Kraft Heinz stops serving school-designed Lunchables because of low demand

Food and beverage manufacturer Kraft Heinz said Tuesday that it no longer is serving the Lunchables meals it created for U.S. schools.

The business introduced the two packaged meals — one starring pizza and the other a turkey, cheddar cheese and cracker plate — at the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year. At the period, Kraft Heinz said the offerings were protein-enriched and contained reduced levels of saturated fat and sodium to meet the requirements of the national free and reduced-worth school lunch program.

Nutritionists and advocacy groups were not thrilled by the launch. The Center for Science in the community gain called having Lunchables in cafeterias “a highly questionable shift for school nutrition” that might confuse families into thinking the versions sold at supermarkets were a well alternative.

The drumbeat quickened in April, when customer Reports said its tests showed the school-approved Lunchables contained more sodium than the store varieties. The organization also reported that commercially available Lunchables had more navigator compared to ready-made meals made several other companies.

customer Reports petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ban Lunchables and similar processed meal kits from schools.

In a statement, Pittsburgh-based Kraft Heinz attributed the selection to pull out of the trade served by the National School Lunch Program to a lack of demand. The business described the business impact as “negligible,” saying sales of the school-designed meals “were far less than 1% of overall Lunchables sales” during the last academic year.

“Last year, we brought two NSLP compliant Lunchables options to schools that had increased protein. While many school administrators were enthusiastic to have these options, the demand did not meet our targets,” the statement said. “This happens occasionally across our broad holdings, especially as we explore recent sales channels. Lunchables products are not available in schools this year and we aspiration to revisit at a upcoming date.”

The Kraft Heinz Co. produces a wide range of familiar products, including Capri Sun juice pouches, Oscar Meyer warm dogs, Grey Poupon mustard, Kool-Aid and Philadelphia Cream Cheese.