A History of Lunchables

In the late 1980s, Oscar Mayer introduced a new product: premade cheese, sliced meat, and crackers conveniently packaged and ready to eat or take with you for lunch. The company called the lunch pack “Lunchables.” At first, no one had any idea that Lunchables would be successful. But it would soon take office breakrooms and school cafeterias by storm. And what started as a simple way to sell more lunch meat soon grew into a lunchtime empire. Sources: “Mayer’s ‘Lunchables’ Debut,” Chicago Tribune, Oct 29, 1987 “Eating on the Run,” Jamie Neely, The Spokesman-Review, Sep 27, 1988 “Few New Products are Sure Bets,” Al Parkins, The Capital Times, July 15, 1989 “To Market, To Market,” Al Parkins, The Capital Times, July 15, 1989 “New-Product Drums Beat for the Light and Convenient,” Ann Burckhardt, Star Tribune, Sep 6, 1989 “Convenience: Friend or Foe,” Sharon Eurich, Press and Sun-Bulletin, Apr 26, 1990 “New Lunchables Pack Loads of Fat, Not Much Nutrition,” Carolyn Wyman and Bonnie LeBlang, Sun Herald, Sep 8, 1993 “Is Michael Jacobson America’s Biggest Killjoy?” Derrick DePledge, The San Francisco Examiner, May 8, 1994 “Low-Fat Fun Packs Not That Low,” Bonnie LeBland and Carolyn Wyman, News-Press, Sep 7, 1995 “Lunchables Not Cheap, Not Great, but Easy,” Maria LaPiana, The News and Observer, Sep 20, 1995 “Ten Worst Foods to Eat,” The Springville Herald, Dec 27, 1995 “Lunchables Pizza a Fun Food Pack Not Quite as Fat,” Bonnie LeBlang and Carolyn Wyman, Springfield News-Sun, Aug 7, 1996 “Mad for Mexican: Kids Tell Oscar Mayer Tacos are Dream Lunch,” Rick Barrett, Wisconsin State Journal, Aug 20, 1997 “Don’t Get Boxed In by Prepackaged Lunches, Nutritionists Say,” Wendy Lin, Florida Today, Oct 9, 1997 “Lunchables May Gulp Market Share with Taco Bell Line,” George Lazarus, Chicago Tribune, Oct 16, 1997 “‘Lunchables’ Crews Gear Up for Back-to-School,” Matthew Daneman, The Courier-News, Aug 1, 1999 “Prefab Meals Take Lunch Out of Bag,” Carole Sugarman, The Miami Herald, Oct 7, 1999 “Food Fight,” Diane Lore and Reagan Walker, The Salina Journal, Jun 18, 2000 “New Lunchables Gain Some More Weight,” Judith Blake, The Gazette, Jul 25, 2000 “Making Lunchtime Fun and Healthy,” Wendy Doscher-Smith, The Miami Herald, Dec 2, 2002 “Oscar Mayer Tirms Back the Junk in New Lunchables Fun Fuel,” Bonnie LeBlang and Carolyn Wyman, The Fresno Bee, May 21, 2003 “Bad Boxes,” Mark Fisher, The Journal News, Apr 7, 2009 “Texas Tech Alumnus Develops Lunchables,” Ashley Tubbs, Daily Toreador, Feb 13, 2013 Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, Michael Moss, 2013 “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” Michael Moss, The New York Times, Feb 20, 2013 “Lunchables, the Lunchbox King, Faces a Rival Vowing Higher-Quality Fare,” Stephanie Strom, The New York Times, Aug 21, 2013 “The 30-Year Reignof Lunchables,” Joe Pinsker, The Atlantic, Nov 17, 2018 “Dr. Rody Hawkins, CEO of Improved Nature,” Interview for CEOs to Know, iHeartMedia, Oct 16, 2019