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We’re committed to ensuring every student who needs a lunch gets one, while keeping the programme sustainable and cost-effective.
By working closely with our meal providers, we’ve improved efficiency—so we can serve good value and nutritious lunches to more than 242,000 students every school day.
More about the programme including number of schools, students and suppliers in the programme
The provision of healthy school lunches is currently funded for 2025 and 2026.
Funding by delivery model#
The School Lunch Collective — 2025/2026 #
Terms 1—3 2025
$3 per meal, per student
Price excludes GST.
Term 4 2025—2026
$3 per meal, per student
This includes a 6% inflation adjustment for the supply of the 240g meal.
Price excludes GST.
2025/2026
0.84 cents for 2 additional food items for year 9+ students.
This is required for year 9+ student lunch to meet the 300g nutrition requirement. No inflation adjustment applies.
Price excludes GST.
Contributing primary schools (year 0-6) — 2025/2026#
2025
External model – paid to suppliers
Term 4, 2025 per meal, per student price:
- Years 0 to 3 – $6.34
- Years 4 to 8 – $7.41
Prices exclude GST.
Internal model - paid to schools
Term 4, 2025 per meal price:
- Years 0 - 3 student – $5.63
- Years 4 - 8 student – $6.60
Prices exclude GST.
2026
External model - paid to suppliers
Weighted average of $3.46 per meal, per student.
The supplier price points range from $3 to $5 depending on the unique parameters of their region, such as school size, distance required to travel to isolated schools, and cost efficiencies gained.
Prices exclude GST.
Internal model - paid to schools
They will receive the same per meal price as other internal model schools as outlined below.
Prices exclude GST.
Internal delivery model — 2025/2026#
2025
$4.00 per meal.
Payment is based on total school roll.
Price excludes GST.
2026
Payment in Term 1 is calculated on 100% of the school roll, regardless of actual attendance.
Payment in Term 2 is a minimum of 90% of school roll, even if actual attendance is lower. If school attendance is more than 90%, payment will be for the number of meals delivered.
Small and Isolated funding will continue to be available for eligible schools and kura.
Prices exclude GST.
Iwi and hapū delivery models — 2025/2026#
2025
$4.00 per meal, per student
Price excludes GST.
2026
$4.51 per meal, per student
This includes 6% adjustment for 2025 and 6% for 2026.
Price excludes GST.
Specialist schools and teen parent units — 2025/2026#
External model – paid to suppliers
Term 4 per meal price, per student:
- Years 0 to 3 – $6.34
- Years 4 to 8 – $7.41
- Years 9 and over – $9.44
Prices exclude GST.
Internal model - paid to schools
Term 4 per meal lunch:
- Years 0 - 3 student – $5.63
- Years 4 - 8 student – $6.60
- Years 9 + student – $8.39
The per meal price is adjusted for the Food Price Index, relevant categories of the Consumer Price Index and the living wage rate.
Prices exclude GST.
Small and isolated school funding#
Internal and iwi/hapū model schools and kura entitled to receive small and isolated funding will be contacted directly. This funding is adjusted each term to reflect changes in inflation indices and the living wage.
Eligible schools will receive the following termly funding allocation from Term 4, 2025:
- school roll 0 to 15 – $5,790
- school roll 16 to 35 – $4,342.50
- school roll 36 to 80 – $3,474.
Complex special dietary funding#
Complex special diets (CSD) are where a student requires a meal that is made just for them, rather than a standard menu or common dietary option.
This could be due to the complex nature or the severity of their condition.
Meal providers receive CSD funding above the meal cost, based on the meal type required. This is available for any students with complex special dietary needs.
Distribution funding — 2025/2026#
Eligible external model schools and kura receive distribution funding to support the distribution of lunches onsite.
Schools are considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the supplier delivery method, style of food, size and location.
2026 Term 1 funding will automatically be paid to schools through Pourato.
From Term 2, most schools will be required to reapply for distribution funding for the remainder of 2026. The Ministry will be in contact about the application process.
School funding will be based on the 2026 school roll. A reduction of the school roll from Term 1 may change eligibility for this funding.
Maximum termly funding by school type and roll size for 2025/2026#
Lunch distribution case studies#
Case studies for efficient lunch distribution at composite schools, full primary schools, intermediate schools, and secondary schools look at how the funding is used across the different school types and size.
Case study: Efficient lunch distribution for composite schools [PDF, 696KB]
Inflation adjustments#
Since the Healthy School Lunches programme began, the average meal price has been adjusted annually to account for inflation.
Meal provider agreements include provisions for inflation adjustments – upward or downward. This change is subject to negotiation and applied if needed.
The average inflation adjustment for the programme is as follows:
- 2022: 7.0% increase in meal price
- 2023: 7.3% increase in meal price
- 2024: 3.3% increase in meal price
- 2025: 6.15% increase in meal price.
