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BENTO BOXES MAKE ANY MEAL IRRESISTIBLE Made in the USA bento boxes for kids and adults from Laptop Lunches Bento- ware are designed for infinite menu possibilities for school, work, play and travel. All products are free of phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), PVC, and lead. Suggested Retail Price:$14.99-39.99 Laptop Lunches Bento-ware www.laptoplunches.com BACK TO SCHOOL 1 2 KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW n APRIL 2014 n www.kitchenwarenews.com Hopalong Cassidy on a lunchbox, and the kids can take the TV show to school.' You can't get better marketing than that." Aladdin sold 600,000 units in the first year of manufacture, and in subsequent years, other companies followed suit. The last of the big-selling metal lunchboxes was probably the Rambo lunchbox, manufactured by the King Seeley Thermos company in 1985. Why did they go out of style? One story has it that in the early '70s, a group of concerned mothers approached the Florida state legislature with a petition to have metal lunchboxes banned. They said lunchboxes were being used as weapons on the playground. According to the stor y, metal lunchboxes were subsequently banned in Florida and then in other states. It 's a nice stor y—nice enough to inspire a Marilyn Manson song called "Lunchbox"—and fitting, in a way, given that the last of the metal lunchboxes was based on Rambo. But it's not true. In fact, the only references I could find to lunchboxes in Florida state law defined them as "school supplies." A far more likely explanation for the decline of the metal lunchbox is that manufacturers found plastic ones cheaper to make: and with the exception of being plastic, lunchboxes remained more or less the same through the 80s and 90s. In recent years, however, we've seen a major shift toward the bento box. In any case, the metal lunchbox you once knew has been relegated to the land of kitsch. W hen Amy Hemmert and Tammy Pelstring, co- founders of Laptop Lunches, which produces bento lunch kits for the American market, decided to start the company, they may have had a sense that it was going to make a splash. They were out for a run one day, and, Hemmert says, " The endorphins just kicked in. We figured out we could change the world." Lunchbox (Cont. from Page 1) LAVA LUNCH Lava Lunch is a timely, easy, and practical solution that combines hip modern design with warmth. Lava Lunch keeps the food inside warm for up to six hours and allows to-go lunches from foods you never thought possible before all served hot. It does so through a combination of its proprietary insulation and additional heat provided by the Lava Rocks included. The Lava Rocks are designed to absorb heat energy right from your microwave and store it above a pre-determined temperature. Once the interior of the tote falls below this temperature, the Lava Rocks slowly release their heat, thereby maintaining the temperature inside the tote. They are also made of organic, plant-based material, and designed so that they cannot leak—even if punctured. Lava Lunch www.lavalunch.com COPCO INTRODUCES COLLAPSIBLE TO-GO CONTAINERS Copco, a division of Wilton Enterprises, introduced six new on-the-go collapsible containers to the company's innovative hydration and thermal product line at the 2014 IH+HS Show. The new Copco food storage products meet the varied needs of these on-the-go consumers. Whether the consumer is eating healthier by choosing fresh ingredients for meals or saving time by cooking larger meals that ensure leftovers, the Copco microwave- and dishwasher-safe silicone containers with secure lids make it easy to bring lunch or leftovers to work or school without the risk of spills. These innovative containers also collapse, making it easy to store many containers in small spaces. The BPA-free containers come in bright colors: turquoise, green and purple to coordinate with the Copco Beverage To-Go line. Two lid styles are available and containers come in a variety of sizes to accommodate various uses. Containers featuring polypropylene lock-tight lid with silicone valve to release steam from hot foods. Wilton Enterprises 630.963.7100 www.wilton.com WATER BENTO SPLASH BOX Plastic-free and leak-free, the Blue Water Bento Splash Box™ makes going green at lunchtime easy. Its plastic-free silicone lid is an earth-friendly lunchtime solution for families that love non-toxic stainless steel ECOlunchboxes but crave the leak- free convenience of conventional plastic lids. The happy blue Splash Box lid, with its embossed wave design, also includes easy-to-grip tabs for opening and closing the lunchbox. The stainless steel lunchbox bottom is designed to stack with others, nesting-style, for easy storage. Splash Box can help families reduce their dependence on plastics to safeguard against exposure to plastic toxins, such as bisphenol-A (BPA), in the food - as well as to protect our oceans from plastic waste. Green Lunches = Blue Waters. Suggested Retail Price: $22 ECOlunchboxes bluewaterbento.com AQUA ZINGER PRODUCES ENHANCED BEVERAGES The Aqua Zinger is a water bottle that allows you to infuse your water with all- natural ingredients such as cucumber, lemon, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, mint, basil, and more. The vacuum insulated stainless steel bottle has a bottom-mounted grinder that retains the ground pulp of your ingredients, which allows the pure extracted flavors to travel through a fine-combed mesh screen and infuse the water. Zing Anything's brand of reusable "DIY" water bottles allow consumers to infuse all-natural ingredients into their beverages using a convenient, on-the-go bottle. The bottle technology allows for expedited infusions using less fruit, resulting in enhanced flavored water without artificial flavors and refined sugars. Zing Anything 800.573.0052 www.zinganything.com TAKE LUNCH TO SCHOOL IN JOSEPH JOSEPH'S NEST CONTAINERS The new Nest Storage system from Joseph Joseph offers lots of food storage containers that are dishwasher- , freezer- and microwave-safe, with a space-saving design that lets the container boxes nest inside each other and the lids all snap together. They're also color-coded, with a color chip on the bottom of each container box that matches the color on the rim of its seal, thus getting around that whole problem of having to paw through a cupboard to find the container that's the right size for the lunchbox entrée, then having to search again for the matching lid. Suggested Retail Price: $34.99 for the set. Joseph Joseph Inc. 917.338.0906 www.josephjoseph.com DABBAWALLA BLUE MONKEY LUNCH SACK Get rid of lunch time blues with the Dabbawalla Blue Monkey Lunch Sack. Not just for bananas, it fits lunch, a snack and a water bottle. Inside mesh pockets keep things stashed and stowed so whether swinging through the jungle or running for the bus, items stay secure. Insulating properties help keep food at safe temperatures until lunch time, because there is no monkeying around when it comes to lunch. Suggested Retail Price: $30 Dabbawalla Bags www.dabbawallabags.com

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