Food Safety Records for NZ Coffee Carts
A cart selling hot drinks and packaged snacks usually sits at the lowest-risk level of NZ's food safety rules — National Programme 1. No written Food Control Plan, one initial verification — but a real set of records: training, suppliers, allergens, a mock recall most cart owners have never heard of. KitchenSorted keeps them on the phone already in your apron pocket, free.
Free forever for daily records. No credit card. No hardware. No kitchen required, either — 'Kitchen' is in our name, but a cart on a corner is exactly who we built this for.
Is a coffee cart National Programme 1?
Usually, yes. MPI's National Programme 1 guidance (December 2025, version 2) lists “Sell tea, coffee, hot chocolate and packaged shelf stable food only” among the businesses NP1 covers — the classic cart menu. That means you register, meet the food safety standards, keep a small set of records and have an initial verification, with no written Food Control Plan. And yes, milk is part of making coffee: a flat white is still “selling coffee”, not food preparation.
Where NP1 stops: the moment you start making food
NP1's category is hot drinks plus packaged shelf-stable food only. Start toasting sandwiches or baking on site and you're likely outside that category — and a cabinet of fresh, unpackaged baking raises the same question, because it's neither packaged nor shelf-stable. Which plan or programme applies once you prepare food depends on exactly what you make, and that's not our call: confirm with MPI's My Food Rules tool — it takes up to 15 minutes and tells you which rules apply and where to register.
What records must an NP1 coffee cart keep?
Six records as a matter of course, plus a second set you record only when something goes wrong. The list comes from the requirements table in MPI's NP1 guidance (December 2025, version 2) — it's the lightest record load under the Food Act, but it is not zero, and your verifier will ask to see it.
Required records
- Competency and training — how each person on the cart was trained, including the weekend casual
- Sourcing, receiving and tracing — your trusted suppliers, plus the type and quantity of food received, the date, and the temperature of chilled food (that's your milk) at receipt
- Allergens and knowing what's in your food — from the hot chocolate and marshmallows to the packaged cookies in the basket
- Transporting food (temperature) — the guidance says to move chilled food at or below 5°C and monitor it, so the milk run to your pitch counts
- Simulated (mock) recall — see below; most cart owners have never heard of this one
- Water test results — only if you're on a self-supply
Record when something goes wrong
- Checking the programme is working well
- Pests, maintenance, storage and display
- Separating safe and unsafe food; foreign matter
- Packing and labelling; recalling food
Mobile extras: the guidance says mobile hot-drinks businesses must meet the water requirements for every site they trade at, and recommends recording the water source for each one — your verifier will ask how many sources you use and how you manage the risks.
However you keep them, every record must be legible, accurate and complete, say when the activity happened and what the result was, identify who did it, and be kept for at least 4 years (regulations 81–82, Food Regulations 2015). And because milk lives in a chiller, it pays to know your numbers — here's what temperature a food business fridge should be in NZ.
The record most cart owners have never heard of: the mock recall
Yes, even a coffee cart. The NP1 required-records list includes a simulated (mock) recall, and the guidance is specific: “You must test your recall procedures using a likely scenario, once every 12 months” — unless you've run a real, effective recall in that time (NP1 guidance, December 2025 v2). The duty itself comes from regulation 72A of the Food Regulations 2015.
What does that look like on a cart? Not recalling flat whites — the guidance itself says food meant to be eaten right away, “a coffee from a coffee cart” included, doesn't need recalling. A likely scenario is a supplier pulling a batch of milk, syrup or packaged biscuits: could you tell which batch you received, when, and whether any is still on the cart? A useful mock recall record shows the date, who ran it, the product and batch traced, and what the run turned up. In KitchenSorted that's one dated, attributed log entry — not a document you invent the week before your verifier asks about it.
What does verification look like for a coffee cart?
NP1 gets an initial verification only — after that, a verifier must not carry out further verifications unless something goes wrong and regulation 102 (unscheduled verification) applies (regulations 91–94, Food Regulations 2015). New businesses arrange that first visit within 6 weeks of registration (MPI: Getting your food business verified). People often search for a “coffee cart audit” or “inspection” — under the Food Act 2014 the check is a verification visit, carried out by a verifier.
At that one visit, MPI's NP1 guidance says five topics are always checked: competency and training, cleaning, personal hygiene and health, sourcing and tracing, and process controls. Hot-drinks sellers get a sector-specific mandatory topic on top: “Check your temperatures” (NP1 guidance, December 2025 v2). One visit, one chance to have everything findable — which is exactly what the verification pack is for: every record, assembled into one dated PDF.
A folder under the bench, or the phone in your pocket
Paper is perfectly legal — the NP1 guidance says you can keep records the way that suits you, “including the use of photos, whiteboards or save them electronically”. But a cart has no office and no filing drawer, and MPI's Forms and documents page lists no record templates for National Programmes at all. KitchenSorted ships the NP1 set ready to use:
Training log
Who was trained, on what, when — signed off in the app, not on a laminated sheet that lives in the van.
Suppliers & receiving
Milk, beans, chocolate, packaged snacks — supplier, quantity, date and chilled temperature logged as the delivery lands.
Allergen notes
What's in the hot chocolate, the syrups and the snack basket — so any staff member can answer a customer straight away.
Temperature checks
Chiller and transport temps in a few taps, with out-of-range flags — ready for the “check your temperatures” topic at verification.
Mock recall log
The yearly trace run recorded as a dated, attributed entry — product, batch, findings.
Verification pack
Everything above in one dated PDF for the period your verifier asks for. One click.
The daily records are free, and stay free. 4 years of history, verification packs and reminders live in the paid plan — your free-plan records are never deleted and unlock when you upgrade.
Coffee cart record-keeping FAQs
Sources & review
- MPI: National Programme 1 guidance, December 2025 v2 (PDF)
- MPI: National Programmes overview (last reviewed 19 December 2025)
- MPI: Getting your food business verified
- MPI: My Food Rules
- Food Regulations 2015 (regs 72A, 81–82, 91–94, 102)
Reviewed on 3 August 2026 by the KitchenSorted team. Regulatory pages are re-reviewed quarterly, and immediately when MPI announces template or policy changes. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
This page is general information, not legal or food-safety advice. Always confirm requirements with MPI, your registration authority, or your verifier.
Cart Records on the Phone in Your Pocket
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