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 Healthy School Lunches 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 onsite in school kitchens
• iwi and hapū model where local meal providers deliver meals to nearby kura.

To learn more about the delivery models and the overall programme, visit the website.

Healthy School Lunches: about the programme

You can read more about the funding for the programme here:

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.

Offers will be made to extend agreements with current suppliers and meal providers. This includes external suppliers, iwi/hapū partners, internal model schools and providers to specialist schools.

This will include strengthening service levels and aligning requirements in agreements to recent updates across the programme.

Timeline for extending agreements#

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, we will explore innovative model options able to reach all students experiencing material hardship, no matter what school they attend around New Zealand. Selected approaches may be piloted as part of assessing their viability.

Suppliers and meal providers can submit Request for Innovation (RFI) on the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) website. 

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