Who makes the lunches for Ka Ora, Ka Ako#

Ka Ora, Ka Ako has a range of delivery models to meet the unique needs of schools and kura.

• The 'external model' is where a kura | school outsources. Lunches are provided by an external supplier, the School Lunch Collective. 
• The 'internal model ' is where a kura | school chooses to prepare and deliver lunches to students. Lunches are delivered to students in their own school, and can also be a meal provider to other schools in their region.
• The 'Iwi and Hapū model' is where a kura | school receives meals from their local iwi or hapū provider.

The 'alternate provision' model#

In the 2024 budget, the Government announced a change to funding for Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches Programme. Its aim is to deliver healthy school lunches every school day for less, under the 'alternate provision model'.

Secondary, intermediate, full primary (Years 0 to 8) and composite schools (Years 0 to 15) moved to the alternate provision model from Term 1, 2025.

Contributing primary schools with Year 1 to 6 students will move to the new model from 2026.

There is no change to the price point for specialist schools and team parent units in 2025 and 2026.

The School Lunch Collective will receive $3 per 240g meal, per student, for external model schools they serve.

There is a separate Services Agreement for 2 additional food items supplied by the Collective at .84 cents per Year 9 and over student. These additional food items bring the 240g meal up to the minimum 300g weight required under the nutritional standards for older students.

Internal model schools and iwi/hapū meal providers will receive $4 per meal, per student. This is slightly more than provided to the School Lunch Collective, to help with staff costs as they do not have same economies of scale.

Healthy, safe and nutritious meals#

Lunch providers must follow the same safety standards as any other commercial food provider. They must provide safe options for all children including those with cultural, special and complex dietary requirements - for example, children who are vegetarian, vegan, coeliac, or eat according to religious beliefs, such as halal food.

The nutrition standards were developed in consultation with the Ministry of Health, schools, and nutrition stakeholders. These have not changed.

Every meal is to meet the minimum weight and vegetable or salad requirements. Like a lot of parents cooking at home, sometimes those vegetables are hidden in the sauces to make the lunches more appealing to students.

Eligibility#

We aim to reach the 25% of students in schools and kura that are in most need of support.

The Equity Index is used to work out which schools we need to include to reach these students. Each year the Equity Index is reviewed, and other regional insights are considered to identify new schools and kura to invite into the programme when budget allows.

Every student at a kura | school in the Ka Ora Ka Ako programme will receive a lunch, every school day.

Ka Ora, Ka Ako is currently funded until the end of 2026. The future direction of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme from 2027 is in development.

How many schools and students are involved in each delivery model#

The number of schools and students in each delivery model as at 14 March 2025 are:

• External model (contributing primary schools) – 203 schools with 48,447 students.
• Internal model (head school, receiving school and mixed) – 268 schools with 48,857 students.
• Iwi/hapū model – 59 schools with 8,656 students.
• School Lunch Collective – 439 schools with 129,275 students.
• Teen parent units and specialist schools – 44 schools with 3,495 students.

Evaluations#

We commissioned 5 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. Schools also frequently report on the programme's positive impact on attendance.

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.