Selling food

Typically

• You can usually sell food to fundraise without registering under the Food Act 2014, up to 20 times in a calendar year. The Act says 'not more than 20 occasions in any calendar year'.
• It counts as fundraising only if the sole purpose is raising money for a charitable, benevolent, philanthropic or cultural purpose. If anyone takes a personal profit, it isn't fundraising.
• Registered or not, the food you sell must be safe (it won't make people sick) and suitable (correctly labelled and what people expect).
• You usually need to register if you sell food to fundraise more than 20 times a year, sell food at a club bar, or supply catered meals.
• If you sell food at a one-off event only once in a calendar year, you don't need to register, but the food must still be safe and suitable, and other rules such as council permits can still apply.
• Councils may still need you to have a stall, street-trading or event permit, or a town-centre licence. Tell your council what you plan to sell, and where.
• You can't sell homekill or recreationally caught fish or game, or use it as a raffle prize or for fundraising.

Checked against the official pages on 8 October 2026.

Ideas this applies to

• Lemonade stand or kids' drink stall
• Regular treat sales at school (ice blocks, popcorn)
• Anzac Day: what your group can and cannot do
• Game-day BBQ or club canteen
• Bake sale or cake stall
• Market stall
• Homemade bulk-bake pre-order (sausage rolls, lamingtons, soup)
• Matariki kite day (manu tukutuku)
• Sausage sizzle at a hardware store (Bunnings, Mitre 10)
• Valentine's rose-grams and candy-grams
• Join an existing event instead of running your own (stall, float or collection)
• Trunk-or-treat car-park Halloween event