Hāngī or boil-up meal pre-sale
- Outdoor: weather matters
Pre-sell cooked hāngī or boil-up meals to the community and hand them out hot on the day.
Typically raises
$2,000
$500–5,000 per eventest.
About $67 per organiser hour
Based on 60-500 meals
Is it right for us?
- Money
- $2,000–10,000
- Work
- Weeks, part-time
- Helpers
- 7–15 people
- Lead time
- 1–2 months
- Red tape
- Some
Fairly common: a familiar marae and kura fundraiser, especially regionally
- People
- 10-20 incl. experienced hāngī crew, packers, collection staff (estimate)
- Organiser time
- 20-40 hours (estimate)
- Lead time
- Open orders 3-4 weeks out; close at least 3 days before to order meat to the exact count
- Up-front cost
- $1,500. Meat, vegetables, foil trays, gas or firewood; covered if paid at order (estimate)
- Risk
- Medium if you cook before orders are paid; low if every meal is pre-paid.
How it works
The money, as an example sum
Sell at $15 a meal, keep about $8 of each, so 438 meals = $3,504, or about $2,004 after about $1,500 of costs. That’s about the typical result.
Using the figures on this page. Your prices and costs will differ.
Where the money figure comes from
Estimate: meals sell for $15-$25 in NZ club posts (Rolleston league club $20/$25; Hampstead rugby $15) and $20-$30; assumed margin about $8-$12 per meal on 60-500 meals (estimate).
Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.
Step by step
- Ask experienced people (whānau, marae, kōhanga) to lead the cook and follow their process.
- Decide pit or hired hāngī machine; a machine is simpler for a first attempt.
- Get a butcher quote per meal and set price from it.
- Open pre-orders 3-4 weeks out with payment at order.
- Close orders 3+ days before; order meat and veges to the count.
- Keep meat chilled until it goes in; check doneness with a thermometer.
- Pack into labelled containers quickly; stagger collection windows by surname.
- Thank the cooks, butcher and helpers.
Getting the word out
Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.
- Ask for help
- Members to pass the order form to family, friends and workmates.
- Ask people to buy
- People to order before the cut-off.
- When to start
- Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 3–4 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.
Where to put it
- Asking people yourselfMost yeses come from someone asking directly. Give every member a short message they can send to family and workmates.
- Email lists and group chatsYour members’ email list and the class, team or church group chats. Short, with one date or one link.
- School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
- Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.
What you’ll need
- Place
- NeededYour own grounds or hall
- Landowner’s permission
- NeededYes, in writing
- Council permit
- CheckCheck with your council
- Food rules
- CheckNo registration if you sell food to fundraise for a good cause up to 20 times a calendar year. It must still be safe and suitable, and your council may need a stall permit
- Alcohol
- Not neededNo alcohol sold
- Gambling rules
- Not neededNot gambling
- Health and safety
- CheckA simple risk check and briefing
- First aid
- NeededA first aider and kit on site (recommended)
- Insurance
- CheckCheck your cover
Fundraising exemption applies but talk to council environmental health early for big meat volumes. No homekill or hunted meat. An open fire or pit may need a council fire permit, especially during restricted fire seasons.
Make more from it
Add a drink and dessert bundle
often $3-5 a meal (estimate)
an easy upsell on the order form
often $200-600 (estimate)
a queue of people waiting for food
Stack it: on its own, about $2,000. With the 2 priced add-ons above, roughly
$2,400est.
What you can get donated
Part of the meat order from a butcher or business sponsor; vegetables from growers; a hāngī machine on loan.
Tips
- A hāngī is a visible thing to sponsor; ask a local business to cover part of the meat.
- Respect tikanga: lead with people who know how.
Watch out for
- Cooked food sitting warm for hours.
- Unpaid 'promised' orders that never collect.
Hāngī or boil-up meal pre-sale: checklist
0 of 20 done
Before
On the day
After
Fundraising exemption applies but talk to council environmental health early for big meat volumes. No homekill or hunted meat. An open fire or pit may need a council fire permit, especially during restricted fire seasons.
* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide