As another school year draws to a close, it seems an appropriate time to say thank you.This has been Ovation Hospitality’s second year as a Platinum Sponsor of ISNZ, and I have genuinely valued the conversations we have had with Principals, Business Managers, boarding teams and others across the independent school community. Those conversations are often the most useful part of our involvement. They give us a better understanding of where schools are feeling pressure and where we may be able to help.
One of those areas is procurement.
At the ISNZ Conference in September, our CEO Patrick McCartney briefly introduced Ovation Connect, an idea we have been developing to help schools make the purchasing that sits behind foodservice simpler, more transparent and potentially more cost-effective.
The work behind the food
Students quite rightly judge a foodservice on what appears on the plate. Behind every meal, however, sits a considerable amount of work: suppliers, product lists, orders, deliveries, approvals, invoices, substitutions and price changes.
For catering teams, bursars and business managers, managing that activity can be time-consuming. Schools may also be buying many of the same products independently, without the collective buying power of a larger procurement network.
That was the thinking behind Ovation Connect.
The idea is straightforward. Participating schools would be able to purchase selected products through a network of approved suppliers, combining purchasing volumes to access more consistent pricing while simplifying some of the administration around ordering and reporting. For school leaders and boards, there is the additional benefit of clearer visibility of purchasing and a stronger audit trail.
Our initial modelling suggests there could be savings of around 10% on selected items compared with existing purchasing, but I think it is worth emphasising that this is something to be tested rather than simply promised. Any commercial arrangement would be disclosed up front, along with how savings are calculated.
Buying together doesn’t mean becoming the same
Perhaps the most important principle behind Ovation Connect is what it doesn’t change.
A school’s kitchen remains its kitchen.
Menus, people, foodservice standards and day-to-day decisions remain where they belong. The model is designed to accommodate preferred and local supplier relationships where appropriate, rather than asking every school to adopt an identical way of operating.
Independent schools are distinctive communities. What works for one will not automatically work for another, and I believe any procurement approach serving the sector needs to recognise that.
The aim is not to standardise the character out of school foodservice. It is simply to see whether we can make some of the machinery quietly operating behind it work harder.
Test first, then decide
I am also conscious that schools hear plenty of promises from suppliers, ourselves included.
For that reason, our approach to Ovation Connect has deliberately been to start small. The model developed for ISNZ proposes an 8 to 12-week pilot with one or two volunteer member schools, initially covering selected product categories such as consumables and pantry staples. Participation would be voluntary, and ISNZ would not be asked to mandate it or endorse any particular supplier.
The part that matters most is what we measure.
Rather than looking only at price, the pilot is designed to consider savings against existing purchasing as well as delivery performance, service reliability, administrative time and the experience of the people actually using the system. The broader model also considers procurement transparency, data privacy, food safety and product traceability.
At the end, the evidence should determine what happens next.
I like that approach because it reflects something I have learned from working with schools: good partnerships tend to begin by listening and proving value, rather than arriving with all the answers.
A final thank you
As 2026 comes to an end, I would like to thank the ISNZ team and the many schools that have welcomed us, challenged our thinking, shared their experiences and taken the time to talk with us this year.
Our second year as a Platinum Sponsor has reinforced for me what a diverse but remarkably connected community independent education is.
I hope everyone has the opportunity for a well-earned break over the summer, and I look forward to continuing those conversations in 2027.
And if Ovation Connect sounds like something that could help your school, I would be very happy to have a conversation. No grand promises. Just an opportunity to look at what you are doing now and whether, by buying together while staying independent, we might be able to make it work a little better.
John Rippingham
Business Development Executive
Ovation Hospitality Services
Platinum Sponsor of Independent Schools of New Zealand
john.rippingham@ovationhospitality.co.nz
