Archive for the ‘Grocery Items’ Category
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
The CEO of Pepsico admitted this week that they made a major mistake with their rebranding of Gatorade. In just the first quarter of 2009, sales of Gatorade fell by a whopping 13.7% and have continued to plummet.
When the rebranded Gatorade appeared on the shelves, it was a true head-scratcher. Was this the same old Gatorade? Was it a new kind of Gatorade? Or, maybe it wasn’t even Gatorade. It was near impossible to tell. It’s amazing to me that, in their desperation to appeal to the “hip” consumers, the marketing people at Pepsi would come up with this horrible design. It’s maybe even more amazing that the powers that be at Pepsi would sign off on it.
Gatorade had always been the first name in sports beverages. And even as they faced much new competition, they were still in the position of being the brand most associated with the sports beverage category. So, it’s amazing that Pepsi would take their brand and simply flush it down the toilet. And make no mistake about it, that’s exactly what they did. From the new look on the bottle to the horrible ad campaigns (what, exactly, was going on in those ads?), they destroyed it. You would have sworn that their goal was to make choosing and buying a Gatorade the most confusing task in the world.
In the ultra-competitive beverage market, mistakes like this shouldn’t be made. It shows bad judgement on everyone’s part who had anything to do with it. Pepsico now has the task of rebuilding the brand in the midst of a sports drink war, and they’ve got no one to blame but themselves.
Tags: brand, branding, drink, gatorade, mistake, pepsi, pepsico, rebranding, sports beverage
Posted in Beverages, Grocery Items | 3 Comments »
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
The availability of the sugar-sweetened Mexican Coca-Cola is getting more press. The Consumer Report offshoot, Shop Smart, has a small blurb dedicated to it in its July issue. Consumer Reports states that in their taste tests, the Coke sweetened with sugar, rather than HFCS, was “slightly sweeter, and some said it has a fuller, rounder, more complex flavor.”
While Consumer Obsession may not have used the terms “fuller” and “rounder,” we did tell you that it tastes better. Head on over to the nearest Costco, pick up a case of bottles, and check it out for yourself.
Tags: coca-cola, coke, consumer obsession, consumer reports, costco, HFCS, mexican coke, shop smart, sugar
Posted in Beverages, Grocery Items | 1 Comment »
Sunday, May 17th, 2009
To great fanfare, Pepsico has rolled out its Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwback choices, which are sweetened by sugar, rather than High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). HFCS has been the predominate sweetener in soft drinks since the early 80′s.
While many soft drink enthusiasts have lamented the change-over from sugar, there were other changes that had a major effect on how soda tasted and its carbonation. The mass-market switch to plastic bottles, rather than glass, probably had a more profound effect than the sweetener modification. The carbonation didn’t “hold” like it did in the capped glass bottles, therefore the switch to plastic made all soda a bit flatter.
Over the years, Coca-Cola has been back in the marketplace with six-packs of their small glass bottles and Pepsi has done small runs of the same. Some Costco stores have started carrying the Mexican version of coke in bottles, which still contains sugar as its sweetener.
While using sugar instead of HFCS does make a positive taste difference, it’s rather subtle when being consumed from a plastic bottle. In a perfect world, the sugar and the glass bottle would be back in place, so we could enjoy these beverages the way they were meant to be enjoyed.
Tags: beverage, bottles, carbonation, coca-cola, coke, consumer obsession, costco, glass, HFCS, high fructose corn syrup, mexican, mountain dew, pepsi, pepsico, pop, soda, sugar, sweetener, throwback
Posted in Beverages, Grocery Items | 3 Comments »
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
Awhile back, Consumer Obsession published its picks for best supermarket chocolate chip cookie and we actually felt there was a very clear winner, the Pepperidge Farm standard Nantucket, though its variations were also very good. While the soft-baked choices were good, we didn’t feel as though they were as good. Unfortunately, in Consumer Reports current testing of mass-market chocolate chip cookies, they decided to only include the soft-baked version. Now, in our eyes, the standard version would have been a game changer.
Consumer Reports gives the esteemed CR Best Buy and very good rating to a cookie that we actually didn’t rate all that highly, Keebler’s Chips Deluxe Original. To us, Keebler’s chocolate chip cookies truly taste like mass-market products. This is not to say they’re poor, but they’re nothing special, and they were easily trumped by our Pepperidge Farm winner.
To those of you who have tried these cookies, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Tags: best chocolate chip cookie, chips deluxe original, chocolate chip cookie, consumer obsession, consumer reports, Grocery Items, keebler, mass market, nantucket, pepperidge farm, Snacks, soft-baked, supermarket, taste test
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | No Comments »
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
The boutique soda market has become a crowded one. In some of the finer supermarkets, it’s not uncommon to be confronted with at least a half-dozen brand choices. Some are more common than others, but the choice is there. There are true soda aficionados out there that find the idea of “diet” soda to be pop heresy. But the truth is, the diet soda market is huge, as many will not or cannot drink anything else.
Consumer Obsession did a diet root beer taste test involving three such brands, Boylan’s, Hank’s, and IBC. And away we go…
The Boylan’s Diet Root Beer was good and out of the three brands tested, fell right in the middle. The Boylan’s was satisfying, not too overwhelming and not too flat. It was easily better than mass-market brands like Mug and A&W, though it also had the benefit of being consumed right out of a cold bottle. Its spices were even and fairly uneventful and its carbonation was average. The Boylan’s, overall, was a very drinkable root beer.
Philadelphia-based Hank’s Diet Root Beer was a bit of a disappointment. Compared to the Boylan’s and IBC brands, it was a little drab. This root beer seemed to be lacking in spice and kick. The Hank’s Diet Root Beer also seemed a little lacking in the carbonation department. It wasn’t bad by any means, it just didn’t make much of an impression and was an easy third place in comparison to our other brands.
The IBC brand has really gone beyond the boutique status. The brand can be found in Wal-Marts and Targets across the country, as well as many restaurant chains. But maybe there is a reason for the success and demand. IBC’s Diet Root Beer was excellent and it possessed the qualities we thought were important to a diet root beer: active and tasteful spicing that left a positive aftertaste; carbonation that provided enough of a kick when consumed; and an overall very good root beer flavoring.
There are many other brands to consider for future comparisons. Consumer Obsession welcomes your suggestions for part two of our diet root beer taste test.
Tags: a&w, boylan's, comparison, consumer obsession, diet root beer, diet root beer taste test, hank's, ibc, mug, root beer, target, taste test, wal-mart
Posted in Beverages, Fast Food and Restaurants, Grocery Items | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Wegman’s has topped the supermarket ratings in the latest issue of Consumer Reports magazine. The primarily northeastern chain, while not noted for superior prices, scored extremely high in service, perishables, and cleanliness.
Having had the opportunity to shop at the Erie, PA Wegman’s locations, I agree with the accolades. Wegman’s is an extremely pleasurable store to shop in and stands as a model for other chains.
Trader Joe’s came in at number two in the ratings, followed by Publix, Raley’s, and Harris Teeter. Whole Foods Market was rated eighth and the expanding Aldi chain had a good showing at 14.
The popular Costco was rated seventh in the supermarket ratings. Costco competitor, Sam’s Club, was 38th in the rankings. In Consumer Obsession’s experience, Costco has always been a better shopping experience than Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club’s pricing has never been that impressive and the selection has always been rather boring. Costco provides a more interesting and more fun shopping experience. One never knows exactly what Costco may have on any given trip, while Sam’s Club is predictable.
The two supermarkets ranking worst for price, were Whole Foods Market and Giant Eagle. Whole Foods is understandable to some extent, but Giant Eagle has no excuse. Unfortunately, Giant Eagle is the main supermarket in the Consumer Obsession home base of western PA and we can attest to the fact that there is room for improvement in all areas.
Tags: aldi, consumer obsession, consumer reports, costco, giant eagle, harris teeter, publix, raley's, ranking, ratings, sam's club, supermarket, trader joe's, wegman's, whole foods
Posted in Grocery Items | 8 Comments »
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Since Consumer Obsession posted the results of our jelly bean taste test a few weeks ago, we’ve gotten many emails concerning the whereabouts of the Smuckers Puckers jelly beans. Unfortunately, your guess is as good as ours.
The retail landscape around the Consumer Obsession headquarters near Pittsburgh, PA has been barren when it comes to the Smuckers Puckers. There are still candy websites listing this product, but whether they are truly in stock is anyone’s guess. For some reason, they don’t seem to have produced our top-rated jelly bean this year.
If anyone happens to find a stock of Smuckers Puckers, please let us know, so we can pass it along.
Update:Consumer Obsession reader, Paul, has been kind enough to let us know that Brachs answered his inquiry, informing him that due to slow sales, Smuckers Puckers have been discontinued.
This is a shame. Smuckers Puckers not only won our taste test, the volume of email we received concerning their availability would seem to show a loyal customer base.
Tags: availability, brach's, consumer obsession, discontinued, jelly beans, slow sales, smuckers puckers
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | 15 Comments »
Sunday, March 29th, 2009
The current economic situation has caused many Americans to alter their shopping habits. Value grocery stores like Wal-Mart and Aldi are seeing increases, while many standard supermarket chains are struggling to compete. In the past, many consumers would pay a bit more, because they preferred the selection or atmosphere of the standard grocery chains, but the price-point is carrying more weight in these challenging times.
Tags: aldi, consumer obsession, economic, giant eagle, kroger, poll, safeway, shopping habits, value store, wal-mart
Posted in Grocery Items, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Supermarkets sold more than 2.5 billion dollars worth of frozen pizza last year. While the frozen pizza industry had been somewhat flat in the early part of the decade, the last couple of years have seen sales rise again.
It would make sense that, given the current economic climate, frozen pizza sales will continue to strengthen. Even though some of the “gourmet” lines go above the $5.00 mark, cheap deals can be had in supermarkets across the country on your Red Baron, Totino’s, Tony’s, and other value line frozen pizzas.
The list below contains the best selling frozen pizza brands:
- Digiorno
- Red Baron
- Tombstone
- Freschetta
- Private Label
- Totino’s Pizza Party
- Califonia Pizza Kitchen
- Tony’s
- Stouffer’s
- Jack’s
Consumer Obsession will have a frozen pizza taste test in the coming weeks. We welcome your comments as to which frozen pizza is your favorite.
Tags: best selling frozen pizza, best-selling, california pizza kitchen, consumer obsession, digiorno, freschetta, frozen pizza, gourmet, jack's, pizza, pizza industry, private label, red baron, stouffer's, supermarket, taste test, tombstone, tony's, totino's pizza party, value line
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | No Comments »
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
With the popularity of cereal bars in today’s marketplace, Consumer Obsession decided it was time to look at a few of the brands that stood out from the pack. Somewhat diet-conscious Americans have taken to cereal bars in a big way and, because of that, competition in the marketplace is fierce. Who can come up with the most engaging flavors that actually taste like they are supposed to, while keeping the healthful side in check? Well, that’s the rub. We found a few that did the job as admirably as we’ve seen.
When taking a look at these bars, the three things to consider are taste, texture, and the nutritional value. The following bars do ok in the nutritional and taste sense, but vary in texture, and texture can be an important element to some.
Let’s take a look a few of the brands and varieties:
- Fiber One- If you’re looking for high fiber content, you’ve come to the right place. The two varieties we tested: Oats and Chocolate and the Oats and Apple Streusel Bars each had 9g of fiber per bar. Due to having so much fiber, the bars were filling – maybe too filling for some. Texture and taste were fine. The bars were moist and, as far as cereal bars go, fairly flavorful.
- Kashi – The Honey Almond Flax bar and Peanut Butter bar we tasted were very good. The Honey Almond Flax bar had 4g of fiber and good levels of proteins and 300mg of Omega-3. While good, the bar is thick and a little dry. It is not as instantly gratifying as the Fiber One or Nature Valley bars we tasted, but better and healthier than other competitors. The Peanut Butter bar was slightly friendlier tasting with 4g of fiber, good protein levels, but no Omega-3s.
- Nature Valley’s Sweet and Salty Nut Granola Bars – If nuts are your thing, it’s hard to beat these choices. Both the Peanut and Almond varieties were very good. The texture of these bars is much closer to a nut candy bar. They were very crispy with a very different texture than the other brands we compared. This is probably the cereal/granola bar for those who don’t really like cereal/granola bars. Having said that, there is a trade-off. These bars only have 2g of fiber, which may not satisfy those looking for that specific health benefit. Both varieties tasted very good.
All of the bars above had between 10-15 grams of sugar, which isn’t obscene in most cases, unless you’re going to be doubling up.
Tags: almond, bar, bars, cereal bar, cereal bars, consumer obsession, favorite, fiber one, granola bar, granola bars, honey almond flax, kashi, marketplace, nature valley, nutrition, oats and apple streusel, oats and chocolate, peanut, peanut butter, taste test, texture
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | 2 Comments »
