Recently, we were shopping at our local market and discovered that Barilla pasta sauce had redesigned its jar. While the new jar is rather nice, it is two ounces smaller and costs the same price. We decided to email them to see why…
To: Consumer Relations
Subject: Re: Barilla Pasta Sauce in Jars
I am distressed to discover that the reason Barilla has been absent from the shelves of my local supermarket is to liquidate the old style of jar in favor of the new, which, while aesthetically pleasing, contains 2oz less of sauce and is being sold locally for the same price.
Having been a loyal Barilla customer for years, I am a bit disappointed at this tactic, which disguises what is effectively a price hike, as the new jars will cost as much as the old but will contain less product. I would much rather that you retained the 26oz jar and, if you felt it necessary to adjust your pricing, did so.
While I will likely continue the purchase of Barilla sauce, as it is currently the best pasta sauce I have found, this change may encourage me to sample the products of your competitors to see if any of them are now up to my standards.
Their response:
Thank you for your recent inquiry to Barilla America, Inc. Barilla is the best selling pasta company worldwide, and we take pride in our product, right down to every last package. For over 125 years, four generations of the Barilla family have maintained the tradition of producing the finest pasta and sauces in the world.
We developed a new jar which consumers have told us better reflects our Italian heritage. This new jar is more expensive for us to produce than our original design, and we chose to decrease the size of our jar rather than increase our pricing. We came to this decision after conducting research in our test kitchen comparing the performance of 26 and 24 ox of sauce in a variety of recipes. In these tests, we found the two quantities performed the same.
Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. We hope that you continue to purchase and enjoy Barilla Pasta & Sauces.
Regards,
Consumer Relations
Barilla America, Inc.
www.barillaus.com
So…Barilla’s hypothesis is that promoting their Italian heritage is something we the consumer should pay for. We are all for being proud of one’s heritage…but we personally don’t think that we should pay for it. We’d rather have our two ounces, which certainly benefits most of us more.
I noticed this last week.I use half a bottle for one family meal and all of us asked why so skimpy on the sauce today?Even if I liked the product enough to bite the bullet I cannot as my family would suffer.
Barilla America = industrial greed tainting a formerly great co.Looks like the current generation of the barilla family have sold out to me.I must spout out that the name barilla no longer carries clout 4 me.Now that I see what they are all about ,I must shout that It makes me sick that they have the nerve to blackout the 2oz. difference to the public that keeps them in business.They shall not see me at the checkout 4 I drop out. The runabout they flouted you is a copout.I was a devout buyer of their products,NO LONGER!I once sent them an email asking if they could send me some coupons as I live on a fixed income.I spent 1 hr writing to them.Their email response said I should check the paper ads even know my letter explained that I can not afford to buy the weekend paper just 4 coupons(I get my news online). Whomever is answering their email is digging their ditch as the switch that influences consumers is fast becoming internet based(ex.blogs like yours).I look forward to reading about how Europeans react.They gladly pay much more for food per capita .but they demand quality & look is very important to them when it comes to the food itself ON THE TABLE! But not the wrapper that one brings the food home in.Corporate greed is the seed of the wrapper matter and their products shall no longer be on my families platter.I am sure many others shall scatter.I can already feel feet pitter patter.I loved their olive spaghetti sauce,I now shall simply add olive’s from the supermarket olive bar into other sauces on the days I do not make sauce totally from scratch.I thank you for this soap box & bid(offer) you peace.Aloha
I just caught onto Barilla’s shenanigans myself. I sen them this email today — I’m awaiting a carbon copy of the same crock ‘o’ shit reply they sent you:
“For over a decade, I and my family have been happy consumers of many varieties of Barilla Pasta Sauce and Pasta. We have also recommended your fine products to many others.
Recently, while in the supermarket to stock up on more, I was shocked and disgusted to realize that you have reduced the quantity of sauce in each jar by 2 ounces, while keeping the price the same.
Who do you think you are fooling with this tactic? There was barely enough in each jar to begin with, and now you’re attempting to give consumers less for the same price? Sorry, no. I have over a hundred jars of your sauce in my pantry right now, but once that runs out I will never buy any more. I will also never buy any other Barilla product.
You have betrayed a longtime faithful customer and lost lots of good word of mouth. I will make sure to tell everyone I know who uses your products about your smarmy ploy.”
Well, at least I got a quick reply, Fascinating that their repsonse to me is totally different from what they told ‘Number One’ — here’s how they replied:
“Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your recent email to Barilla America, Inc. We appreciate you taking the time to give us your feedback regarding the recent change to our sauce jars.
Barilla continues to experience a rise in the cost of raw materials and packaging. Over the past 10 years this cost increase has never been passed on to the consumer. Barilla has been faced with the decision to either raise our sauce prices or downsize our jars by two ounces. Therefore, we have decided to resize our jars allowing us to deliver the same great quality at the same price. The reduction in size is relatively small, and its impact in pasta coverage is not noticeable for the average usage occasion.
We would be happy to send you a voucher for a free jar of sauce for your time. Please respond to this email with your full address so we may do so.
Thank you again for contacting us with your thoughts. We hope that you continue to purchase and enjoy Barilla Pasta & Sauces.
Regards,
Consumer Relations
Barilla America, Inc.
http://www.barillaus.com
They didn’t even offer us a free jar of sauce. Perhaps we were too polite. This is why we stocked up on the supermarket house brand. $2.39 with a supermarket card for 26oz as opposed to $3.19 for Barilla and 24oz.