Warmables was born in 2009 with the idea of sending a young boy off to school carrying a warm meal in his lunch box. The challenge was keeping it warm ‘til noon.
Like so many of you lunch packing parents out there; I was not willing to let Isaiah eat food coming from the school cafeteria. I wanted to know exactly what he ate and make sure he is getting a proper lunch. There was nothing on the market to satisfy my mommy concerns and I decided against all the odds to do it myself.
One day I stood in a dollar store brainstorming about how I could possibly keep food warm in Isaiah’s lunch bag. Then I saw it; a pair of oven mitts with Santa images on it.
It instantly hit me; if this keeps heat out, it also keeps heat in.
A one-year process of cutting various mitts, fabrics and materials apart just to sew them back together started.
Luckily, I already knew from my Swiss background that little heat packs filled with cherry pits could be used to pre-heat lunch bags and keep meals warm longer.
Finally, we succeeded with holding smaller portions warm for 3-5 hours and decided to call our product WARMABLES.
My name is Yvonne. I was born and raised in Switzerland and have been living in the USA for many years at this point. My son is now 21 and graduated from college this past spring. Together we are re-building our business after 2 years of Warmables having been dormant.
Warmables has enabled thousands of families across the nation to keep food warm for school, the gym and the office. Hungry construction workers, moms fighting after-baby weight and school kids alike enjoy the break from sandwiches and salads and welcome the warm meal waiting for them in their lunch bags.
The ability to keep food warm for up to 6, sometimes 7 hours is a total game changer for lunch packers like yourself. It opens up tons of new options. It makes lunches more enjoyable and packing them becomes more diverse. It’s a fantastic opportunity to plan ahead, pack leftovers, save some money and sometimes even a little time. As I mentioned, it really is a serious game changer.
Thinking back, the hardest part was explaining to concerned parents that keeping food warm for a few hours is save and can be done. It was not easy gaining their trust. Once we started giving out samples to bloggers the positive reviews opened up the floodgates and the concept caught on. The day we found ourselves having competition was the moment I really understood that I dreamt up and created an amazing product.
Then all our lives got put on hold for 2 years.
Without the cafeterias, lunch trucks or microwaves available we all really got creative.
During that time, I realized that it was easy to supercharge our current all-natural heat source. I was standing in a coffee shop and watched the lady behind the counter pulling a cardboard sleeve over hot cups of coffee. Yep, that exact sleeve we all have known for years. Again, the idea hit; let me take a stainless-steel bottle and create a sleeve for it. Fill the bottle with coffee and pull that sleeve over it. The bottle will seriously heat the lunch bag and the sleeve will keep my hands from burning when I handle the bottle.
When I got home, I went straight to my sewing studio and made the first hot bottle sample. It worked. After 5, 6 and even 7 hours both, my meal and my tea were still at a great eating temperature. What a win!
While many companies now offer mass-produced heated lunchboxes and heat packs filled with chemicals, Warmables heat sources are 100% natural. It's either cherry pits inside the heat packs or any hot beverage including water, tea or coffee in the hot bottle. The heat packs are used for younger kids and the hot bottle is loved by teens and adults.
What I am most excited about and proud of is that we still source all our materials and supplies right here in the USA. It is company policy as I feel strongly about supporting the economy in this nation we all call our home.
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Our cherry pits come from cherry orchards in MI
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Our ripstop fabric ships to us from a flag making company in FL
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Our batting is made from domestic cotton and ships from WA
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Our neoprene is custom made for us by a company located in CA
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Our food storage containers are made from recycled bottles in MA
We hand make all our FOOD WARMER SLEEVES AND HEAT PROTECTOR SLEEVES right here in our sewing studio in Jersey City. Local seamstresses, high school kids, and other helper bees make it possible to keep it all going, ship orders and answer e-mails. All our help is paid fair wages, we offer the young adults a good first job experience, and we all smile while we cut, sew, glue, create, and think about future possibilities!
We thank every last one of you for taking the time to read our story. If you like to stay in touch, follow us on IG @warmables_ or sign up for our newsletter.
Yvonne and Isaiah
