It’s safe to say that the 2020 Back-to-School season is unlike any that came before it. Many of your shoppers are going to find themselves serving the roles of both parent and teacher, and with that comes many unique challenges. Meal-prepping can be a great solve for busy adults who are juggling work, Zoom, childcare, and child education! Share the following tips and recipes across your social media platforms; your customers will be grateful for the help. A colorful, seasonal in-store display next to berries and other fresh fruit can help remind shoppers that these items are great to throw in a lunch as is, or use as the base for numerous healthy and delicious meals.

Tips and tricks for busy parents…

• Keep it flexible. Come up with a primary component for each day, and then make the sides easy (fresh fruit, nuts, baby carrots, etc.)
• Check for dinner leftovers that can do double-duty. Baked chicken the night before? Slap it in a sandwich with baby spinach and you’ve got a healthy, filling school-lunch “main dish.”
• Make it in bulk! Hummus, tuna and chicken salad, and hard-boiled eggs are just a few great prep-in-advance options.
• Get those kids in the kitchen! It’s a well-known fact that kids are more likely to try foods they participated in preparing. And, if you do find the whole family at home, making designs on a plate with berries or grapes can be a fun way for little ones to participate in putting together school lunches.

In addition to the great tips above, Allrecipes offers a template for a week’s worth of easy-to-prep school lunches. 

The Well•Pict Berries recipe page is full of fantastic ideas for any meal at any time of day; here are a few of our favorites for make-ahead school lunches:

Well•Pict Strawberry Chia Pudding

Well•Pict Raspberry Energy Bars

Well•Pict Baked Strawberry Chips

Well•Pict Berries Raspberry Energy Bars