Award served up to The Lunch Bag
Prestigious accolade for local firm
A Nenagh based company making 20,000 school lunches a day has won a major marketing award, and management has revealed that the firm is now set for expansion.
There was great excitement in the Clayton Burlington Hotel on Friday last for the announcement of this year's All Ireland Marketing Awards, hosted RTÉ's Bryan Dobson and attracting some big hitters in the marketing world
But the local fim stole the show when it came to the Supervalu sponsored ‘New Product Award’, coveted by those introducing new ideas and services into the national market. Finalists included Heineken and Britvic, as well as Cornmarket and the dark horse of the night, Nenagh's very own company, The Lunch Bag.
With their innovative app allowing parents to have school lunches delivered directly to their child's school desk, The Lunch Bag was a clear winner, with the announcement bringing the house down to much applause from parents across the room.
“The All Ireland Marketing Awards are such a distinguished honour and we were thrilled to even be shortlisted,” said Ger Killian, Managing Director of The Lunch Bag. “But to win against such established companies was more than we could ever have dreamt of.”
The company was established in 2019, starting a trial in one school and now serving over 500 schools nationwide, taking on up to 15 new schools a week.
They opened the Lisbunny facility in Nenagh in 2020 and now hire over 140 staff.
PHENOMENAL GROWTH
“We are experiencing phenomenal growth in a very short space of time,” said Ray Nangle, CEO of the company. “To think that less than three years ago the only way a child in a non-DEIS school could get lunch was if they brought it from home and now, one in four children have access to our service and to a massive variety of lunches for the same cost as a homemade repetitive one. We are now producing up to 20,000 lunches a day and will reach 30,000 a day by September.”
The award was given in recognition of the strategic alignment, robustness and future potential of the company. “We were so honoured to hear that the judges bought in to the belief and passion we have for this service,” Killian continued.
“We are adamant that all families should have the opportunity to provide a different lunch choice every day without food waste or additional cost to a homemade lunch.
“The fully sustainable lunch bag allows for exceptional marketing opportunities for the company, a privilege we do not take lightly. We use our brand as an opportunity to instill a healthy mindset, a positive attitude to nutrition and responsible consumerism to our children.”
With their premises in Nenagh set for expansion, company management have little doubt that The Lunch Bag will see plenty more accolades like this in the future.