Farewell jam sandwiches wrapped in clingfilm: modern day school lunch box includes smoothies and sushi

As parents prepare for children to head back to school, Amazon Fresh has revealed how the packed lunch box has changed over the last 25 years.

Its survey of 1,500 Brits shows that 89% of parents feel their child gets a better quality, ‘elevated’ packed lunch than they did as a child.

65% noted the main objective was how healthy the packed lunch is compared to 26% saying looks are important, regularly taking a picture of their child’s lunch box to post on Instagram. 

Thinking back to memories of their own packed lunches, 47% of Brits say their memory of lunch boxes is warm, cling film wrapped sandwiches. 40% remember soggy sandwiches and 19% recall trying desperately to swap food items.

40% shudder at soggy meat and 29% are haunted by sweaty cheese, though 30% remember eating their lunch by their first break time.

While parents still opt to pack a sandwich for their child’s lunch, it’s not the only option they go for anymore with more modern choices such as burritos and bagels on the list.

Food historian, Angela Clutton, worked with Amazon Fresh to uncover the history of the lunchbox over the last quarter century.

She says, “Sandwiches have gone from being ubiquitous, to being just one of the savoury main options a lunch box might include. It is only in the 2010s that we start to see a trend towards lunch boxes having a non-sandwich savoury main component.”

Nowadays 52% of parents make a wrap, and 35% pack breadsticks, a third a health bar, and just under 10%  even pack sushi. The research found in contrast that Brits deem classics such as a carton of milk (30%), white rolls (14%), and processed cheese triangles (27%) old fashioned.

As the nation gets ready to go back to school for the new academic year, and Brits get back into their routines after summer, parents are getting ready to spend almost an hour packing their child’s lunch box on average each week.

Packed lunches are more popular than school dinners too, with 57% of parents sending their kids off to school with their lunch five days a week.

Since the 2010s, more parents are opting to batch cook or include leftovers, this is often more convenient if parents are packing lunch for more than one child as it saves a lot of time. Clutton adds: “Batch cooking is also driven by the trend towards low cost and low waste eating.”

Over the last 25 years, as well as how healthy the lunch box is, parents are taking other things into account when packing lunches. Considerations include the lunch being home made (31%), looks appealing (29%), packing veggies into it (26%), is low in sugar (22%) and unprocessed (19%).

Parents also reported creative ways to make lunch more exciting. 65% of those surveyed said they either cut the sandwich into creative shapes, or include notes and drawings (43%). So there is no surprise that 70% of say there is often light competition between parents when it comes to what’s in their child’s lunch box.

In fact, a third have even admitted to taking a sneak peek into other children’s lunch boxes, and 49% admitted they have felt embarrassed when packing items such as chocolate bars and crisps. 

Some children love to take charge of their lunch box fate. 36% have brought back their lunch box uneaten, and 33% of British parents said their children ask if they can pack their own lunch box. 34% of parents have also had their child say they were bored of their lunch box.

Clutton comments: “In previous decades, children were pestering their parents to include in lunch boxes the most popular foods that were being marketed. Children in the 20s are more focussed on sustainability, and so ‘pester power’ now might mean asking for non-meat options that they see as being healthier and more sustainable.”

She concludes: “Looking at lunch boxes over the last 25 years, it is striking to consider how much has changed even when the core elements might seem similar.”

“A lunch box of 1998 and one in 2023 might each typically include a sandwich, savoury snack, cheese, a sweet treat, fruit, and a drink – yet what those elements are would be very different. Lunch boxes now are likely to be less processed and to have more variety, often now with home cooking included.”