Check this out. On FreshDirect, an online grocery service that I use fairly often, a 10 oz. box of Birds Eye frozen peas goes for $1.49.
OK, that’s fine, I use these frozen peas all the time to have a quick and easy side of vegetables around at all times. I nuke 'em for 2 minutes, stir in a little bit of olive oil, chopped onions, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and nuke for another 2 minutes, hey presto.
Now I see I can upgrade to the 10 oz. box of Birds Eye frozen Deluxe Tiny Tender Peas for $2.29.
That’s a whopping 53.69% premium to their “regular” line of frozen peas!
So what could possibly be “deluxe” about frozen peas? The gold colored foil paper the box comes in, rather than plain old silver? What defines “Tiny” and “Tender”? Is the average diameter of the deluxe peas measurably less than those in the regular box? What does “tender” mean? I like my peas firm rather than mushy, and like the regular kind of Birds Eye peas just fine. What’s tenderererer about the Deluxe variety?
For all my carping, I must admit that I never noticed there were two kinds of Birds Eye frozen peas sold in the same size packaging (they’re both 10 oz. rectangular boxes of exactly the same dimension), and I’m pretty sure I’ve grabbed the Deluxe box from the freezer in the past without looking at the price. I’m also going to assume that this price differential comes from Birds Eye and isn’t Fresh Direct doing something funny with the pricing (though I will check this out when I visit my local Key Food supermarket on the way home tonight).
Now I’m outraged – outraged, I tell you! – unless someone can tell me why this isn’t basically a scam to bilk me for an extra 53+% of pure profit margin!
Why not get one of each and do a double-blind taste test with your family or friends? You could make a whole production of it, with numbered dishes, blindfolds, and prizes for whoever identifies the peas correctly (they get to eat the good peas). You can also test the size claims with a random sampling from each container.
For just $0.80 extra, you could have a fun event, and also advance the bounds of human knowledge. Be sure to report back here with your findings.
I just learned an economic theory on the SDMB that describes this very phenomenon. If you can charge more to people concerned with image, and less to those who want the cheapest product, you can appeal to both groups. The quoted article refers to a short cappuccino that can be ordered at Starbucks, but is not on the menu:
Seriously though, I was more surprised at the lack of even a bullsh*t justification on the back of the box of Deluxe peas than actually upset about the price difference. I don’t mind if there’s a real premium there for a more discerning palate, or even if they’re just playing mind games with the customer base; I just don’t want to let it go at completely face value.
(And if it is Scenario B, I’d like to hear how the Birds Eye public relations dept. responds to my inquiry.)
I can’t answer for the peas, but there are definite differences in the green beans and broccoli. Less woody, fewer strings, general better quality in the more expensive product.
Well, on the web page the “Package code” (not the UPC) field is marked with an asterisk as a required one if I name a specific product as my target of inquiry. By choosing “Other” I was able to send my question without supplying a code.
I agree that there are dimensions of quality in beans in a pod, and even broccoli. But peas? We’ll see.
There are also (silver, non-Deluxe) boxes of Birds Eye frozen “Garden Peas” that I’ve seen that are distinct from “Green Peas”. I wonder about those too.
Can’t they just give these peas octane ratings or something? I can grok choosing between Regular, Plus and Super Unleaded, why can’t I figure out the frozen peas?
Spend some time in a grocery store watching people, what they buy and how they buy it. Stores have been doing this for years. One can find all sorts of “scams” running the average shopper misses, even though consumer groups have pointed them out for years.
Some things I’ve noticed of late:
Food manufacturers are in another round keeping the same packages for their foods, but reducing the actual food contents contained within. So you pay a higher price per ounce even though the actual price hasn’t changed (yet!).
Bulk no longer means a lower cost per ounce. On the contrary, some bulk items actually cost substantially more per ounce than buying several small sizes that total up to the bulk price.
Well, to be fair that isn’t a scam. Their costs for product, production, packaging, etc are all going up. They know for a fact that people will spend $1 for a bag of chips. If they raise the price they then must deal with the people who will call and complain but grudgingly continue to purchase the product (or worse stop buying all together) or change the ounce weight, which will generate a few complaints but go largely unnoticed by consumers. They choose the easiest way to keep from losing their profit margins. Then when costs go down and they are looking to reach a new customer base or something like that you start seeing sales on the product so they are now 2 for $1 but they won’t lower their price printed on the package because they want that to remain constant.
I don’t know offhand about those specific products and prices, but count me among those who pay extra for upgraded peas. I barely like peas, and regular peas have a mealy, starchy, beany texture. Baby peas have more of a fresh vegetable taste and texture. Also, being smaller, they can be just barely warmed in some broth without much cooking, for additional freshness to the flavor.
Yeah, but are these “Deluxe Tiny Tender peas” actually baby peas? To me, they’re the same but maybe a little smaller. Frankly I’ve never noticed the difference. But I’ll do the blind taste test as soon as I can (tonight is out, as I am now attending a grade school music performance I had forgotten all about until I got home at 6:30pm… D’oh!)
