Kraft Heinz announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue its school-specific Lunchables products, which were introduced at the start of the 2023-2024 school year as part of a push to bring ready-made meals into the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
The decision to remove these items, a pizza pack and a turkey-and-cheese cracker set, comes amid low demand from schools and significant nutritional concerns raised by advocacy groups.
The initiative, originally designed to help school cafeterias save on preparation time, adapted Lunchables to meet NSLP standards by reducing saturated fat and sodium levels and increasing protein content. However, this move faced heavy opposition from nutrition advocates, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which questioned the suitability of processed, branded food products in federally supported school meals. Concerns intensified following a report from Consumer Reports in April, which revealed that these school-targeted Lunchables still contained high levels of sodium and even trace amounts of heavy metals like lead and cadmium.
Consumer Reports found that the school Lunchables contained even more sodium than their store-bought counterparts, with levels reaching up to 930 milligrams per serving, which is nearly half of a child’s recommended daily intake. Advocacy groups petitioned the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to remove Lunchables and other processed meal kits from the NSLP, arguing that sodium levels were inconsistent with the USDA’s long-term goals of reducing sodium and sugar in school meals to combat childhood obesity and other health issues.
Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Reports, supported the decision to remove Lunchables from schools and urged the USDA to implement stricter nutrition standards.
“The USDA should maintain strict eligibility standards for the school lunch program so that the millions of kids who depend on it get the healthier options they deserve,” Ronholm said.
Kraft Heinz acknowledged the decision in a statement, citing low demand as a key reason.
“While many school administrators were excited to have these options, the demand did not meet our targets,” the company said.
Despite this setback, Kraft Heinz said it hopes to reintroduce Lunchables to schools at a later date.
Though sales from the school Lunchables made up less than 1% of overall Lunchables revenue, the product’s underperformance adds pressure to the brand, which has also seen declining sales in retail channels. Last month, Kraft Heinz Chief Executive Carlos Abrams-Rivera noted that revamping the Lunchables line is a priority, with plans to release new flavors and formats in the coming year.
For Kraft Heinz, the school program represented a broader strategy to market its brands to younger consumers, part of a larger initiative to expand its food-service division beyond grocery stores. However, the rise of nutrition-focused policies in schools and growing skepticism of processed foods have complicated efforts by food manufacturers like Kraft Heinz to penetrate these markets.
The USDA, which oversees the NSLP, has proposed updates to its nutritional guidelines for school lunches, specifically targeting sodium and added sugars. The guidelines are intended to address public health concerns around sodium consumption in children, which, according to the CDC, can increase risks of high blood pressure and related diseases.
Despite the setback, Kraft Heinz plans to keep Lunchables as a central focus of its growth strategy. CEO Abrams-Rivera has indicated that health-conscious adjustments are on the horizon, with sodium and sugar reduction a priority across the company’s product lines. As part of these efforts, Kraft Heinz plans to invest in a marketing campaign in early 2025 to refresh the brand image of Lunchables and draw in new customers with healthier options and innovative packaging.
With input from the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the Associated Press.
