EMB #104: Design a product for profit


In this post we’ll will design a product for  profit.  Many people look at products as a consumer because of course most of us are consumers.  There are many more people that buy than create.  I want to flip the script here and look at products from a different angle.

Most companies will design a product mainly for profit, this is no different than the food industry, yes even those that claim to provide health food products.  Now I say most not ‘all’ because it is possible to create a business or generate income to have health in mind, no doubt Complete Truth Protein is just that, but it’s hard to find.  So let’s get into some details.

Pepsi, kraft and nestle are some of the largest food companies in the world who certainly design a product for profit, which is either their ‘food’ of company.  Funny how they are in the food category but don’t offer one whole food for purchase.  What if you were a big company, what if you started a company because you want to make money and lots of it; or what if you started a company and realized there were certain things you could do to expand and make more profit?  What if you had a company and decided to design a product or products solely for profit, how would you run it?

Where would you sell your products, a specialty store or a big box store with a chain across the country or world?  What kind of ingredients would be in your product, cheap ones or quality ones (remember this company is strictly for profit)?  Where would your marketing be centered around, the truth or a twisted truth that is partially correct?  Would you tell the truth or pay someone to find loop holes in the laws so you could sell more products?  How would you design a product?

These are all questions we should ask ourselves when we shop at stores.  I would say at any store but we’re talking about food here and the food industry.  There’s a good chance if you purchase foods at conventional grocery stores, that are sold everywhere, the questions and answers above are the same ones answered by large companies.  These questions were all decided upon usually before they decided to design a product.

The fact of the matter is, many (no not all) large companies are around for profit and there’s nothing wrong with that.  We all need to make a living, the bigger the company, usually the more middle men there are and people to be paid.  But we should really think about this when we consider our health.  We should really consider who makes our product, where it comes from, where it’s sold any why the sought out to design a product?  I know this is a lot of put together for many people trying to make small steps toward a healthier lifestyles but at some point this is something that should be considered.

The mere fact that those companies we talked about earlier, the giants only looking for profit have no concern for your health therefore they are purchasing the cheapest quality of ingredients available to increase their profit margin, which is good for the consumer as well if you only want something cheap; however if you want something with quality, something with substance, something that will actually improve your health, this isn’t what you’ll be looking for.

Those big box stores, the ones selling food, the processed kind that comes in packages with a list of ingredients that covers the entire back page do so because it’s the cheapest way to manufacture and design a product and keep the consumer coming back.  They put toxic colors and flavoring, msg and sugar.  And if that’s not bad enough they market towards children with cartoons and toys they put inside.

We have the responsibility not just as parents that provide for our children but as regular people that want to live a healthier lifestyle to educate ourselves on what’s in the food we consume.  We need to read the labels because no one else is going to do it for us.  We need to understand what is in packaged foods and what the industry allows.

Quite honestly it’s horrific what the regulations allow.  If you want to read a shocking book about grocery stores find ‘eat this not that’.  It’ll tell you all about from what’s allowed in canned foods to why they decide where food is positioned on and the shelves and in the store.  Have caution though, you will be disturbed.  It’s all a big marketing scheme, all to get your hard earned dollars no matter which way they go about it.

Every single time we purchase foods at a grocery store we vote.  It’s as simple as that, we buy cheerios so they manufacture more and the store stocks more of that product; when they see something like this sells other companies design a product just like it.  We buy fresh veggies and the store buys more of that.  We even have stores like AG Foods who is one of our sponsors who will carry products that are requested by the consumer.

Every single time we buy groceries we vote for the company and products we support by purchasing them and consuming them.  Which means (now don’t get too excited) we are just as responsible as everyone else as to what’s in our grocery stores.  We buy a cheap products with low quality ingredients because it tastes good, you can bet it’s going to be restocked, enough times that another company is going to try and compete with them and design a product just like it.  So now because of our decision we have two products and two companies increasing the real estate in the grocery store for another low quality product that certainly won’t increase our standard of living.

That’s what it’s about isn’t it, isn’t that what we want?  We want to increase our quality of life, increase our standard of living.  We want to feel better, we want to live better; however many times our actions don’t state this.

It’s not my goal here to shake my finger at anyone, it’s simply to raise awareness, show you how they actually design a product and help you understand that we can make changes, we can be the voice of reason.  If we choose better quality foods that might cost a little more the store’s going to stock more products like that.  If we choose whole foods instead of packaged you can bet there will be more whole foods to choose from.  The store needs to make money, they need to offer what the consumer wants and one of the most significant ways we can show them what we want is through what we purchase.

Think about that next time you go to the grocery store, think about the way they design a product, think about the quality of food and what kind of company is offering this option.  Think about health before taste, think about the future and understand that you can make a difference now.  With every time you vote you can increase quality or the opposite, you can fill grocery stores for your children and grandchildren not only ourselves.

It’s time we make a stand, it’s time we make a choice.  Decide what options we have to choose from, if not for ourselves, for our future.

More details about how we can help you choose click here.

 

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