Air New Zealand opens formal investigation into snack supplier Project 32

Air New Zealand announced it will stop serving the Project 32 snack on its flights. Photo / 123rf / @project32nz

Air New Zealand has opened a formal investigation into Project 32, one of its snack suppliers, after allegations that its claim to be a Kiwi-owned company is misleading.

The probe comes after New Zealand journalist David Farrier reported in Webworm on October 29 that the shareholders of Project 32 were Australian companies and its two directors, brothers Daniel and David Rifkin, were based in Australia.

Launched in 2024, Project 32’s crunchy, chickpea snacks were one of Air New Zealand’s latest snack offerings available exclusively on its flights. The product’s packaging states that it’s “NZ owned”.

Air NZ told Webworm that Project 32 has been providing the airline with its snacks since November 2023 across a range of domestic and international services.

In April 2023, Air NZ launched its Great Kiwi Snack Off campaign, wherein hundreds of NZ-made food and snack suppliers pitched to have their snacks offered to passengers on flights.

“That might mean [it was open to] a Kiwi company or social enterprise making homegrown snacks in Aotearoa to an offshore company that makes products using New Zealand ingredients,” read the campaign FAQs published on 17 April 2023.

The Herald has asked both Air NZ and Project 32 if the snacks in question were presented as part of the campaign.

On Tuesday, Webworm revealed that the national carrier was pulling the snacks from its services.

“We take the allegations made in your article seriously and have initiated a formal investigation with the supplier,” Air NZ said in a written statement.

“We will not serve the snacks onboard our flights while we undertake this process. This will take the next couple of days to come into effect as we work through the impact on our operations.”

Air NZ chief customer and digital officer Jeremy O’Brien told the Herald the airline was “working constructively” with Project 32 as it formally investigated.

Project 32 had a similar statement when the Herald contacted it for comment.

“We are working constructively with Air New Zealand on the process they have under way – attributable from Project 32,″ the emailed statement read.

Mere days after the initial allegations, Project 32 named New Zealander Janice Tan a company director, effectively making the snack supplier a New Zealand company.

Project 32 published a statement about its connection to New Zealand on its website, stating its snacks are “either made or packed in New Zealand, by New Zealand factories and staff”.

“In around October 2025, we became aware of a misalignment between the representations made on our packaging regarding ownership and the true position at the time, which is that our ultimate ownership was Australian.

“We immediately acknowledged this inadvertent mistake and took steps to restructure our business to ensure that we are 100% New Zealand owned, which continues to be the case today.”

Project 32 also claimed that it supports charities in New Zealand – claims that, according to Webworm, lacked clarity.

The snack supplier stated on its website that it has donated 15,000 of its products to the South Auckland Christian Food Bank, and has a $40,000 donation pool in 2025.

The donation pool will be given to an NZ charity – either Ronald McDonald House Charities (NZ), KidsCan or foodbanks – based on consumer nominations received by December 12.

Varsha Anjali is a reporter in the lifestyle team at the Herald. Based in Auckland, she covers travel, culture and more.