I think the push for all-natural casings is overrated for most shop work

My boss wanted to switch our entire sausage line to natural hog casings from a local farm, which would have added about 15% to our material cost. I argued we should keep using the standard collagen casings for our bulk breakfast links and only use natural for the specialty display case items. We tried it my way for a quarter, and sales didn't drop at all on the bulk packs. Has anyone else found customers don't always notice the difference on certain products?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellac9728d ago

Oh man, you are singing my song. So many bosses get hung up on a fancy ingredient without asking if the CUSTOMER even cares. It's like they're buying for their own ego, not for what sells. Good on you for running the real test with the numbers. That quarter of sales data is worth more than a hundred opinions.

the_lucas28d ago

Right? That "buying for their own ego" line hits hard. I once pushed for this fancy sea salt for months, @stellac97, only to find our regulars just wanted the cheaper fries to stay cheap. Felt pretty dumb staring at the flat sales chart. Data doesn't lie, even when it makes you look silly.