In what is a major milestone for American ingenuity, one of our most beloved food items is turning 30 this year. Grab your prepacked bologna, cheese, crackers, and candy because it’s time to celebrate Lunchables, the American invention that’s been around since the mid-1980s. We discovered this delectable dallop of information in an article from Joe Pinsker in The Atlantic. The full piece is worth a read, but we’ve compiled a list of highlights below. It might start to make you hungry:

– Lunchables dominates the market. According to Pinsker they “currently have an 84 percent share of the market for kids’ “combination lunches.” This prepackaged cheese and meat monoploy helped Kraft Heinz (owner of Lunchables) rake in $1.36 billion last year. Moreover, that’s up 19% over the past three years.







– Lunchables Are Good at What They Do: Although the brand has experimented with different offerings over the years, “its core selling points of convenience (for parents) and fun (for kids) have remained constant since its early days.” Even in the midst of a health-conscious consumer transition, Lunchables have held their ground. Pinkser pointed to a conversation he had with Andrew Ruis, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who thinks “the product has done so well because of how it fits into families’ days.” When packing lunches parents have to wear multiple hats. They have to be a chef, entertainer, and nutritionist. When you can add saving a couple dollars to the equation it makes the product a lunchtime holy grail that checks off a lot of boxes.

– The history and conception of the food is fascinating: In the mid-1980s executives at Oscar Mayer noticed that consumers’ interest in bologna, one of its key products, was declining. After tests and focus groups the idea of portable bologna proved viable, but what emerged is that people generally liked to pair it with things like bread (or crackers) and cheese. In a nod to partitioned frozen TV dinners, the offering became purposely segmented and morphed into something closer to what it is today.

– Originally Made for Adults: The product was initially aimed at adults, but through the aforementioned testing, Oscar Meyer realized that their ideal consumer was actually a mom with little to no time, trying to shop for her family.









– Ideas for names include: On-Trays, Crackerwiches, Snackables, and Fun Mealz.

– According to Pinser, they were “an instant hit”: Sales exceeded $200 million in the first 12 months.

Here’s to another 30 years of prepackaged food from mom for lunch.