Wow it's been such a long time since I did a post on this blog. Now and then I do have thoughts related to marketing, but putting it all down into a post seemed daunting for some reason. Anyway, that is a story for another day. Today, it's about Skippy Peanut Butter.
To be honest, I was never really a peanut butter person. I liked my bread plain, toasted and I have a very weird pattern of eating my plain toasted bread (I am not elaborating it here lest it gets mocked 😜). However, my husband, is such a peanut butter fan. He is so consistent that whenever I see a flavour for anything that is peanut butter, that would be his pick. Strangely though, for 5 years, we have not bought any peanut butter for our kitchen but we finally succumbed to it during this covid-19 lock down period. We went to the supermarket for the first time in a month and during our stop at NTUC, bought peanut butter.
Skippy is a household brand, so naturally I went for it. Then, I noticed that apart from the small plastic container, that I'm sure everyone recognises even if you don't buy it, there was now an option for a squeeze pouch version. I'm always up to trying something new and wondered if the new packaging would make my experience more pleasant.
To be honest, I was never really a peanut butter person. I liked my bread plain, toasted and I have a very weird pattern of eating my plain toasted bread (I am not elaborating it here lest it gets mocked 😜). However, my husband, is such a peanut butter fan. He is so consistent that whenever I see a flavour for anything that is peanut butter, that would be his pick. Strangely though, for 5 years, we have not bought any peanut butter for our kitchen but we finally succumbed to it during this covid-19 lock down period. We went to the supermarket for the first time in a month and during our stop at NTUC, bought peanut butter.
Skippy is a household brand, so naturally I went for it. Then, I noticed that apart from the small plastic container, that I'm sure everyone recognises even if you don't buy it, there was now an option for a squeeze pouch version. I'm always up to trying something new and wondered if the new packaging would make my experience more pleasant.
Original Skippy peanut butter container (pic snipped from peanutbutter.com)
This is the one we picked out - the Skippy Peanut Butter squeeze pouch (pic from peanutbutter.com.sg)
I was hungry last night and decided to put some peanut butter on toast. I tend to squeeze the tail end of the toothpaste (people with OCD will appreciate) and I did the same for this squeeze pouch. However, when I squeezed the end flat, I realised that the bottle would not stand upright anymore. It also took quite a bit of effort to squeeze out the first bit of peanut butter.
Squeezing it from the bottom doesn't really work for me. The pouch can't stand upright because the base is flattened. (pic taken by author)
Then I noticed a hole at the corner... is this for people to hang up their peanut butter with an S-hook? Why the hole though? (pic taken by author)
I also found that the spout where the peanut butter is squeezed out from is much too thick and makes a very thick layer of peanut butter. I then used my butter knife to spread the peanut butter all over my toast, which would be what I would have done anyway if it came in a tub.
I found a news article of the launch of the packaging here: https://www.businesstoday.com.my/2019/05/03/launch-of-the-new-skippy-squeeze-pouch/
Earle F. Rabe, Sales and Marketing Manager, Asia Pacific, Hormel Foods International Corporation, said “This new packaging of Skippy was designed to deliver the brand’s promise of ‘spreading simple fun’ by letting consumers enjoy quality peanut butter in an easy squeeze pouch. We are happy to partner with DKSH because of its vast range of capabilities in multiple channels, be it retail, food service or ecommerce.”
I guess if it's a family with small kids, dropping this pouch would shock the parents less as compared to if the plastic tub fell. The peanut butter was great, but apart from the light packaging, I'm not sure how fun or easy this was as compared to the tub.
When I was spreading it on my bread I realised why I did not enjoy spreads on my toast - it was because I would have to wash up my butter knife. An extra utensil to clean. I am lucky to have a dishwasher (even if it's a half load one) during these times of confinement, but I am sure every other person who has to do the dishes always tries to minimise the number of utensils/dishes used.
This then gave me an idea! What if we incorporated a "spreader" tip into the packaging? You can squeeze, spread and cap it back. No need for a butter knife!
An extremely basic and preliminary concept of what I have in mind is drawn below.
I feel that my version would be more in-line with Skippy's brand promise of "spreading simple fun" when the product actually does the action of spreading.
What do you think? Would you use this?
- peg
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