A sausage sizzle outside the hardware store, a cake stall at the school gala or a soup lunch after a working bee is about as familiar as community fundraising gets. Most of these do not need to be registered under the Food Act 2014, but the exemption has limits, it does not remove the duty to sell safe food, and a food poisoning complaint lands on the organisation that ran the stall. Here is what the rules say and where insurance fits.
When You Do Not Need to Register
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) exemptions guidance states that you do not need a food control plan or national programme if you sell food for fundraising less than 20 times a year, and gives sausage sizzles, raffles and charity events as examples. It points to Schedule 3 of the Food Act 2014 for the full list of exemptions, and to section 33 for individual exemptions, which must be applied for.
MPI's guidance on fundraising, social and community event requirements adds two further situations that do not need registration. Selling food once a calendar year at an event such as a local fair only requires you to make safe and suitable food. And sports or social club members providing food do not need to register when food is not the purpose of the event. MPI's example is a bowling club selling nibbles to members at a games night.
When You Do Need to Register
The same MPI page lists situations that need registration, including fundraising with food more than 20 times a year, catering or selling food at clubs, bars or restaurants, and bartering or exchanging food commercially. It says catered meals for clubs, or selling food at a club bar, will likely require registration. MPI also lists selling food more than once a year at fairs, markets or community events, so a group with a regular market stall should check which rule applies to it.
The 20-times limit is easy to pass without noticing. A group that runs a sausage sizzle most Saturdays through summer, or a weekly cake stall at a market, can reach it within a few months. Keep a simple log of every food fundraiser through the year so the committee knows where it stands.
For marae, MPI states that bringing kai to share does not require registration, but selling kai there does. Its exemptions guidance separately treats food served where food is not the purpose of the gathering, such as at a tangi, as exempt.
Safe and Suitable Still Applies
Being exempt from registration is not an exemption from food safety. MPI states that exempt food must still be safe, meaning it won't make people sick, and suitable, meaning it meets rules around labelling and what it contains and is what people expect it to be. MPI publishes a short guide, "Hot tips for a safe and successful sausage sizzle", alongside its fundraising guidance. It also notes that councils may have their own requirements, including where you can sell food, and recommends contacting your local council before the event.
Simple habits help with both safety and any later complaint: keep raw and cooked food apart, cook sausages and meat right through, keep chilled food cold until it goes on the grill, have handwashing available, tell buyers what is in home baking, and keep receipts showing where ingredients came from. A written note of who ran the stall and what was sold is useful if anyone reports feeling unwell afterwards.
Homekill, Wild Food and Donated Food
MPI states that selling homekill, or wild food you have caught or hunted yourself, is illegal, including using it as a prize, for fundraising, for bartering or for contract supply. That rules out venison from a member's hunting trip on the barbecue, or a homekill lamb as a raffle prize.
Donated food has its own rule. MPI explains that the Food Act's "Good Samaritan" clause protects donors from liability if the food was safe and suitable when donated and came with the information the receiver needs. It only covers food the donor normally sells, not homemade items such as cakes, and donated food must keep its original labelling. Food banks and community pantries that receive donations from businesses should keep that labelling with the product when it is passed on.
Where Insurance Comes In
If someone becomes ill after eating at your stall, the complaint or claim will usually be directed at the organisation that ran it. Public liability policies commonly include products liability, the part that responds to injury or illness caused by something you sold or supplied, but some policies limit or exclude it, and most only respond to activities that have been declared. Check four things with your insurer or broker:
- that food sales and fundraising stalls are within the activities described on your policy, including off-site stalls outside shops and at markets;
- that products liability is included, and what limit applies to it;
- whether volunteers handling food are treated as insured persons under the liability policy;
- whether the shop or venue hosting your stall requires a certificate of currency, and for what limit.
Gas barbecues and hot plates also bring a burns and fire risk for volunteers and the public. WorkSafe's guidance for volunteers explains that organisations covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 must eliminate or minimise health and safety risks and have an emergency plan, and that organisations not covered by the Act still have a common law duty to take reasonable care of the people involved in their activities. ACC covers accidental injuries, but its weekly compensation is paid at up to 80% of earnings, which leaves little or nothing for volunteers who are retired or not in paid work. Volunteer personal accident cover can fill part of that gap.
Get Your Cover Checked
If food fundraising has become a regular part of what your group does, check that your liability cover reflects it. charityinsurance.co.nz passes enquiries to Registered Financial Service Providers who place cover for not-for-profit organisations. Get a Quote and a specialist will be in touch within one business day. For more on running events, see our guide to public liability for charity events.
Sources: Ministry for Primary Industries, Who doesn't need a food control plan or national programme? and Fundraising, social and community event Food Act requirements; WorkSafe, Volunteers: key things to know; ACC, How weekly compensation payments work. Checked 1 November 2026.
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