Enfamil: Package Re-Design

For years and years, the standard package for formula was a can. A little plastic scoop comes inside, and it’s sealed up. Good to go.

At some point last year Mead-Johnson re-designed the package to a new “Re-usable Tub!” which seemed to be along the same line as “New convenient 94oz. size!” gallons of ice cream. As you can see, the amount in the package dropped almost 3 oz. Of course the price didn’t drop correspondingly.

Evidently, the premise of this re-usable package was that the customer is supposed to be able to buy refill pouches at the store next to the regular tubs. In reality, the refills are rarely offered, and may even have been pulled. In fact, the FDA caught wind of the situation, and warned Mead-Johnson about it. (Read about that here.)

Beyond the smaller size, the foil pouch inside is tough to deal with. You end up getting powder all over your hands, and it’s also tough to scoop and level with out the rigid sides to tap on.

The new package adds nothing for the consumer, and even allows them to do something they shouldn’t: dump the contents of the pouch into the plastic tub. So, now I’ve got a stack of “re-usable” tubs that I can’t really re-use for anything. Thanks Enfamil!

The need to be “green” is strong. This is obviously a miserable failure, but the pressure is very real.

The company I work for now has a disposable in a large IM tub. The customer absolutely hates throwing away that piece of plastic every 1-5 days when the disposable is used up. Here’s the thing, if the functionality of the tub is changed (better or worse), the customer will hate it more. It the functionality stays the same but there is a price increase, the customer will hate it more. Friggin’ fickle customer, who needs them. :wink:

Right now, we are doing a market trial of a soft pack (a polyester film I think), with a rigid lid. Similar to below. I think we made about 20,000 to give to our customers to see if they hate it or not. Trial should be done in a month. I wonder if Mead-Johnson did the same thing or if they relied on a tiny sample size.