Lunchboxes are a key meal occasion for little ones to get all important nutrients, plus it’s a chance for them to enjoy healthier options over ultra processed snacks.
Little ones work hard at school to concentrate, so it’s important they have a tasty and healthy lunch to look forward to, that they’ll enjoy eating and parents can be reassured they’re getting all the important nutrients. Parents have to juggle a lot, so prepping daily lunchboxes needs to be as convenient as possible. Having fuss-free, ready-to-go healthy snacks on hand to pop in alongside sandwiches makes all the difference when packing lunchboxes, usually at speed.
“As much as parents want to do the right thing and choose the healthiest options, they are also bound by knowing what products their kids will enjoy and actually eat. With BEAR, little ones really do love the taste of our products, and enjoy tearing into a packet, peeling a yoyo and seeing what collectable card they’ve got,” comments BEAR Marketing Manager, Steph Armstrong.
“We put our health credentials front and centre on our fully recyclable packs, so parents can see at a glance how, with BEAR, it’s easy to make positive and healthy choices for children. We’ve moved all our health claims to the top of the pack so they’re clearly visible, plus we’ve brought our ‘real fruit’ message to life through text and real ingredients imagery. Now, it’s up to retailers to merchandise these in the right way, so parents and caregivers recognise products such as BEAR as a convenient and healthy addition to lunchboxes.”
In terms of what to stock, multipacks of BEAR yoyos are a firm favourite amongst kids – accounting for 61% of our total sales – and contain 5 individually wrapped yoyo pairs, making them ideal for the school week. These also come in a variety of flavours, including Strawberry, Apple, Blackcurrant and Mango, meaning little ones can enjoy their favourites and also benefit from trying something different. To add even more flavour variety for little palate, our Giant yoyos – mixing two tasty fruits, such as Strawberry & Mango together – make a great choice, as do recently launched Tropical yoyos.
BEAR has a range of products suitable for all ages that have been specially created to be enjoyed by children on the go, including at school.
Worth £2.23M and available in 3 different flavours – Apple & Blackcurrant, Raspberry & Blueberry and Strawberry & Apple – the Little Paws range can be enjoyed from 2 years and above. As well as containing real fruit, they come in individually wrapped bags of bite-sized paws, helping to encourage independent eating.
“We also appreciate that children can be fickle and as they get older, they don’t want to eat foods they consider ‘babyish’. That’s why we’ve continued to expand our range to appeal to children of all ages. Our Fruit Treasures range, which contributes to 1 of your 5 a day, targets aged 3 and up and are tasty as well as educational, with numbers engraved on each of the Treasures to get kids counting,” adds Armstrong.
“Our mission is make healthier snacking fun and tasty for all children – and encourage positive associations with fruit and veg. We’re not just doing this with the variety of flavours we have on offer that children genuinely want to eat, but also through our free BEAR character cards in every pack of yoyos. We know that kids love collecting and trading these, meaning that a pack of BEAR is a great way to add a touch of fun during their school day, as it’s a surprise treat which also happens to be healthy. Win-win.”
Throughout the year, BEAR enters a number of relevant partnerships and on-pack promotions, in order to drive frequency of purchase.
Earlier this year the brand launched its ‘GRRRow with BEAR’ campaign, to bring children on a ‘farm to fork’ journey and have fun with the fruit they’re eating, by offering a free pack of either strawberry or carrot seeds with every three packs of BEAR purchased.
More recently, the brand announced a partnership with the world-renowned Natural History Museum, offering families the opportunity to win free tickets to its popular ‘Dino Snores’ sleepovers, as well as merchandise and a private museum highlights tour.
Gareth Roberts, UK Country Sales Manager at Dole Sunshine Company, comments: “Although some children qualify for free school meals depending on their age, where they live, and their parents’ financial situation, many do not, and in any case, some children prefer taking in a packed lunch rather than eating meals prepared at school. Either way, parents want their children to eat a healthy lunch and are often worried about the price, but these healthier choices don’t have to be more expensive, as consumers can buy a four pack of Dole’s fruit in juice cups for just £2.30 which offers them a great tasting and healthy product at a price most can afford which are perfect for lunchboxes. I think in general; shoppers now understand that ambient goods increasingly have a role to play as they not only offer good value and have longer shelf lives, but in the case of our Dole fruit in juice range, can also be one of your five-a-day and a healthy part of their overall diet. This knowledge may well translate into lunchbox selections with parents looking for healthy ambient products which offer good value and limit risk of wastage.”
Healthy fruit snacks and healthier lunchbox items in general should be front and centre when retailers are trying to make the most from the lunchbox and back-to-school opportunity.
All Dole’s fruit snacks are non-HFSS which, along with their convenient packaging, makes them perfect for the lunchbox.
For many consumers who are shopping on a budget, fresh fruit and vegetables can be one of the first things to come off the shopping list, which really highlights the importance of retailers and brands who are committed to supporting healthier choices for their customers, and specifically helping people to eat healthily on a budget.
“There’s nothing new about the desire for many parents to want to give their children a healthy lunch, but this has come into even sharper focus since the start of the pandemic with most consumers becoming even more health aware and unsurprisingly this has translated into being more health conscious with their food choices,” adds Roberts. This was backed up by a recent survey of parents on what they felt was the most important factor for their child’s diet, which revealed nearly half (47%) felt it was getting their five-a-day. So many children miss this daily target so perhaps packaged fruit snacks like ours in lunchboxes can be part of the solution? In addition, many schools now have rules about what can be included in children’s lunchboxes due to health and / or allergy concerns, which is another factor for parents to consider.”
Dole Sunshine Company is the UK category leader in packaged fruit snacks, with its entire product range containing 100% real fruit, with no added sugar in any of its fruit in juice range.
Its products are enjoyed by consumers, not only because of their taste and health benefits, but also due to their versatility as they can be consumed at breakfast, as a mid-morning snack, as a dessert, at home, in the office, at the gym, on the train or literally anywhere and whenever you like.
Its best-selling products are the Pineapple, Mandarin, Mixed Fruit and Peach variants of its fruit in juice range and come in convenient and recyclable packs which can be eaten at home or on the go.
Back to school shoppers in general are looking for both good value after their summer holidays as well as an easy shopping experience. With this in mind, last summer Dole announced what it believes was a first to market with the launch of a new range of mixed fruit in jelly, targeted specifically at kids. Both products are available to convenience retailers, with an RRP of just £1.79 for a pack of four, which offers consumers an attractive price, with ambient storage and a long shelf life. The kids’ range contains fruit sugars only and consists of two different skus, one with strawberry flavoured jelly and the other with orange flavoured jelly, both of which are made with 100% real fruit juice. Both skus also contain real fruit pieces of pineapple and papaya, in smaller portion sizes with fun packaging which will appeal to a younger audience. Perfect for either the lunchbox or as a healthy snack at home, they are high in Vitamin C and contain no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners.
Dole has just announced a huge consumer activation campaign for this summer which will get the whole country talking about fruit and celebrating its role in meals and treats. To spearhead the campaign, the brand has teamed up with TV presenter Angellica Bell who is best known for her appearances on The One Show amongst others, as well as winning Celebrity MasterChef. This celebrity partnership will help promote two big campaigns for the Dole’s ingredients and snack ranges, with Angellica becoming the face of the brand’s creative PR and social media campaigns which will run through to Spring 2025. The partnership will be split into two campaigns that are designed to highlight the taste, quality, versatility and convenience of Dole’s Tropical Gold Pineapple and their snack pot ranges, including Fruit and Cre*m and the recently launched Dole Fruit in Jelly Kids pots.
Alongside the celebrity partnership, Dole will be undertaking a huge summer sampling programme at events such as Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place Festival, which takes place in both London and Manchester. Next up will be a major social media drive where Dole will team up with a café to secretly add pineapple to a traditional English Breakfast while a hidden camera will film people’s reactions, supported by a media campaign reaching over two million consumers. Finally, Dole will also be working with a wide variety of food influencers who will help inspire the UK to get creative with their fruit and get social communities talking.
Milly Tuck, Senior Brand Manager, Cawston Press, comments: “School-approved children’s drinks that are low in sugar are a key addition for lunch boxes. Our Fruit Waters are the perfect addition to any lunch box, made simply with pressed fruits, no added sugar, no sweeteners and no shortcuts. All Cawston Press Fruit Waters contain at least 40% fruit juice, which is then simply blended with still water, and are gluten-free and vegan friendly, with the sweetness coming entirely from pressed fruit and purees. They are packaged in an easy-to-hold carton, ideal for younger palate. Our Fruit Waters are available in five fruity flavours inspired by the summer garden including Apple & Mango, Cloudy Apple, Apple & Summer Berries, Apple & Pear and our latest addition, Sunshine Orange.”
The strong sales of the brand’s Fruit Waters over the past year shows that parents are clearly increasingly making healthier choices for their children in the drinks category.
In September 2023, Cawston Press sold 24% more units of Fruit Waters in the back-to-school period than the year before (Nielsen), suggesting that cleaner drinks with no added extras are increasingly becoming the drink of choice and that Fruit Waters are worth paying more for to parents, something retailers should consider for the upcoming back-to-school season. Fruit Waters are continuing to show strong growth this year, with 14% value growth and 10% units growth YTD compared to the same period last year (Nielsen).
All of Cawston Press’ products from its Sparkling Drinks, Pressed Juices to its Fruit Waters are HFSS compliant. Fruit Waters meet the school approved published standard for drinks, made with at least 40% pressed juice expertly blended with water.
Tasty, fresh salads are a quick and easy option for parents and guardians wanting to include healthier food in children’s lunchboxes.
At a time when one third of shoppers are proactively looking to eat more fruit and vegetables to lead a healthier lifestyle (IGD), they recognise the positive impact fresh salads can have on children’s diets.
That’s why so many are now turning to fresh salad, not only as a healthy, all-natural accompaniment to main meals and snacks, but also as an easy addition to children’s lunchboxes.
With over 560 million packs of fresh salad sold each year (Nielsen & Kantar), the growing choice and variety in the fresh salads category helps parents to take greater control of their children’s diets, including the lunchbox occasion, in the knowledge they’re providing the natural goodness which children need.
Martin Purdy, Commercial and Marketing Director at Florette UK, says: “Very often, the main ingredients in sandwiches for children’s lunchboxes may not be chosen for health reasons, but parents can easily add the healthy option of fresh salads, which are naturally low in fat, salt and sugar and complement a wide range of children’s favourite lunchbox options.
“Fresh salads are light to eat and add natural texture, vibrancy and colour to the lunchbox occasion. We know that incorporating fresh salads in children’s lunchboxes has a really positive impact, but we’re also making it really easy for parents to include them in one of their children’s most important meals of the day.”
Florette has a wide range of salad products which are ideally suited to the lunchbox occasion, including Florette Crispy (90g and 140g), the biggest selling salad product in the impulse channel, and Florette Mixed salad (125g), with its crunchy mix of leaves adding interest and texture to lunchbox meals.
With more opportunities to include fresh salads in lunchbox meal deals, Florette is reminding wholesalers and retailers of consumers’ primary focus on the ‘top up shop’, highlighting that fresh salad is one of the areas where consumers look to ‘top up’ to complete the healthy meal purchase.
Florette continues to align its products closely with key occasions throughout the year and drives consumer demand for its products with timely marketing and promotional support, including easy to follow, inspirational recipes and lunchbox solutions at www.florettesalad.co.uk.
Matt Collins, Sales Director at KP Snacks, comments: “As the summer holidays draw to a close, retailers should be ready to boost sales by capitalising on back to school and back to university opportunities. Bagged snacks are a staple in children’s lunchboxes and a popular lunchtime and Food to Go choice for university students, making the “back to routine” occasion a critical opportunity for retailers to drive CSN sales.”
Health remains a top priority for consumers, with parents seeking out healthier options for their children’s lunchboxes and after-school snacks. KP Snacks offers a broad portfolio of tasty and permissible snacks, including over 100 non-HFSS SKUs.
KP’s non-HFSS products include Hula Hoops Puft. Worth £10m (Nielsen IQ), Hula Hoops Puft is a deliciously light, low-calorie snack. Coming in at just 72 calories per pack, Hula Hoops Puft offers a great option for a healthier lunchbox snack in tasty flavours: Salt & Vinegar, Salted and Grilled Beef.
Worth £32.7m RSV and growing in value +10.4% (Nielsen IQ), the POM-BEAR brand is the perfect choice for family shoppers.
POM-BEAR contains fewer than 100 calories per pack, with 5.7m households consuming the brand every year (Kantar). Household names like POM-BEAR reassure parents that they are providing their children with a healthy and great tasting product from a trusted brand.
Shaun Whelan, Link Snacks International (LSI) Convenience/ Wholesale and OOH Controller, comments: “For kids snacking and after-school treats, independent retailers should stock tasty, convenient products that children love to eat to provide a protein kick to pep up snacking.
“Peperami is a must stock brand, as it is the nation’s favourite and bestselling meat snack. Stocking savoury meat snacks gives more choice to parents alongside confectionery ranges especially when Peperami will be eaten, avoiding wastage.”
What often surprises people is how fast the category is growing as protein has become mainstream with nearly 1 in 3 UK households buying meat snacks.
The category has doubled in sales value over the last five years, and still has the opportunity to double again, led by Peperami which is now a £120 million brand.
Peperami is the UK’s number one best-selling protein meat snacking brand and is manufactured by Link Snacks International – the global leaders in protein meat snacks.
“To win the shopper, we recommend to convenience retailers that they must make sure Peperami is instantly visible and in easy reach in-store. A key to successful sales is good availability on the shelf and POS solutions which we can provide to retailers when they contact us,” adds Whelan.
“Parents are increasingly prioritising convenience, taste and energy when selecting snacks for their children. They want satisfying and tasty snacks which will keep them going during the day. Parents know the Peperami brand and, most importantly, their kids will eat it and so, it peps up snacking.”
Peperami offers a variety of pack formats. The Peperami salami single sticks are ideal for on-the-go and lunchboxes. They are highly convenient to have available at home for everyone to help themselves to as an after-school treat, so children and parents both win!
Peperami single sticks come in a range of four core flavours: Original, Hot, Firestick and Chorizo. Recently added, to drive convenience retailer sales, are new £1.25 price marked packs, with a promotional flash of 2 for £2, making the Peperami core stick range a must stock.
Also, just launched to meet demand for different flavours is a new BBQ flavoured stick exclusive PMP in Cash & Carrys. Due to the popularity of the single serve stick, they are also sold in multi-packs of 5.
Peperami 5-packs are the number 1 bestselling products in the whole category and are ideally merchandised in the chiller in larger convenience stores where shoppers expect to find them as a take home option.
The second bestselling SKU in the whole category is Peperami Original Lunchbox Minis. RRP £3.00, they come in a pack of 10, clearly targeting the lunch box snacking occasion.
Based on the huge demand, Peperami has just launched a new BBQ Lunchbox mini pack. Made with 100% pork and an enjoyable mix of smoky spices, they are packed with protein and just 50 calories per 10g mini stick – making them a perfect food-to-go item in larger convenience stores.
Peperami continues to successfully innovate to meet the fast-growing demand for protein meat snacks by stretching into Chicken. Peperami Chicken Bites come in single 50g packs ideal for convenience retailers meeting their shoppers’ needs for convenient, on-the-go tasty snacks to pep them up. Containing just 95kcal per 50g bag, Peperami Chicken Bites are available in two flavours – roasted and tikka.
Peperami, the category brand leader, will continue to drive category growth with heavyweight TV advertising featuring its iconic, instantly recognisable ‘Animal’.
Georgina Thomas, Head of Marketing for Butters, Spreads & Oils, at Saputo Dairy UK, comments: “Value for money is high on the agenda for consumers, with campaign group Stop the Squeeze revealing nearly 90% of people reject claims that the cost-of-living crisis has ended. Also, a BBC Good Food survey revealed that more children are opting for packed lunches rather than paying for school dinners, and families are also cutting back on what items they include in lunchboxes.”
With value for money remaining top of the agenda for many households, shoppers are looking for cost-efficient ways of ‘trading up’ on their budget-friendly packed lunches by using quality products from trusted brands such as Saputo Dairy UK’s Clover spread and Country Life butter.
“Sandwiches remain a classic option for lunchboxes and it’s not surprising as they are convenient and versatile – an all-round winner for time-stretched parents needing to cater to individual tastes,” adds Thomas. “We can’t talk about sandwiches without mentioning butters and spreads, the natural choice for a sandwich base.”
Available as both a spreadable and a block butter, Country Life is bought by 10% of UK households (IRI). Consumers are increasingly leaning towards supporting local or British-made products, with a report from CGA Bidfood finding that British produce is perceived as higher quality in the eyes of consumers and more than three quarters (76%) find it appealing. With consumers willing to pay more for a dish with ingredients featuring British provenance, Country Life offers shoppers a great-tasting British option.
Clover also remains a firm family favourite bought by nearly a fifth (17.9%) of all UK households (IRI). Clover continues to win with consumers, retaining its No. 1 volume position in the Spreads category (IRI). This is testimony to the strength of the Clover brand and its appeal to shoppers focused on affordability, while not compromising on taste.
“We have seen a significantly increased demand for more nutritious and healthier options – for instance, the lighter sub-category has seen strong, long-term growth, now taking 14% (IRI) of the trade share, compared to just 4% in 2008,” says Thomas. “To meet this evolving need, we’ve revamped the recipe for our Utterly Butterly spread, a value spread brand that performs well in convenience, to improve the nutritional declaration. We’ve done this by reducing fat by 5% and lowering salt content by 10%, all while retaining important taste credentials, and of course the core buttermilk ingredient.”
Dairy-free and plant-based options continue to attract a steady base of shoppers. Around 2.3 million shoppers in the UK recognise themselves as allergic or intolerant to dairy, and with allergies in the UK growing at a rate of 5% every year, this is set to increase even further. Therefore, free-from options must be duly considered by wholesalers.
Backed by 20 years of dairy-free expertise and a pioneering and trusted brand in the subcategory, Vitalite UK is a dairy-free spread that is also lactose, gluten and soya free and contains 75% less saturated fat than butter, making it an accessible product for different consumer needs. Vitalite UK has recently been campaigning to strengthen awareness of food allergies in children to support parents. The brand’s recent research found that 21% of parents say their mental health has been negatively impacted by their child’s food allergy and half (50%) say they sometimes struggle to cope.
One of the ways the brand has been supporting families with allergies is through working with dieticians and nutritionists via Allergy UK to create advice and tips for the families to adopt into their everyday life.
Vitalite also has a strategic partnership with accredited training provider The Allergy Badge. As part of this partnership, the brand will be providing free allergy training with The Allergy Badge to equip retailers to raise awareness and foster inclusivity.
“We know that most will agree that butters and spreads are an essential ingredient for building a great sandwich but it is thought that 40% of children in the UK have been diagnosed with an allergy,” adds Thomas. “Therefore, we don’t want children with allergies or intolerances to dairy to have to compromise on taste or miss out on what others get to enjoy and Vitalite is the perfect solution for this.”
Ewa Moxham, UK Head of Marketing at Yoplait, comments: “Parents are prioritising healthier options for their children’s lunchboxes amidst a children’s health crisis across the country. Obesity rates have risen significantly, particularly since the pandemic, impacting approximately a quarter to a third of children, depending on their age. Moreover, over a million children face the risk of poor development and growth due to deficiencies in essential nutrients like calcium and vitamin D, which are commonly found in dairy products such as yoghurts. Our portfolio of brands can offer parents a tasty choice which still delivers on important nutritional benefits.”
Children have been substituting nutrient-rich foods such as dairy with less nutritious snacks like biscuits, chocolate, and crisps since the pandemic.
Nearly half of parents are reporting that their children eat less healthily now than they did when they were younger, indicating that parents are also noticing this change.
Since yoghurt is found in 14% of kids’ pack lunches, lunchboxes are a great way to introduce dairy products into kids’ diets (Kantar).
“Wholesalers can utilise this opportunity to boost sales by offering non-HFSS healthy lunchbox snacks, such as Frubes and Petits Filous,” adds Moxham. “Unlike most adult yoghurts, kids’ yoghurts are not just full of dairy goodness, they have also been fortified with essential nutrients such as vitamin D and calcium, which are important in supporting children’s bone health and development.”
Lunch is the No.1 consumption (Kantar) occasion for Portables. Wholesalers could target this market by offering products with a long shelf life, like the Frubes and Petits Filous drinkables, which can be stored eight hours outside of the refrigerator.
Yoplait launched Kids’ Yoghurt and Consumers – A Relationship Turned Sour earlier this year to highlight the fact that generations of kids have lost out on the positive, nutritional role of kids’ yoghurt.
“At Yoplait, we feel it is not just our responsibility to be a positive voice for children’s nutrition in the UK, but it is our duty to act,” says Moxham. “We need to educate consumers on the importance of eating nutrient-dense foods like kids’ yoghurt and to work with retailers, health organisations and policymakers to make change happen before it’s too late.”
To launch the report, Yoplait replicated the famous ‘got milk’ images with television star Josie Gibson and her son to highlight the dairy deficit in kids’ diets and encourage consumers to eat more. The brand also kick started its biggest ever sampling activity to directly engage with families and educate parents on the health benefits of yoghurts. Over four weekends 40,000 samples of Frubes, Petits Filous, Wildlife, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol were handed out across London and the South Coast, encouraging consumers to eat more yoghurt.
Yoplait also brought back its successful Freeze ‘Em campaign this summer which encouraged consumers to try freezing their Frubes. This was supported by the brand’s biggest investment including three limited edition packs, sampling, experiential, media, social and PR activity.
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