Would You Pay More For Portion Control
Spending a Little Extra To Tell You When To Stop
In just three years, sales of 100-calorie packs of crackers, chips, cookies and candy have passed the $20-million-a-year mark, making them a breakout hit on par with the SnackWells low-fat fad of the 1990’s. But food companies are cramming store shelves with even more offerings, and new ones are on the way. What’s To Come? Frito-Lay has started selling 100-calorie servings of beef jerky. Pepperidge Farm said it was developing several more 100-calorie variations of Goldfish and cookies, after rolling out three new ones a couple of weeks ago. Frito-Lay, a unit of Pepsico, now makes Doritos and Cheetos that are slightly smaller than the ones sold in regular-size bags. Hershey, for example, now sells 60-calorie chocolate bars. Jell-O sells 60-calorie pudding packs.
The growing popularity of these snack packs — sales grew nearly 30% last year — may also be another sign that some consumers have had their fill of supersize food. As a business concept, the idea is simple. Take an existing product, portion smaller amounts of it into single-serving bags, and sell several of the bags for about the same or more as a regular-size package. Consumers do not seem to mind paying more even though they are getting fewer Goldfish. “The irony,” said David Adelman, who follows the food industry for Morgan Stanley, “is if you take Wheat Thins or Goldfish, buy a large-size box, count out the items and put them in a Ziploc bag, you’d have essentially the same product.” Mr. Adelman estimates that snack packs are about 20% more profitable than larger packages.
Don’t Be Fooled! People like to think, ‘Oh, this is healthy, it’s only 100 calories. A single portion of junk food is better than a large portion of junk food, but it’s not better than an apple, a peach or a vegetable.
What exactly is 100 CALORIES?·
About four Hershey’s Hugs
· One tablespoon of peanut butter
· One medium orange
· One Trader Joe’s plain mini bagel
· Four-pack of Ben-Bud baby carrots (lots!)
· One 1/2 -ounce wedge of Maybud farmer’s semi-soft cheese
· One Edy’s Smoothie fruit and yogurt bar (2.75 ounces)
· .77 ounces Stacy’s Simply Naked baked pita chips
· 8-ounce can of Sprite
· 15 to 20 jelly beans or plain M&Ms
