We don’t do this too often in the Stand Up & Eat blog but I am going to ask you to click on the link below and read the article that it leads to, especially the last four paragraphs.  Then come back to this blog entry because I want to pose some questions to you.

Candy Maker Cut the Calories, by Cutting the Size

OK.  So the article is an in-depth story about Hershey’s new line of mini versions of some of their favorite branded candies.  Apparently, York Peppermint Patties, Almond Joy, and Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate have gone to “pieces.”   The marketing analyst quoted at the end of the article implied that people who are interested in controlling their portions of candy may be interested in these smaller pieces.

But my question is this, “Just because the candy is smaller, does it mean people will eat less?”  In fact, the only size bag of the “Pieces” candy line I have seen is one that contains multiple servings.   And research has shown that people eat more from bigger packages.1  So, will (to borrow from an old Lay’s potato chip slogan) “Bet you can’t eat just one” (serving) come into play for many Pieces eaters?

Is this a case of “right sizing” candy or manipulating consumer demand (and capitalizing on major brand awareness) by creating a new product (and more calories) that consumer’s didn’t ask for – and don’t really need?  Do you think this new product will help or hinder consumers' effort to balance calories?


1 Wansink B.  Can package size accelerate usage volume?  Journal of Marketing. 1996.  60;3:1-14.