Lean Cuisine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lean Cuisine is a popular brand of frozen entreés and dinners sold in the United States, Canada, and Australia by Nestlé. The brand began as low fat, low calorie versions of Stouffer's products. Today Lean Cuisine includes traditional dinners, ethnic dishes, pizzas, whole grain Spa Cuisine entreés, and paninis. The headquarters of Lean Cuisine in the United States is located in Solon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
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[edit] Overview and history
Lean Cuisine was created in 1981 to provide a healthier alternative to Stouffer's frozen meals. It began with ten items and has expanded to include 100+ different meals and had sales of over $1 billion in 2006. The brand name "Lean Cuisine" is considered by the FDA as a nutrient content claim, so all Lean Cuisine items are required to meet the "lean" criteria of less than 10 g fat, 4.5 g or less saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol [1]. Lean Cuisine items are also calorie-controlled, with most items in the 200-300 calorie range, with a minimum of 140 calories and a maximum of 400 calories[2]. A major competitor of Lean Cuisine is Healthy Choice, manufactured by ConAgra Foods. It is required to meet "healthy" criteria by the FDA[3], since it includes "healthy" in its brand name. This includes a requirement to be below 480mg of sodium in addition to fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol targets.
Other competitors include Smart Ones, made by H.J. Heinz Company, and South Beach Diet[4], made by Kraft Foods.
Lean Cuisine grew significantly during the 1980's and 1990's on the strength of low-fat, low-calorie dieting, becoming one of Nestle's largest U.S. brands. Sales suffered during 2003-2004, as did other diet food brands with the increased popularity of low carb dieting. Lean Cuisine reacted by launching a line of reduced-carb entrees in 2004, and has seen stronger growth as low carb dieting has become less prevalent.
Lean Cuisine sponsors the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation [5] and America on the Move [6].
[edit] Timeline
- 1981 Brand launched with 10 items
- 1981 Launch communication focuses on "Good tasting entrees at less than 300 calories."
- 1983 Tagline adopted "You'll love the way it looks on you"
- 1983 Strong demand leads to product shortages and apologies in print ads to consumers
- 1984 Lean Cuisine 14-day diet plan, free booklet called "On Your Way to Being Lean"
- 1984 Another tagline "It's not just the calories that count, it's the taste"
- 1985 Product line expanded to 18 items
- 1985 Tagline was "You'll love the taste. And you'll love the way it looks on you"
- 1986 With competition entering category, tagline was "Only Lean Cuisine tastes like Lean Cuisine"
- 1987 Product line expanded to 25 items, including shrimp, lamb, and veal items
- 1987 Tagline "More Satisfaction"
- 1987 Directly targeted Weight Watchers dieters by publishing Weight Watchers exchanges for all items
- 1991 Launched 11 new items, focused on low fat message, like "98% fat free!"
- 1992 Launched 8 new items, including Honey Mustard Chicken, which contained a jar of Grey Poupon
- 1993 Launched 8 more new items, including pot pies and enchilada
- 1995 Launched Lunch Express- lower price option, eat from the box
- 1995 Tagline "Time to treat yourself right"
- 1996 Launched Cafe Classics- more restaurant-inspired meals and look
- 1996 Tagline changed to "It's not just Lean, it's Cuisine"
- 1997 Launched American Favorites- more homestyle classic American dishes
- 1998 Launched 4 new Cafe Classics items
- 1999 Launched Skillet Sensations- bag "kit" meals that cook in a pan
- 2000 First mention of tagline "Do something good for yourself" in communications
- 2001 Launch of Zesty Selections items- more spicy, flavorful dishes
- 2002 Launch of Bowls and Dinnertime Selects
- 2003 Launch of Asian product line
- 2003 Launch of Pizzas
- 2004 Launch of Low carb entrees
- 2004 Launch of deep dish pizza
- 2004 Tagline "It's not just Lean, it's Cuisine" gone, replaced with "Do Something Good for Yourself"
- 2005 Launch of Spa Cuisine- whole grain entreés
- 2005 Launch of Dinnertime Selects with dessert
- 2006 Preservatives eliminated from most (80+) items
- 2006 Launch of Panini sandwiches
- 2006 Launch of Brick Oven style pizzas
- 2007 Launch of five Spa Cuisine items with twice the vegetables
[edit] Parodies
In 1996, MADtv did a parody of this product called "Lean Bulime".
