Athlone business receives prestigious Irish Marketing Award
Athlone-based school lunch service The Lunch Bag scooped a prestigious Irish Marketing Award at the weekend.
The company, which has its administrative and marketing headquarters in Athlone, and headed up by Athlone woman Ger Killian as managing director, beat off strong competition from the likes of Heineken and Britvic to take the New Product Award category.
The awards night, held in the Clayton Burlington Hotel on Friday last, was hosted by RTE's Bryan Dobson, and was awash with the biggest hitters in the marketing world with all from Diageo to The National Lottery up for the coveted awards.
The New Product Award, sponsored by SuperValu, is aimed at those introducing new ideas and services into the national market. With its 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 Coosan National School and now serves over 500 schools nationwide, taking on up to 15 new schools a week.
"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, 1 in 4 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 into the belief and passion we have for this service," Ms 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 and it's a privilege the company does 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,” she said.
The company's growth is continuing apace with its production facility in Nenagh set for expansion and the company, currently employing 140 staff, adding up to three people a week.