Smaller Portions? Ha! You Just Eat More
I've always heard it said that good things come in small packages (maybe because I'm barely 5'2), but now advertisers and packagers are learning the same thing.
According to a story at the Wall Street Journal today, companies, who know people snack all day, are making it easier to do just that by introducing "new packaging that encourages consumers to eat their food anytime they have an urge to nibble, what some executives have dubbed 'hand-to-mouth' eating," Sarah Nassauer writes.
Small amounts of food could drive you to eat more, according to the story. And now companies are making it easier to eat, well, just anywhere. Nassauer reports that Hershey, maker of Kisses and Reese's Pieces, found that "individual wrappers on bite-size candy were getting in the way of people eating candy in certain settings, like in the car." So they did something that's proven deadly to me -- removed the wrappers, chopped the candy into bite-size pieces, and voila! You can eat a whole bag of Reese's Pieces in one sitting, never realizing you've eaten about four times the amount you think you have.
"As part of what the company calls its 'hand-to-mouth platform,' it recently introduced Rolo Minis, Twizzlers Bites and Jolly Rancher Bites—all small versions of the candies in resealable bags," Naassauer says.
And sales of candy packaged like this are 'way up over wrapped candy.
I now have to steer away from these bags of candies because they're just too tempting. I can't stop. It's like I have to eat the whole bag. Which is exactly what Hershey's et al are after.
It's interesting that we're trying in so many ways to help people fight obesity - smaller drink sizes, lower-fat meals -- when business makes money doing just the opposite.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324485004578424650545311848.html
According to a story at the Wall Street Journal today, companies, who know people snack all day, are making it easier to do just that by introducing "new packaging that encourages consumers to eat their food anytime they have an urge to nibble, what some executives have dubbed 'hand-to-mouth' eating," Sarah Nassauer writes.
Small amounts of food could drive you to eat more, according to the story. And now companies are making it easier to eat, well, just anywhere. Nassauer reports that Hershey, maker of Kisses and Reese's Pieces, found that "individual wrappers on bite-size candy were getting in the way of people eating candy in certain settings, like in the car." So they did something that's proven deadly to me -- removed the wrappers, chopped the candy into bite-size pieces, and voila! You can eat a whole bag of Reese's Pieces in one sitting, never realizing you've eaten about four times the amount you think you have.
"As part of what the company calls its 'hand-to-mouth platform,' it recently introduced Rolo Minis, Twizzlers Bites and Jolly Rancher Bites—all small versions of the candies in resealable bags," Naassauer says.
And sales of candy packaged like this are 'way up over wrapped candy.
I now have to steer away from these bags of candies because they're just too tempting. I can't stop. It's like I have to eat the whole bag. Which is exactly what Hershey's et al are after.
It's interesting that we're trying in so many ways to help people fight obesity - smaller drink sizes, lower-fat meals -- when business makes money doing just the opposite.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324485004578424650545311848.html
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