About the programme#

We provide lunch to students in the greatest need to allow them to engage in learning and thrive at school.

Ka Ora, Ka Ako is about being healthy and well to be in a good place to learn.

‘Ka Ora’ means to be satisfied with food, be well, healthy, and safe. ‘Ka Ako’ means to learn.

Eligibility#

The Equity Index is calculated annually. New eligible schools and kura are invited to join the programme.

Schools retain their entitlement even if their equity index changes. Any change is subject to the programme’s annual budget provision.

Delivery models for the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme#

Three delivery models meet the unique needs of schools and kura:

• The 'external model' is where lunches are provided by an external supplier, the School Lunch Collective. 
• The 'internal model ' is where a school prepares and delivers lunches to students onsite and other schools in their region. Head internal model schools have the facilities and capability to develop menus, prepare meals and manage all aspect of a commercial kitchen, including food control plan, nutrition, financial reporting, staff and waste management.
• The 'iwi and hapū model' is where a school receives lunch from an endorsed local meal provider.

Specialist schools and teen parent units have meals provided by the models above, based off what is most suitable for their school. There is no change to model or pricing for these schools in 2025 and 2026.

Schools and students for each delivery model#

The number of students in each delivery model across 1,011 schools as at 23 May 2025 are:

• External model (contributing primary schools) – 200 schools with 49,168 students.
• Internal model (head school, receiving school and mixed) – 272 schools with 49,984 students.
• Iwi/hapū model – 59 schools with 8,821 students.
• School Lunch Collective – 436 schools with 129,458 students.
• Teen parent units and specialist schools – 44 schools with 3,474 students.

The 'alternate provision' model#

The Government 2024 budget announced a change to funding for the school lunches programme to deliver healthy lunches for less cost.

Secondary, intermediate, full primary (Years 0 to 8) and composite schools (Years 0 to 15) moved to the cost-effective model from Term 1, 2025.  Schools retained their existing model to receive lunches from a meal provider or from kitchens onsite.

1. External model schools are delivered meals from the School Lunch Collective.
   1. The cost of the meal is $3 per 240g meal, per student.
   2. Two supplementary food items are also provided for 0.84 cents per Year 9+ student. This supplement is to meet the nutrition standards for older students.
2. Internal model schools or those receiving from a school kitchen receive $4 per meal, per student to deliver lunch.
3. Iwi/hapū model schools receive lunch from a meal provider, who receive $4 per meal, per student.

Contributing primary schools with Year 1 to 6 students are expected to move to the alternate provision model from 2026.

Food safety for the programme#

Food safety is important to us and all our suppliers. We take food safety incidents seriously. All incidents are investigated, and we work closely with New Zealand Food Safety at the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).

Ministry for Primary Industries

Once the outcome of an incident is known, findings are sent to the school principal.

What to do if there is a food safety incident#

In the unlikely event your school has a food safety incident, it's important you follow the guidance below. You should:

• retain the meal and packaging – it’s important you don’t throw the meal away
• refrigerate the meal to prevent deterioration or bacteria growth – clearly label it “do not use” in the fridge
• if a foreign object has been found in the meal, keep it
• call your school lunch programme senior advisor within 2 hours of the incident taking place.

We will arrange for the meals and any foreign object to be picked up.

If your senior advisor is away, email our team.

Email: [email protected]

Waste and surplus for the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme#

Sustainability remains a priority and sustainability targets have not changed with the introduction of the alternate provision model in 2025.

Meal providers continue to use reusable, recyclable, or certified compostable materials wherever possible and minimise the use of non-recyclable packaging and single use items.

Surplus meals are defined as lunches left over at the end of lunch service.  The number of meals required each day fluctuates with attendance. Waste also occurs due to taste preferences of students, and we expect meal providers to take on board feedback and adjust their menus.

We monitor surplus meals and conduct checks to validate counts. When surplus is reported to be higher than the expected levels, we work with the school and supplier to identify the reasons and recommend corrective action.

There is allowance for a reasonable surplus margin within the programme to make sure students can receive a meal every school day.

Guidance for suppliers to reduce surplus through their ordering approach is available on the Ka Ora, Ka Ako web portal.

Approach to ordering – Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches Programme

The School Lunch Collective publish the total daily surplus meal count.

Food safety for the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme

Monitoring and reporting#

We engage regularly with schools and meal providers to understand the impacts of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme, measure the success of the programme and address any issues identified.

Services and partnership agreements include provision for monitoring and reporting performance against agreed service levels, which are regularly assessed and reviewed throughout the contract's duration.

We encourage any issues to first be raised directly between the school and their meal provider.

An overview of the agreements for meal providers is available here.

Agreements overview – Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches Programme

Evaluations of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme#

From 2023–2024, we commissioned 5 independent evaluations of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme, and a technical evaluation report. The evaluations aimed to help us understand:

• the impacts of the programme on learners of different age groups
• the nutritional value of the lunches.

Evaluation findings included identifiable shifts in engagement in education and wellbeing, as well as wider societal impacts from the programme. Schools also frequently report on the programme's positive impact on attendance.

Nutrient-level evaluation of meals provided on the Government-funded school lunch programme – MDPI

Suppliers for the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches programme#

Download the list of suppliers for the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches programme.

Schools in the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches programme#

Download the list of schools and kura included in the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches programme.