A cheese sandwich for lunch? Steambox has a different take on that

By Youri van Heumen

“More and more people are consciously focusing on their health,” according to Kevin de Krieger, COO at SteamBox. We are keeping better track of our sleep quality and exercising more. And, of course, we eat a hot meal every day. The latter is something that De Krieger says is still a problem. Because when you’re on the road, and you don’t have that much time, a hot meal is something that is sometimes skipped.

You can soon find something at the gas station. Or you warm something up quickly in the microwave at the office. That’s why De Krieger and his co-founder Amit Jaura developed an electronic lunchbox that uses steam technology, so you can eat a healthy home-made meal nice and hot at the office or on the go. De Krieger tells us more about that in this instalment of start-up of the day.

How did you come up with the idea?

“That’s partly thanks to my co-founder Amit Jaura. Whereas he would often bring a nice hot meal from home, I had to make my whole wheat sandwiches with cheese. We also share some common ground as we both love sports and good food. Hot meals are important for athletes, and so we soon ran into this problem.”

What problem are you solving?

“We saw that there wasn’t an option to properly reheat your food when you’re outdoors. Not for fanatical sports people, for example. Who often end up just sitting around eating plain cold rice with chicken and broccoli. By using the Steambox, you can be more efficient, more flexible, healthier and also often cheaper. So we began our search for a solution. We found one in the Steambox. In a certain sense, it solves a problem, but not for everyone. For others it is more of a luxury item and therefore adds to someone’s lifestyle. With the Steambox, we offer people just that extra bit of flexibility to heat up food.”

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Who did you develop this product for?

“We haven’t been around that long, of course. But basically our target market is people who take a very conscious approach to their health. These are people who exercise a lot, pay attention to their diet and keep track of their sleep patterns. And I think this target group is only going to grow. More and more people are paying more attention to their health, and we are catering to that by providing an extra helping hand to achieve a healthier lifestyle.”

How does it work?

“There is a battery-powered heating element built into our lunchbox. The element gets incredibly hot. Water is poured onto that element from a small container inside the Steambox. This produces steam that warms up the food in your food container and makes it taste good. You can control that lunchbox with buttons, or use an app, to have your food heated up at a later time of your choosing.”

What challenges are you running into?

“We have developed a new product that first needs to be accepted by the market. That is what makes raising money a challenge. Especially when you then also have to deal with the stereotypical image of investors: someone who doesn’t understand why people need something else than a cheese sandwich. Which is why we made such a bold decision.

We made the choice not to try to raise large investment right away. Instead, we started a fundraising campaign. Thanks to this, we managed to raise over €150,000 and gained 1,200 customers across 57 countries. This means I can say that our product is now accepted.”

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What do you do differently from your competitors?

“We are tapping into a new market with our electronic lunchbox. There is no competition from the segment in which we are positioning ourselves, but there are alternatives. The simplest example: a microwave oven. And the other alternatives are just lousy as far as quality is concerned.

Moreover, often these kinds of products use mains electricity. What makes this alternative even worse is that such a product works on contact heating. This involves heating the food on the sides. As a result, you run the risk that your meal will burn on the outside, while the inside is still icy cold and your food ultimately ends up dry.”

What are your goals for the future?

“We want to grow towards the first tens of thousands of customers. I’m quite clear about that. We want to put the Steambox on the world map as a market leader. To achieve that, we will still need to work really hard and expand our team, but we are well on our way. Ultimately, we want to be seen as the solution for a delicious hot meal away from home.”