Kraft Heinz Removes Lunchables From National School Lunch Program

A Lunchables package on a grocery store shelf in New York on Nov. 12, 2024. Peter Morgan/AP Photo

Kraft Heinz announced on Tuesday that its Lunchables brand meal kits are being removed from the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

The company created two of its Lunchables—Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza Lunchables—to be introduced at the beginning of the 2023 to 2024 academic year. Kraft Heinz described in a document that the Lunchables products are “built for schools” and “now meet NSLP” guidelines.

The NSLP program receives funding through federal reimbursements to provide free and reduced-cost meals for nearly 30 million school children from low-income families, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.

Chicago-based Kraft Heinz said in an email to NTD that it decided to pull the products because they did not meet demand. The company said the business impact is “negligible” and that sales of the school version meal kits during the last academic year “were far less than 1 percent of overall Lunchables sales.”

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

Earlier this year, Consumer Reports discovered that Lunchables and similar lunch kits contain “relatively high” levels of sodium, lead, and cadmium. The nonprofit organization reported that the Lunchable meal kits contained more lead than meal kits made by other companies.

Consumer Reports also highlighted that the Lunchables school version had higher sodium levels than the store-bought version. The school version of turkey and cheddar Lunchables contained 930 milligrams of sodium compared to 740 milligrams in the store-bought version, according to the report. Similarly, the Lunchables pizza kit for schools had 700 milligrams of sodium compared to 510 milligrams in the store version.

Consumer Reports and More Perfect Union garnered nearly 50,000 signatures for their petition and presented their case to the Department of Agriculture urging the agency to remove Lunchables from the school lunch program.

The organization released a statement on Tuesday reacting to the company’s removal of the product from the program.

“We’re pleased that Heinz Kraft has pulled Lunchables from the school lunch program,” Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said. “The USDA should maintain stricter eligibility standards for the school lunch programs so that the millions of kids that depend on it get the healthier options they deserve.”

In an Oct. 30 earnings call, Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera told analysts that Lunchables is a “very important part” of its business.

“The negative publicity that we received from that misleading interest group appears to be lingering longer. Remember, this is a brand that is focused on families and kids, so rebuilding that trust just takes some time,” he said.

Andre Maciel, Kraft Heinz’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said during the conference call that results from the third quarter ended Sept. 28 showed that the “sell-out of Lunchables is down about 15 percent.”

The company will continue expanding flavors and formats of the Lunchables brand, such as the newly introduced spicy nacho flavor, Abrams-Rivera said.

“We recognize the moment right now is being more challenged because of the one challenge in this particular quarter, but we believe this is a brand that will continue to grow and continue to be a hugely important part of our portfolio,” he said.

From NTD News