These vacuum-sealed lunch boxes from Zwilling Fresh and Save are perfect for back to school (and back to work)

I love me some Zwilling Fresh & Save food boxes. Not only do they keep cooked and raw food super fresh for an age, they also look great and have a handy app so you can keep track of precisely how long you've kept that leftover lasagne in the fridge, and when you should finally consume it by. I also love using the little electric vacuum pump to suck the air out, as it makes me feel like a scientist. Now, just in time for the new school term, Zwilling – probably best known for making some of the best chef's knives around – has a new addition to the Fresh & Save range: lunch boxes that use the same, ingenious vacuum-sealing tech. 

Although marketed at kids as a 'back to school' product, you could, of course, also use one of these if you are an adult as a 'back to work' kind of deal. I think that's allowed. 

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Standard Fresh & Save boxes are made of heavyweight, attractive glass which is ever so nice but probably not that practical as a school lunch box. So this range is BPA-free plastic instead. Zwilling says the lunch boxes will 'keep everything from sandwiches, wraps and bagels to salad and pasta fresh for longer,' which suggests school lunches have changed quite a bit since I was a kid. If you're old school, F&S will no doubt keep a cheese and pickle, white bread sandwich, one small apple and a Penguin chocolate bar fresh too.

This collection includes three vacuum lunch boxes of various sizes plus the all-important pump. Unlike the normal F&S collections there isn't a bundle available, so you will need to buy the pump on its own, unless of course you're adding lunch boxes to an existing collection of Zwilling's food-saving miracle containers.

Vacuum sealing is done with the smart handheld pump that you can see here. You just plonk it on the grey silicone valve in the middle of the lid, press a button and let it do its thing. 'Its thing' being sucking all the air out of the lunch boxes. This 'locks goodness in, helping to reduce food waste and wasteful packaging, too.' Sealing takes mere seconds and is a very quiet, very simple and hugely satisfying exercise.

Zwilling says, 'Vacuum sealing slows down oxidation so food stays fresh, retaining flavour, vitamins and minerals up to five times longer.' Arguably more important, vacuum sealing saves you time in the morning, as lunches can be made the night before – or even several days before; at the weekend, for instance. That's the beauty of the vacuum seal. 

Other than that, these boxes are not that different to Zwilling's existing plastic Fresh & Save boxes. What makes them lunch boxes is that they feature a divider, 'to separate sweet and savoury.' 

As with the other Zwilling Fresh & Save boxes and bags, every F&S lunch box has its own unique QR code. With Zwilling's Culinary World app you can scan this, enter the contents and receive advice on how long they are likely to last in the fridge or freezer. The app subsequently lets you know when the contents need to be eaten, so you avoid waste. Okay, this is rather less useful for a lunchbox than it is for a container of raw meat, last night's leftovers or a meal cooked in advance and frozen. But it's still kinda cool.

Zwilling Fresh And Save lunch boxes: price and availability

The Small Rectangular Plastic Vacuum Lunch Box is priced £9.95/$12; the Medium is £13.95/$15/AU$38 and the Large, £17.95/$20. 

• Buy from Zwilling UK

• Buy from Zwilling USA – sale now on! 

• Shop Fresh & Save at Amazon Australia