SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI — Ethel’s Baking Co., a gluten-free dessert company, has made a major shift in its packaging to better accommodate consumers.
The company’s new 4-count trays come in custom clamshell packaging with a clearer call out to the brand’s quality, taste and gluten-free certification. The new design also drops the price for the product from an SRP of $9.99-$10.99 per pack to $5.99-$6.99, a switch that is already making a difference for the company.
Jill Bommarito, founder and CEO of Ethel’s, shared that the company had been intent on lowering the brand’s average price point since the brand moved into its new bakery in 2020. Once the COVID-19 pandemic began to wind down, she shared that the company knew a change was needed to continue market growth.
“We weren’t planning on doing custom packaging at this point, but we made the decision to move forward to create the best possible outcome,” Bommarito recalled, noting that Ethel’s team began to look into what this change would look like beginning in late May of last year.
Lowering the price point relied on more factors than the price tag. Bommarito shared that Ethel’s had to look into how a new look could entice consumers and retailers alike. The key to the revamped packaging came in deciphering what the optimal serving size for the brand’s dessert bars should be.
“What could we do to come up with a great serving size where someone picks up our bar and says, ‘This is a great size, it’s not too much, it’s not too little,’” she said. “We had to figure out what that was and then how we could get it to that customer in the best way that the retailer wanted to see it.”
In contrast to the previous packaging, a tub featuring three 3-ounce bars stacked on top of one another, the new design showcases four 1.5-ounce bars in a neat row. These trays showcase the product features right away as well as the portions, which cut the calorie count nearly in half and are easier for consumers to indulge in.
“We’d often hear ‘I could never eat an entire bar,’” she recalled from consumer feedback. “Now, it’s much more shareable, they’re not having to break the bars in half.”
Along with the pre-portioned convenience offered in the snack trays, the revamped look also provides more aesthetic merchandising that is already making a difference. Bommarito noted that consumers can now not only see the layers and toppings of the bars more easily, but that the package labels emphasize the flavor and gluten-free status of the products even better.
“What we’ve seen so far has definitely been promising with great feedback from retailers and customers along with increases in velocity,” she said.
Ethel’s Baking Co.’s new trays began rolling out at Target during Q1. They’ve continued to pop up in Albertson’s and Safeway this month and will roll out in Whole Foods in mid-April, and Meijer and the rest of the market in June.
