Packaging Digest

Soup/salad kits grant consumers' time, taste and lo-cal wishes

For many, the ongoing lunchtime dilemma is controlling calories without compromising taste. Lifestyle Foods presents a new chilled grab-and-go line to answer this quandary. Eating healthy or eating hearty no longer need be a choice with three soup and salad offerings and an Oatmeal Kit.

After two years in development, the company announces that the soup and salad line is the first of its kind to market. While many restaurant or home-cooked soup and salad options are high in calories, fat content and preservatives, Lifestyle Foods considered these elements carefully in their recipe formulation. Three of the innovative combinations are each under 125 calories.

Another unique feature to the new line is the dual-use cardboard sleeve wrapping the package exterior. Once the consumer slides it off of the package, instructions designate a pair of tabs that interlock to create a cradle to heat the soup container. Besides offering helpful green and fitness tips, the sleeve helps protect consumer fingertips from the microwavable heated soup.

Lifestyle Foods initiated a call for "Reducing Your Forkprint" to reuse and recycle all available packaging options. The soup and salad containers are 100% recyclable through No. 5 plastics programs, while the sleeve is 100% recyclable and certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

The public increasingly demands wholesome foods from manufacturers and Lifestyle Foods is no exception. In fact, the pressure on the company is perhaps greater because of their vibe to provide truly chilled healthy grab-and-go options. Every consideration was taken to ensure the products are "natural," including reformulating all of the salad dressings. The company has successfully removed preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and monosodium glutamate (MSG) from all its salad dressings.

The Chicken Noodle Soup is paired with a Caesar Salad and lite Caesar dressing; the Vegetarian Vegetable Soup is joined by a Garden Salad with lite Ranch dressing; a Tomato Basil Soup is accompanied by a Garden Salad with lite Italian dressing; and the Oatmeal Kit is complemented by fresh apple, raisins and turbinado sugar.

Lifestyle Foods also replaced traditional salt with natural sea salt, leaving minerals from the evaporated sea water intact. Greek yogurt is added in the Tomato Basil Soup as an extra source of protein without added sugar and carbohydrates. The Oatmeal contains Steel Cut Oats, which are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, providing twice the amount of protein as found in brown rice.

"It was a joint effort in development amongst our team," says Lifestyle Foods founder and CEO Jason Bross. He adds, "We wanted to come up with something simple, yet isn't being done yet."

Consumers will continue to enjoy their favorite Lifestyle Foods products due to the company's commitment to flavor and will now reap the added benefits of a more wholesome approach to grab-and-go eating.

Source: Lifestyle Foods Inc.