Commentary
This Is Not Your Mother's Brown Bag Lunch
- by Camilla Retecki , September 8, 2010
What makes the lunchbox cut?
Moms prioritize nutritional offerings, with 79% of them opting for whole grain or enriched bread instead of
white bread, 82% regularly packing fruit in their children's lunchboxes and 86% planning out their children's meals in advance to ensure they eat a variety of healthy foods.
Takeaway: Familiarize Moms with the nutritional benefits of your brand and engage them online with suggestions for healthy and creative lunchbox change-ups incorporating your product to foster word-of-mouth buzz.
Moms have become a generation of label scrutinizers.
Their practice of label reading translates to smarter lunchbox choices when grocery shopping
for their families. Moms take extra steps to ensure they purchase more nutritious food: 77% check nutrition labels, and 74% select items based on their nutritional value.
Takeaway: To ensure your brand stands out, make nutrition facts easily accessible and incorporate them into the marketing of your brand -- both online and offline and prominently display them on product packaging. Help Moms decipher ingredients with which they may be unfamiliar.
Moms spend more when it comes to eating right.
While most consider
themselves budget-conscious, the majority refuse to cut corners when it comes to their family's nutritional needs. Seventy-two percent prefer purchasing items with higher nutritional value even if it
means spending more money. Sixty-four percent will purchase a more nutritious item, even if an unhealthier alternative costs less.
Takeaway: Draw Moms to your brand by highlighting nutritional values in your brand marketing, especially if your food product costs more.
Nutrition also drives Moms' "grab and go" purchases.
As Moms
prioritize nutrition, "grab 'n' go" packaged convenience needs to also offer nutritional value. Moreover, 57% will purchase a high nutritional value item if it is packaged conveniently or individually
packaged (i.e., pre-packed carrots and dip).
Takeaway: Combine nutrition and convenience benefits in your brand marketing -- the two work exponentially together as a selling point.
Overall, Moms want simple solutions.
Seeking convenient alternatives to modify their family's eating habits, Moms will substitute fortified foods for their
"regular" counterparts. Sixty-seven percent look for products fortified with minerals and vitamins.
If adding treats to their children's lunchboxes, 76% opt for portion-controlled snack packs, and 71% also say they will pack nutritious lunches for their children if they purchase healthy, portion-controlled snacks to have on hand. Moms want healthy nutritional choices for their children, and convenience clinches the deal.
It's good to see Mom's taking such a proactive role in their families eating habits. Getting Americans back on track begins at home especially with the kids.
Since I'm not the picture of health, it's important to me to get my children started off right. My 6 year old has been eating salads for a few years already. She is excited when I offer to add a salad or cucumbers with dressing to dip in as part of her lunch. That's a great start!
But what is frustrating is the immense amount of allergies in the schools that make it difficult to send anything but pre-packaged items for parties. No matter how healthy a fruit kabob is, I'm not allowed to cut the fruit at home because there's a child with a peanut allergy in the class. The school cannot take the chance that I made a peanut butter sandwich on the same counter and didn't sterilize the counter well enough.