How it all began
Our vision
Make food simply hot.
Without electricity.
It was the fall of 2022 and the headlines were full of gloomy scenarios: Energy shortages, impending blackouts - a consequence of the escalating Ukraine conflict. In the midst of this collective uncertainty, we asked ourselves a seemingly trivial but existential question:
How do you actually cook a hot meal if the power suddenly goes out?
It quickly became clear that most of the solutions out there are plugged into a socket. No electricity? No hot food.
So we went on a search - scouring the internet for alternative, electricity-independent options. What we found: Camping stoves, solar stoves, spirit stoves, tea light stoves, charcoal barbecues, gas barbecues, portable power stations or elaborate solar panel systems with battery storage. But none of the solutions convinced us. Too big, too expensive, too complicated, too dirty or simply unsuitable for indoor use.
In the end, we bought a few hundred tea lights. Not because we thought they were the ultimate solution. But because they were safe, cheap, easy to store and suitable for indoor use.
We had a camping stove, of course. But it needed gas cartridges. And they were suddenly sold out everywhere - or were being traded at prices as if they were gold. So it was better to have a tea light stove than no plan B at all. And if the blackout had never happened? Then we would have had enough candles for the next few years.
Our discovery
Self-heating lunchboxes.
Hot food - without electricity. Without gas. Without fire.
We discovered the perfect electricity-independent solution, which we were actually no longer looking for, in Japan - quite by chance.
The winter was over, the electricity remained stable and the issue of emergency cooking had long since receded into the background. But then, on a train journey from Tokyo to Osaka on the Shinkansen, we made a discovery that would revolutionize our idea of "quick and hot food".
A Japanese man was sitting with us, handling a colorful cardboard box that looked like a toy package. We watched curiously as he pulled on a string attached to the box. We heard a soft hiss, followed by barely visible clouds of steam. A short time later, he opened the box. Steam rose and our neighbor began to eat rice, vegetables and pieces of fillet from the box with his chopsticks.
The food was obviously hot. How was that possible?
In conversation with him, we learned that he was enjoying a self-heating ekiben that he had bought at the station.
What seemed like science fiction to us was everyday life for millions of people in Asia. And for us: the moment when an old question became an inspiration.
Our research
Heat food using heating pads.
Commonplace in Asia. Virtually unknown in Europe.
Our curiosity was aroused. So we began to dig deeper - and discovered a world of food preparation that had remained completely hidden from us until then.
In Asia, self-heating bento boxes and hot pots have long been part of everyday life. These are elaborate disposable food boxes filled with appetizing dishes that heat themselves up in minutes thanks to a chemical reaction inside the box.
What a brilliant, everyday solution for enjoying a hot meal on the go - whether on the train, in the office or on a park bench! Millions of people in Asia use these products every day: commuters, travelers and employees who buy them at train stations, supermarkets or vending machines and enjoy them everywhere - even in places where cold snacks would otherwise be the only option.
What has long been taken for granted in Asia is surprisingly still an insider tip in Europe.
Our mission
Hot food everywhere.
Without electricity. Without packaging waste.
We were impressed by the innovative technology of these meal boxes, but there was one aspect we didn't like at all: too much plastic! After each use, the entire box, including the outer packaging, cutlery and carrier bag, ends up in the bin. Every day, millions upon millions of single-use packaging items are created that are thrown away after a single use.
"The heating method is ingenious, but there must be a more sustainable alternative," became our guiding principle.
We began to imagine a lunchbox that could do more than just heat - a solution that is reusable, resource-saving and suitable for everyday use. Something that is not only good for the user, but also for the environment.
A box for on the go that makes hot food possible - without electricity, without waste, without compromises.
Our approach
Hot food from the lunch box.
Everyone knows them. Everyone has them.
For us, innovation does not mean flooding the world with even more products - it means rethinking what already exists. It was precisely this conviction that led us to a surprisingly simple question:
What if the solution has long been in our kitchen cupboards?
The good old lunch box - a familiar everyday object that almost everyone owns - suddenly revealed unexpected potential. Instead of inventing something completely new, we wanted to develop the familiar further. Our goal: to turn the classic lunch box into a versatile tool for the demands of our time.
This decision opened the door to exciting possibilities:
Why not turn the lunch box into a transport box, cooking box and food bowl, all in one?
A reusable lunch bag, which is also a storage, transport and cooking bag, is used for heating.
And the heat source? Heating pads like those used by the US military - much more compact, lighter and more environmentally friendly than the Asian models that originally inspired us.
Our motivation
Eat warm - always and everywhere.
Not only in the event of a power failure.
With each step, it became clearer that we were breathing new life into an everyday object - and making it fit for a completely new role.
Not just as an emergency solution in the event of a power cut, but as a reliable companion in everyday life.
Because what we had observed in Asia had stuck with us:
The ability to eat hot food anytime and anywhere - independent of power sockets, canteens, delivery services, restaurants or takeaways.
When hiking, in the office, on the train - or simply where otherwise only cold snacks would be possible.
This idea became the heart of our development - and brought us a little closer to the HEAT.me Lunchbox Kit every day.
Our solution
HEAT.me Lunchbox Kit
Eat warm everywhere. No matter where. No matter when.
After intensive development work, many prototypes, countless field tests and enthusiastic feedback from testers who tested the Lunchbox Kit for its capabilities in every conceivable situation, we realized that we wanted to share the Lunchbox Kit with even more people.
Because the Lunchbox Kit stands for something that has become rare today: Independence in its purest form.
Without electricity. Without frills. Without ifs and buts.
We have deliberately dispensed with any electronics - so that it works exactly when everything else fails.
It makes you independent of restaurants, takeaways and microwaves.
It gives you the freedom to enjoy a warming meal at any time - be it on long train journeys, in nature or in the very situation that once inspired us: the unexpected moment when the light suddenly goes out.
The next idea
From Japan to Korea: the idea becomes more concrete
BBQ Grilling
Japan had fascinated us. But South Korea changed everything.
In Seoul, barbecuing is part of the city's DNA - in restaurants, at home and, above all, outdoors. What surprised us in the parks of Seoul: Koreans sat on picnic blankets, opened plain cardboard boxes from the supermarket and grilled fresh meat on them. No assembly, no lugging, no major preparation. Just buy it, open it up and start grilling.
These so-called BBQ Bento Boxes - Disposable barbecue sets with pre-portioned charcoal, grill grids and meat - are as commonplace in Korea and Japan as a sandwich from the bakery is here.
What struck us immediately was the shape of the charcoal. Flat, ring-shaped pellets - compact, uniform, efficient. This is exactly the idea behind our HEATRings.
But: These BBQ bento boxes are disposable. Cardboard, aluminum tray, gone. Intended for one evening, then in the bin. We didn't want to copy that - we wanted to do it better.
What if you took the best of this idea - the compactness, the simple charcoal, the spontaneous grilling anywhere - and turned it into a sustainable, reusable product?
This is how the HEAT.me Lunchbox Grill was born. And because we developed our self-heating lunchbox kits at the same time, the next question was obvious: why not combine the two? Grilling, cooling and keeping food warm - in a single box.
This is how an idea became the All-in-One Lunchbox Kit.
Born in Japan. Inspired by Korea. Designed in Freiburg.
A warm meal. Without garbage. Without electricity. Without compromise.