Packaging: More Than Meets The Eye

Product packaging is important. It helps communicate the value proposition of a product and speaks volumes to customers while the product is on a shelf. Companies understand this and invest in attractive packaging. The problem is that packaging and product quality are not linked. It’s often easier and more profitable to simply invest in new packaging that makes your product more attractive than making improvements to the product.

Large food businesses are notorious for keeping many different consumer-facing brands distinct in the mind of the consumer.  It’s good to give the customer choice.  More important is the illusion of choice.  Snickers or Mars? Which do you prefer? Which side are you on? It doesn’t really matter – they’re owned by the same company! These companies understand the importance of branding in the mind of the consumer and use it to their advantage. However, once you’re aware, it’s hard to go back and see the shelves in the grocery store the way you used to. Here are three product examples that I can’t un-see that you might want to know about.

Mustard

Smak Dab versus Maille

Looking for higher end grain mustard? The mustard section of the grocery store makes it difficult to determine the differences between your options.

Maille mustard has great packaging. It makes the product truly feel like old-style mustard. You can see inside the jar and it has the year the company was founded. At first glance, it’s the authentic real mustard you’ve been missing out on. But Maille was purchased by Unilever in 2000 to add to its portfolio that includes Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Dove, Hellmann’s, Klondike, Knorr, Lipton, Magnum and Popsicle among many others. Mustard is not their specialty.

Smak Dab, which also has excellent packaging and branding, has difficulty showing that their product is truly artisanal, local, and of higher quality. While Maille is designed to look premium, Smak Dab is the real deal. But it is tough to spot that when a multinational megabrand is trying to obscure it by using the same premium packaging.

Bread

City Bread versus Canada Bread

Canada Bread sure sounds Canadian. It’s even in the name! In the bread section of a grocery store, there is often an entire shelf with different loaves of bread to choose from. How can you tell them apart?

Canada Bread is owned by Grupo Bimbo, a Mexican multinational that is the world’s largest baking company. The brands they own and sell in Canada include Cinnabon, Dempster’s, Hostess, Tenderflake, Sun-Maid, Villaggio and Sara Lee among others.

City Bread, which communicates that it’s a local business, has difficulty standing out to the consumer when they’re next to a multinational worth over $147 billion that is leveraging clever branding to look like a closer-to-home alternative. But without knowing the difference, it is very tough to appreciate everything that City Bread has to offer – a great product, a local workforce, and a deep connection to our community.

Chocolate

Constance Popp versus Mars

You’ve probably heard of “Big Tobacco”, “Big Pharma”, or “Big Oil”.  Have you heard of “Big Chocolate”?

It refers to the handful of companies that are the major players in the production of cocoa. There are lots of issues at play in the cocoa industry (some of which are so well documented they have their own Wikipedia page), including the definition of chocolate (which needs to have a certain percentage of cocoa to qualify) and companies reducing the quality of chocolate by using cheaper substitute inputs.

Have you looked at a Mars bar outside of its packaging? It’s lackluster. Imagine if it was sitting in a plastic Ziploc bag on the shelf. Nobody would buy it. When you separate the product from the packaging, it’s easier to see it for what it really is. Big Chocolate companies do a great job of creating distinct and attractive brands for their different products.

Choosing between M&M’s, Maltesers, or a Milky Way? They, among many others, are owned by Mars.

What about some gum? Can’t decide between Excel, Juicy Fruit, Extra, or 5 Gum? Those, along with others are owned by Mars too!

Forget chocolate and gum. What about something for your pet?  Deciding between Iams, Pedigree, Cesar, or Whiskas? Mars again!

I think you get my drift.

On the other hand, Constance Popp chooses to invest more in the actual product her business produces. The chocolate is of better quality and it tastes better.  She even offers “bean-to-bar” where they have full control over the production process from the purchase of the beans to the creation of the bar. Constance has chosen to invest more in the products she sells rather than the packaging that tricks consumers into buying them.

It can be challenging to spot quality on a shelf. That’s why it helps to know more about the businesses you’re buying from. It’s important to learn about them before buying, and to shop based on what matters to you. I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t buy Maille mustard – I’m sure it’s delicious. But for me it is much more important to buy from a local business dedicated to quality that strengthens our community. So next time you’re buying groceries, clothing, lunch, or anything, try to find a local option and give it a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Leading image from The Holmes Report