You know the one. The lovingly packed leftover pasta that goes into the school bag at 7am and comes home at 4pm untouched, cold and faintly grey. The thermos that promised warmth but delivered lukewarm disappointment. The optimistic container of fried rice that your kid took one look at and swapped for a Vegemite sandwich from a friend.
If cold school lunches are your nemesis, there’s a new contender worth knowing about. The Go-Box from Meke Baby is a portable, rechargeable lunch box warmer that actually heats food rather than just keeping it vaguely insulated.
What the Go-Box actually does
Unlike traditional insulated containers that slowly surrender to the laws of thermodynamics, the Go-Box uses multi-sided heating to bring food up to 90°C. Depending on what you’ve packed, that takes anywhere from five to 25 minutes.
The kit includes a removable one-litre stainless steel tin with a divider (hello, separate sections for rice and curry), a lockable leakproof lid, and triple-wall insulation. There’s also a built-in ice pack compartment for days when you’re packing yoghurt and fruit instead. It charges via USB, so the car charger on the school run works perfectly.
Everything is BPA-free, and the stainless steel tin is dishwasher safe, though you’ll want to keep the heating base away from water.
What can you actually heat?
Anything you’d normally microwave, really. Rice, pasta, noodles, curries, casseroles, soups, stir-fries. Those homemade nuggets your kid loves but refuses to eat at room temperature. Last night’s bolognese that’s genuinely good but needs to be properly warm to be appealing.
The one-litre capacity is generous enough for a proper meal, and the divider means you can pack two different items without them becoming one sad fusion.
Beyond the school bag
While school lunches are the obvious use case, the Go-Box earns its keep in plenty of other scenarios. Long drives to the grandparents. Weekend sport when you’re stuck at the oval for hours. Daycare drop-offs when you want something warm waiting. Hospital stays when cafeteria food isn’t cutting it. Your own desk lunch when you’re sick of the microwave queue.
It’s designed for the whole family, not just the kids, which makes the investment feel a bit more practical.
The brand behind it
Meke Baby is the creation of Melbourne mum Elysia Krstevski, who launched the company in 2023 after a lockdown experience that will feel familiar to many. She’d dragged herself out for a grocery run while battling mastitis and a screaming baby, with no way to warm a bottle on the go. The portable milk warmer came first, followed by Telstra and CommBank innovation awards and a spot on Baby Bunting shelves nationwide.
The Go-Box is the grown-up sibling of that original warmer, designed for the whole family rather than just the baby stage.
The details
- Price: $160 at the time of writing (down from $185)
- Colours: Neutral or black
- Shipping: Free over $99
- Warranty: One year
- Materials: BPA-free, stainless steel tin is dishwasher safe
- Capacity: One litre with removable divider
- Charging: USB rechargeable
Available at:
Will it finally convince your kid that last night’s dinner is worth eating at room temperature? No promises. But at least you’ll know the meal was hot when they ignored it.
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