Since the 1980s, Lunchables has been kids’ meal of choice and busy mothers’ saving grace.
Whether it be the classic Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers or the fancier versions like the Extra Cheesy Pizza and Nachos With Cheese Dip And Salsa, multiple generations of children and adults have enjoyed Lunchables’ prepackaged snacks for decades.
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One cannot forget how cool they felt when pulling out a Lunchables from their lunch box or how jealous they felt when seeing one right in front of them yet having to eat the less-cool school cafeteria food offering instead.
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Seemingly proving the maxim that “kids have it easier nowadays,” Lunchables had recently managed to hack its way into the school lunch system and began offering its prepacked meals at school cafeterias. Suddenly, kids no longer felt excluded from the cool crowd based on their lunch options.
However, just as fast as Lunchables appeared in school cafeterias it has exited the educational market.
Boxes of Lunchables sit on shelves at a grocery store.
Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images
Lunchables hacks the National School Lunch Program and reactions are mixed
The National School Lunch Program is a federal meal program followed by public, nonprofit, and private schools, as well as residential childcare institutions. This lunch program aims to provide nutritionally balanced meals at a low/reduced cost or free of charge for lower-income families.
The program has very specific qualifications and federal requirements that all lunches must follow to meet certain nutritional standards and methods of preparation.
At a conference last year, The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) , which makes Lunchables, announced plans to enter the school lunch program to grow its overall sales and provide kids with more enjoyable lunches.
After making a few alterations to its prepackaged meals to meet the program’s nutritional qualifications, Kraft Heinz was approved to serve two types of Lunchables for the 2023-2024 school year: Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza.
Although the alterations may have reduced certain nutritional values, they increased other less favorable numbers.
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When comparing the school lunch version of the Lunchables Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers to the store-brought one, the modified version had 10 more calories, 190 mg more sodium, and far more additives.
Even though the news of Lunchables being available at schools might have excited children, nutritionists, and health groups were less than happy with the announcement.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest called the decision “a highly questionable move for school nutrition” and provided multiple reasons why offering Lunchables at school could have bad repercussions.
The advocacy group noted that the rollout of Lunchables in schools undermined school nutrition, confused parents into thinking they are a healthy option and increased cancer exposure to children.
Lunchables rollout in schools turns into a savvy marketing strategy
Kraft Heinz initially said it wanted to incorporate Lunchables into the daily school lunch plan to enter the educational market and provide children with enjoyable lunches. Still, this effort also seems to have had an alternate motive.
The rollout of Lunchables in schools might have been part of the company’s marketing strategy to drive growth without increasing its marketing budget, as the company included the media attention that this rollout got in the marketing section of its Business Update for the first quarter of 2023.
The report stated that the media exposure had 99% positive/neutral sentiments and cost nearly $0 to execute.
Kraft Heinz announces the removal of Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program
On Tuesday, Kraft Heinz announced it would remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program in the U.S. because its demand was too low to sustain.
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According to a statement by Kraft Heinz, Lunchable sales in schools made up less than 1% of overall Lunchable sales during the last academic year.
Although the rollout of Lunchables in schools might have failed, the company said it still hopes to revise a potential school meal relaunch in the future.
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