Variable products for different grocery stores? for Questionland Seattle

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Variable products for different grocery stores?

Sometimes I shop at regular to high-end grocery stores, like Thriftway or Central Market, and sometimes I shop at discount grocery stores, like WinCo. It depends on what I'm buying and how much of it I need.

I like this brownie mix. It's a Betty Crocker mix, I think, called Hershey's Triple Chunk. It's really good. But the last few times I've made it, using the mix from the discount store, it wasn't AS good. I compared it to an older box I'd kept from a Safeway. The front design was the same and the name was the same, but the box was a little thinner, and the added ingredients were different (3T of water became 1/4 cup of water, for example). I think I can still get the version I like at Safeway.

I also notice other small things, like the Potato Buds I get at places like Safeway have the handy pouring spout, while the Potato Buds from WinCo are just in a sealed bag inside the box

Is this a thing? Do food producers consciously produce cheaper, lower-quality versions of their product for discount food sellers, while keeping the exact same packaging and labeling? Did everybody know about this and I was just naive?

Sacrelicious asked in Other-Food & Drink 10 months ago | Report

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I don't know about the specific items you mention but I do know that manufacturers make changes to the product and the packaging per whatever individual deal they can get with the big retailers. This applies to home electronics as well as foodstuffs.

Vizio, and other manufacturers makes a line of TVs just for Walmart for example. They are near identical to the ones you can get at a higher end retailers but have some cheaper components and slightly different model numbers. Costco has manufacturers make all sorts of stuff bigger and cheaper. My mini-wheats from Costco are definitely different from the ones I get from the Greenwood market.

Walmart and other huge retailers have immense buying power. If manufacturers wish to sell their products through them they need to make their products conform with whatever price break point the retailers are willing to go with. If they need to cut costs at the expense of quality they will do it.

Tom answered in Other-Food & Drink 10 months ago | Report

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I believe they do. I'm not sure exactly why however. You find products like this all the time a dollar store. For instance if you where comparing bands of a product, dollars store carry a very low quality brand and a few recognizable brands in low quantity or quality.

It could be a way to maintain brand preference in customers despiite their smaller budget. Also if you like the smaller or less functional product you buy you might start buying the full price items. Which in turn would be better than before leading to head for the full price.

I think companies want there name and products do be everywhere possible. Providing low quality items allows them to maintain their preferred profit margin and sell to discount stores.

Finger Games answered in Other-Food & Drink 10 months ago | Report

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Yeah. And this is obvious when stores sell generic knock-off brands (like those huge bags of cereal). I just thought that when I picked up the same-named box by the same producer, that it would have the same thing inside it. A bottle of Coke is a bottle of Coke no matter if you got it in a cheap gas station or Central Market (okay, unless you're in Canada or Mexico...).

I thought part of the whole branding process was knowing what you're getting.

Sigh.

Sacrelicious commented 10 months ago | Report

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Weird. I wonder if they're pirated or something.

What I would do is write to the companies and ask them. If you save the packages, you should be able to describe them minutely. A big company like Betty Crocker is going to have a 1-800 number on the box somewhere; call them.

Failing that, do a blog post with good photos of the discrepancies.

Fnarf answered in Other-Food & Drink 10 months ago | Report

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