New styles pop lid off lunch box sales - Hard Lines

Discount Store News, Nov 16, 1992 by Laura Liebeck

Discounters are poised to cash in on consumer interests in saving money, proper nutrition and environmental conservation by following recent trends in lunch boxes.

Plain brown bags and simple metal lunch boxes are out of style. They are being replaced by lunch kits in colorful designs, interesting or utilitarian shapes and various package textures to meet the needs and fashion requirements of lunch carriers of all ages. They also often coordinate with apparel fashions and other school supplies.

Exactly why lunch boxes have undergone a renaissance at this time is unclear, but manufacturers point to ecological and nutritional concerns, plus the slumping economy for their design cues.

In addition, brown baggers are no longer just school-age children or construction workers. People of all ages and occupations carry lunch each day. New products to meet each group's needs have boosted sales of the category.

Currently, annual sales on lunch boxes is unknown, as the business is extremely fragmented, with sales spread across several departments.

Jim Kilcoyne, group product manager, home products division of Rubbermaid, expects the demand for lunch boxes to increase due to today's divergent lifestyles. Prime for growth, said Kilcoyne, are older students and "young-minded people."

According to Ferenc M. Relle Jr., advertising and public relations manager for Rubbermaid's specialty products division - which offers insulated lunch box products - category growth is huge and sales are strong. Rubbermaid introduced one sku line two years ago, and for 1993 will have over 20 skus.

Further hampering the collection of accurate statistics is the product itself. Unlike other items that fit neatly into one category, lunch boxes do not. They can be carried by discounters in several departments: stationery, sporting goods, housewares and back-to-school/seasonal.

Leading the way with new designs are Rubbermaid, Thermos, Coleman, Igloo and Aladin. At the National Hardware Show in Chicago manufacturers presented an array of lunch boxes for 1993, from soft-sided containers that hold a six-pack of soda to hard- and soft-sided lunch boxes that resemble backpacks.

Kmart's new supercenter in Montrose, Ohio, for example, displayed a lunch box assortment that included product from Aladdin, Rubbermaid and School Gear from SGI Inc. in sporting goods.

The School Gear item - also seen across the street in the stationery department at the new Acme SuperCenter - was a soft-sided backpack lunch kit for $14.99. A relatively large lunch carrier, the School Gear product featured bright colors, and both Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid characters. The backpack had a tough plastic bottom, a side opening and a clip for holding notes, a coin/key clear plastic zip pocket and two spaces for holding pencils. It did not have food containers.

Rubbermaid's entry was its Litterless lunch kit, introduced two seasons ago, for $12.99. A hard-sided, insulated cooler, Litterless includes a five-piece food storage system.

Aladdin offered an insulated mini-cooler in black and lavender, with no food containers, for $8.99, and a soft-sided Pop-Top Stopper, for $9.66, with decorative bottle inside.

At Wal-Mart in Sebring, Fla., products from Rubbermaid, Aladdin, and Igloo were offered, in housewares.

Entries at the Wal-Mart included Aladdin's mini-cooler for $7.96; Rubbermaid's Litterless lunch kit for $7.96, and a small Igloo Playmate for $8.34.

Designing product to fit the needs of individual users is the result of careful study, research and instinct.

At Rubbermaid, for example, Kilcoyne said research indicated that children 3- to 8-years-old are interested in "playful shapes" for lunch boxes. In response, Rubbermaid designed a treasure chest lunch box in teal, ocean blue and magenta with brightly colored handles and clasps as a way of "attacking their imagination and intriguing them." It will ship in first quarter of 1993.

The treasure chest box is top loading and uninsulated. It will retail for $5 and will be shown at the January housewares show in Chicago.

"We're trying to change the rules on who buys lunch boxes," said Kilcoyne. "This is not as much a back-to-school item as it was. [Lunch boxes are] for back-to-school, people with small appetites, construction workers, weight lifters, and people with various lifestyles."

In fact, at Coleman, some of the new soft-sided "lunch boxes" have acquired some cross-over uses, such as camcorder cases and even as diaper bags, said Carolyn Britton, assistant public relations manager.

Coleman's newest Flip-Zip container, introduced at the Hardware Show, is a soft-sided lunch box. The smallest version can be used as a modestly insulated lunch box, or as a container for a six-pack of cans. It also coordinates with athletic apparel, Britton noted.

Also new for Coleman is a line of hard-sided lunch coolers in contemporary designs, including a 3-quart lunch cooler called LunchPak, a three-quart SportPack and a larger domed-lid Lunch Cooler. Each includes an interior coin slot that holds $1.40 coins: what research has shown is needed to buy extras. Across the top handle is a name plate slot under an acetate sleeve. The SportPak model has an adjustable and removable web strap.