of premium-quality meats, cheeses, fresh vegetables, and cookies & bread baked daily. With around 250 locations across the country, Subway serves nutritious and delicious subs, salads, wraps along with its iconic cookie range. 

Founded more than 50 years ago, Subway® remains a family-owned business with restaurants in more than 100 countries.