I’m not so sure about food, but for many mass market products it is indeed true that the same manufacturer can be engaged to make the same product under different branding.
The difference then comes down to the corners cut to meet the client’s pricing.
Crappier boxes, thinner bags, packing material, and quality inspection. Assuming the core ingredients are not compromised in some way.
No you dont. I have worked in 2 groceries stores, the bags with less air get way more crushed and broken while stocking. Having bigger bags with a lot of air keeps the chips integrity in tact.
What is the company’s incentive to make the package bigger than it needs to be?
Shipping costs come two fold… Weight and number of pallets. Weight change is negligible here, but the amount of air they need to ship will increase. They are incentivized to reduce it to a minimum to save on shelf, storage, and distribution costs.
They’re also incentivized to keep the same size packaging (both for logistical and public perveption reasons) and ship less product in those packages. People are willing to pay $6 for a big bag of chips, despite the big bag weighing 150g less than the normal bag 5 years ago.
They don’t get paid by the gram, they get paid by the bag. A bigger bag looks more impressive, and thus can be sold for more. Same for those tall skinny beverage cans. They look bigger than the regular cans, but are actually 25ml smaller, and yet go for a similar price.
This will continue until the price per gram is what people look for (emphasis on this at the point of sale would help), or the mass of each product is standardized. 50g, 100g, 200g, 350g, 500g, 750g, and whole kg sizes only, none of this 489g nonsense.
I’m not so sure about food, but for many mass market products it is indeed true that the same manufacturer can be engaged to make the same product under different branding. The difference then comes down to the corners cut to meet the client’s pricing. Crappier boxes, thinner bags, packing material, and quality inspection. Assuming the core ingredients are not compromised in some way.
I would like that… Saving on a smaller package for chips and cereal sounds great, most of it is air anyways.
No you dont. I have worked in 2 groceries stores, the bags with less air get way more crushed and broken while stocking. Having bigger bags with a lot of air keeps the chips integrity in tact.
That’s true to a point. 50% gas by fill level is ridiculous though.
What is the company’s incentive to make the package bigger than it needs to be?
Shipping costs come two fold… Weight and number of pallets. Weight change is negligible here, but the amount of air they need to ship will increase. They are incentivized to reduce it to a minimum to save on shelf, storage, and distribution costs.
They’re also incentivized to keep the same size packaging (both for logistical and public perveption reasons) and ship less product in those packages. People are willing to pay $6 for a big bag of chips, despite the big bag weighing 150g less than the normal bag 5 years ago.
They don’t get paid by the gram, they get paid by the bag. A bigger bag looks more impressive, and thus can be sold for more. Same for those tall skinny beverage cans. They look bigger than the regular cans, but are actually 25ml smaller, and yet go for a similar price.
This will continue until the price per gram is what people look for (emphasis on this at the point of sale would help), or the mass of each product is standardized. 50g, 100g, 200g, 350g, 500g, 750g, and whole kg sizes only, none of this 489g nonsense.
I can tell the difference between generic and real cocoa pebbles. Fuck cocoa krispies too.