About the programme#

Healthy School Lunches is one of the biggest food programmes in New Zealand. Around a million nutritious lunches are provided each week to approximately 240,000 students in over 1,000 schools and kura across the country.

Meal providers for the programme work within the following delivery models:

• external model where meals are delivered to schools and kura by an agreed supplier
• internal model where meals are prepared on site in school kitchens
• iwi and hapū model where meal providers prepare and deliver meals to kura.

Learn more about the delivery models and the overall programme:.

Healthy School Lunches: about the programme

Read more about the funding for the programme:

Funding for the Healthy School Lunches programme

Resources#

We have designed printable posters to support suppliers and internal model schools preparing lunches.

2027 programme#

Budget 2026 provided $212.4 million (plus capital costs) to continue the Healthy School Lunch programme in 2027.

Service agreement variations are prepared for providers to deliver meals for the 2027 school year.

All meal provider agreements include clear performance expectations and accountability measures to support the delivery of Healthy School Lunches.  

The key performance indicator (KPIs) framework measure: 

• nutrition
• delivery in full and on time
• surplus
• waste 
• financial.  

Schools will remain under their current delivery model to support sustainability and avoid disruption across the programme. 

Innovation for future programme#

In 2026 and 2027, the Healthy School Lunches programme wants to find the best way to help students who are affected by food insecurity.

The 4 overarching innovation areas being explored are:

1. find which children and young people need a daily lunch, no matter what school they attend
2. explore innovative delivery approaches not currently used in the programme to reach the students in need
3. understand the benefits and risks of combining the 3 Government-funded food programmes into a single programme
4. determine whether reducing food insecurity is best achieved by providing food in schools only, or also in other contexts that reach children during the time they are not at school.

Read the Cabinet paper to learn more.

Innovative insights#

Budget 2026 provided $2.9M funding to explore new ways the programme could be delivered.

We have started research and pilots to help us design a future school lunches programme that is scalable and sustainable.

Pilots#

There are 4 pilots with schools outside the current Healthy School Lunches programme. A fifth pilot is starting in 2027. Most of these schools already provide lunches to groups of students that come to school with no or inadequate lunch.

Additional research#

Five research projects are underway involving other food programmes and approaches used by suppliers and schools. We are also looking at models used in other countries that may be relevant for New Zealand.