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Programme requirements#
Meal providers must meet the requirements relevant to their role and delivery model. They are required to maintain safe, nutritious, reliable, and sustainable lunches to students in need.
Programme delivery#
Meal providers deliver lunches to students every school day. They maintain the facilities, equipment, systems, and resources needed to support the programme. They work closely with us and schools to make sure ordering, meal production, delivery, and service processes operate efficiently, reliably, and with minimal disruption to learning.
Nutrition and special diets#
Lunches must meet nutrition standards, offering meals appropriate for students’ age and needs. Processes include regular monitoring to make sure meals are managed safely and appropriately.
Food safety#
The programme follows food safety requirements. Meal providers maintain the required registrations and food control plans. They have processes in place to safely prepare and deliver meals, manage any issues, and continually improve food safety practices.
Health and safety#
Appropriate health and safety practices assess and manage risks, and incidents are reported and managed. We comply with all health and safety requirements. We promote safe environments for students, staff, volunteers, contractors, and visitors.
Sustainability#
The programme works to reduce food and packaging waste through waste management plans and practices. We encourage the reduction of food and packaging waste, recovery of resources where practical, and are committed to improving environmental performance over time.
Student and community outcomes#
Lunches meet the needs of students and reflect the cultures, religious values, and communities of the schools they serve. Schools, students, and whānau are encouraged to provide feedback, which is used to help continually improve the programme.
Programme monitoring and reporting#
We monitor and receive information through data collection and surveys to provide reassurance of the programme’s performance. Across delivery models, this may include:
- Service delivery – daily meal numbers, delivery in full and on time (DIFOT), surplus levels, and termly menu details
- Nutrition – compliance of nutrition standards and menu reviews
- Food safety – registrations and certifications, food control plan compliance, reporting food safety incidents, and implementing corrective actions
- Health and safety – follow required practices and risk management processes
- Business continuity – planning and action in response to service disruption
- Sustainability – waste management plans and practices, which includes surplus meal management and food and packaging waste reduction initiatives
- Continuous feedback loop – information from schools, students, whānau | families, suppliers, and delivery partners makes sure programme delivery is improved and issues are addressed.
Programme performance#
We actively monitor and report on the programme performance. This includes:
- External model supplier – report on daily meal numbers, delivery in full and on time, surplus levels, termly menus and nutrition assurance (this excludes iwi hapū and specialist schools)
- Schools – report on food safety incidents, meal ordering needs, distribution time of staff and general feedback
- School termly survey – this captures the voice of the school, including programme ratings, benefits, lunch waste, general feedback and supplier data validation
- Termly performance reviews – we run a formal engagement process with external meal providers to review service delivery performance indicators and monitor business continuity events and school feedback.
Reported results#
Schools report that the programme is making a positive difference for students by reducing hunger and supporting wellbeing, attendance, engagement and learning.
Under each of the headings below are the reported results in the 2025 school year, compared with progress in 2026.
Cost efficiencies compared to Budget 2023#
- Target – $107 million.
- 2025 full year – $130m.
- 2026 full year – $120m (based on actuals from Term 1, 2026 and forecast for remainder of the year).
Total meals delivered#
- Target – lunches to eligible schools.
- 2025 full year – 35,957,253.
- 2026 Term 1 – 9,520,537.
- 2026 Term 2 – 10,847,732.
Percentage of schools that receive lunch in full, on time from external suppliers (excluding specialist schools)#
- Target – 98%.
- 2025 full year – 99.3%.
- 2026 Term 1 – 99.1%.
- 2026 Term 2 – 99.9%.
School programme survey rating#
- Target – 4.
- 2025 full year – 3.87 rating.
- 2026 Term 1 – 3.76 rating.
- 2026 Term 2 – 3.80 rating.
Surplus – untouched meals returned to external suppliers#
- Target – less than 10%.
- 2025 full year – 10.39%.
- 2026 Term 1 – 15.06%.
- 2026 Term 2 – 14.95%.
Waste – food waste and packaging from partially consumed meals#
- Target – less than 7kg per 100 lunches.
- 2025 full year – 8.82kg.
- 2026 Term 1 – 4.88kg.
- 2026 Term 2 – 1.38kg.
Key programme focus areas#
Our key focus areas are:
- menu innovation to continuously improve meals, so students love them
- working with suppliers and schools to reduce high surplus
- continue to invest funds in continuous improvement and innovation.
Evaluations of the programme#
From 2022 to 2024, we commissioned independent evaluations of the 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.
Programme evaluation#
Nutrition evaluation#
Nutrient-level evaluation of meals provided on the Government-funded school lunch programme – MDPI
