Coolit: the refrigerated lunchbox with Coolpack’s gel pack
Coolit: a cool and sustainable concept
“Within our program, the third year is all about starting your own business. After several brainstorming sessions, there were many ideas on the table. When one of us put his dopper on the table, we came up with the idea of developing something equally simple and practical, but aimed at preventing food waste,” Sanne says.
“The idea for a lunchbox came about because we noticed that lunch is still often thrown away. Pupils and students like ourselves have a continuous schedule and therefore often eat lunch at school. But if that lunch has been in our bag all day, it doesn’t always taste so good on a hot day. Many pupils and students therefore regularly throw away their sandwiches to get something fresh from the canteen or supermarket. A real shame, of course. That’s why we came up with a sustainable, refrigerated lunchbox.”
From concept to product
Initially, Sanne, Tim, Zoë and Rick, the group of students behind Coolit, wanted to produce the lunchbox themselves. However, the start-up costs, such as for a mold (casting), were not easy. Therefore, they chose to purchase and assemble the parts. Thus, the lunchboxes are purchased and engraved by a party, the fabric, elastic and emblems are purchased and assembled by an acquaintance, and the gel packs that are inside the lunchbox are produced at Coolpack purchased.
“An extensive search preceded purchasing gel packs from Coolpack. We initially tested with hard cooling elements, but with an average thickness of 6 cm per lunchbox, this left too little space for lunch. Gelpacks proved to be a more suitable solution. Coolpack was one of the few suppliers who could supply gel packs with suitable dimensions and weight from stock. In addition, a hard requirement was that the gel packs be food-safe and non-toxic. Coolpack’s gel packs meet these requirements as well,” Sanne explains.
The future of Coolit
After extensive testing, the time had come: Coolit was a reality. In March, sales began via the webshop. And the start-up is doing well, because while at first mainly friends and acquaintances bought the lunchbox, Sanne, Tim, Zoë and Rick see that more and more strangers find their way to the webshop!
What the future of the start-up is still unclear. “Because we started as a student company, we have no KVK registration. At the end of June we have to make a choice: either liquidate, or continue,” Sanne says. “Whether we go ahead depends on a number of factors, which we are busy investigating right now.”
In any case, the Coolpack team wishes Sanne, Tim, Zoë and Rick the best of luck!
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