The only reason why people are obsessed with bentos is because they are pretty. Throw them together like your regular lunch sold at supermarkets no one would find them interesting anymore.
I rather appreciate how the Japanese still care about how food is presented. (I believe the idiom goes, "you eat with your eyes first.") I hope that in the pursuit of gender equality, pretty meals don't get lost the way that they have in the states.
What's even more ironic is doing that completely changes how the pie bakes, likely making the result even worse. Those heavy ceramic pie plates mean it takes longer for the pie to get up to temp and cook, often means the pie sticks to the plate, and makes it more difficult to cook the crust properly along with the pie (you could prebake the crust, but not with a frozen pie). I'm pretty sure most businesses use pie tins (foil is wasteful and structurally a poor choice).
I guess the whole goal is perception and convenience, not necessarily quality.
It makes economic sense but it sucks as a customer.
Okay, go on. :-) Agree or disagree, "presentation" is a thing. Sky is blue, people like pretty boxes of food.
On the flip side, boxes that look like someone just threw them together look sad, like no one cared.
They weren't pretty, but we loved them because the little compartments for each food was cute and clever.
Now they make “healthier” adult ones courtesy of Boar’s Head, but Lunchables are definitely not good for you, whereas at least a bento tries to be.
Similarly, there have been some studies suggesting kids will prefer foods packaged or wrapped certain ways, as they associate the packaging with foods they like.
https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/08/the_most_infam...
I beg to differ. Don't give two shits about presentation myself, but unagi bento from Japanese stations is simply excellent fast food.
"The only reason why people were obsessed with the iPod is because they are pretty. Throw the play music features together like your regular MP3 players made by some generic electronic companies no one would find them interesting anymore."