The salient feature of much of the new product development in children’s lunchbox and on-the-go foods is the prevalence of health claims and movement toward healthier foods. Marketers are leaning on packaging to help deliver messages about these benefits.

However, Mintel’s New Products Database reports that the approach is slightly different around the globe. In the United States, “lunchbox drinks” are emphasizing low-calorie claims to combat obesity and the addition of fluoride for dental health to promote overall well being. In Europe and the Asia Pacific region, marketers are targeting children with sports beverages and healthier juice drinks.

Packaging innovation across the board is centering on child-friendly bottles and shapes, and novelty and collectible products, Mintel says in a new report that reviews the category.

One of the recent distinctively shaped beverage bottles to enter the market in Italy is Belte Belteo, a ready-to-drink, chilled, and decaffeinated iced tea from Belte. The bottle is widest at the waist, but its 330-mL size and the light weight of its plastic structure make the package’s dimensions ideal for small hands.

The tea comes in the orange and grapefruit flavors.

In the United States, Coca-Cola North America has introduced Minute Maid Just 10. The low-calorie fruit punch for kids is made with 5% real fruit juice and contains 100% of the daily value of vitamin C, with 10 calories and 2 grams of sugar per package.

Minute Maid Just 10 is marketed in 6.75-oz shelf-stable standup pouches bearing pinched waists. The Just 10 brand name suggests the product’s main health benefit and is featured prominently within the visual hierarchy of the label, along with light-enhanced product photography to amplify the juice’s fruity taste.

Sold in supermarkets and mass merchandisers, 10 pouches are packed into paperboard cartons. The cartons provide the brand with plentiful “real estate” for signaling the beverage’s health benefits on multiple panels.

Fortification is growing as a key feature of recent beverage launches in the Asia Pacific region, and they’re targeting on-the-go kids. One of these is Amino Vital Club J. From Ajinomoto, Amino Vital is an energy drink marketed to kids preparing for athletic competition.

The milky sports drink comes in a 250-g spouted, standup flexible pouch featuring a graphic design with swirls on the front panel that suggest the product’s health benefits for the body. Similar to many lunchbox products, this package calls on an animated character to make the sales pitch to kids.

From a structural perspective, the spout adds convenience to the pouch by eliminating the potentially messy step of puncturing the package and inserting a straw in order to drink, a requirement on many kids’ beverage pouches.

Amino Vital is fortified with amino acids and calcium.