Leslie Patton and Jaewon Kang of Bloomberg tell their readers that customers are either paying up for higher-end items from upstarts or trading down to cheaper โprivate labelโ ones. They write:
A burst of color is washing over Kraftโs once dominant royal blue in the macaroni and cheese aisle.
Among new arrivals is Goodles, a protein-packed option with eye-catching neon branding that costs more than twice as much as a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese. At a Target in Chicago, Goodlesโ Shella Good and Bling Bling Bacโn varieties are picked over; larger boxes with squeezy cheese sauce are completely sold out. Adjacent to the Kraft packages are two rows of Targetโs low-cost Market Pantry brand: At 65 cents a pack, the red boxes cost about a third of the price as the Kraft perched just a few inches away.
Mid-priced items like Kraft are increasingly losing shelf space and customers to premium and low-cost products. Sales of Kraft Heinz Co.โs roughly billion-dollar brand slumped 6% in the year through July 13, according to NIQ data viewed by Bloomberg. […]
Collins, a fitness coach, says sheโs willing to pay an extra $2 to $3 a box because it packs protein. โAnything youโre spending to better your health is just an investment,โ she said. […]
For Collins, the fitness coach in Idaho, Kraft would need to do a major makeover to out-nutrition Goodles and get her to consider buying them over her favorite flavor, Hey Hey Elote.
โI have tried other brands and I honestly think the taste difference isnโt that huge,โ she said. And as for Goodles? โThe nutrition is so much better.โ
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