Cheese Puffs: $11 per Pound

I was reading the November issue of Smart Money magazine while eating lunch today.  The back page commentary by Anne Kadet titled “Who Shrunk the Cereal” nearly caused me to topple out of my chair.  For the most part, it discussed a phenomena we’ve all seen in the grocery store – reduced package sizes while maintaining the same price.  However, the article also made mention of the wildly popular ‘100-calorie packs’ that you can find for nearly all bad-for-you-but-oh-so-good snack items.  And here comes the chair toppling…

Quoting the article “[Gary Stibel] claims credit for inventing the 100-calorie snack pack, an ingenious invention that lets Frito-Lay charge $11 a pound for cheese puffs.”

As disturbing as it is to think of paying THAT much money for a pound of cheese puffs, I have to credit Mr. Stibel and Frito-Lay for pulling it off.  The 100-calorie pack is indeed ingenious marketing, especially at this type of profit margin.

I, for one, will be going back to the tried-and-true “handful of chips in a generic ziploc baggie” for my portion control.  It may not be exactly 100 calories, but my checking account will appreciate the sacrifice my body is making.