May
Feasibility Report: Potato Chips
Are Ruffles® brand potato chips worth the price over
generic brand potato chips.
Andrew McCaskey, Erika Roach, Ashley Boatright,
Yujian Zhou, Christy Galuszka
09
Table of Contents
III
Table of Contents
Cover Page ............................................................................................................................I
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... III
List of Illustrations ............................................................................................................... V
Abstract Summary............................................................................................................. VII
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
Methods .............................................................................................................................. 1
Results ................................................................................................................................. 3
Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 3
Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 3
References .......................................................................................................................... 5
Appendices.......................................................................................................................... 7
Index.................................................................................................................................... 9
Abstract Summary
V
Summary
The potato chip creation was an unintentional phenomenon. The creation of the potato
chips started when a fussy customer at a restaurant complained his fried potatoes
where too thick. After sending the fried potatoes back to the kitchen the criticized chef
then sliced, the potatoes paper thin, fried them, and salted them heavily for flavor.
Surprisingly, the customer was very satisfied with the paper-thin crispy fried potatoes
and they soon became a popular appetizer at restaurants across America. The trendy
appetizer, known as “potato chips,” began to emerge from restaurant menus onto to
grocery store shelves, eventually solidifying there place as an American icon. The mass
production of potato chips in America has evolved into one of the most popular
snacking food items in our country today. The popularity of potato chips continued to rise, along with its price, and large number
of manufactures. Now it seems consumers are confused when it comes to picking out
which brand of potato chips to buy. Numerous premium brand name potato chip
companies offer convincing advertisements and showy packaging. Manufacturer
marketing strategies seem to keep driving consumers to spend the extra cash on their
popular premium brand
name chips. As consumers
fall into marketing tactics,
they remain ignorant to
realize that they could be
paying more for what is just
simply a brand name. Generic potato chip brands
offer lower prices for the
same snack, but are
commonly underestimated and more seldom bought. Therefore, we put the premium
brand potato chips up against generic brand potato chips to see what is really behind
the name on the bag. By comparing the popular brand of Ruffles potato chips and the
underestimated Food Club gas station brand potato chips we intend to analyze whether
the a premium brand name provides a higher quality snack. The two brands of chips will
be compared against one another in five ways to consider which brand of chips have the
most preferable appeal, taste, crunchiness, salt content and which brand is overall
favorable for purchasing.
Introduction and Methods
1
I. Introduction
Our feasibility report poses the question, “Are Ruffles brand potato chips worth the
price over generic brand potato chips?” Our group wanted to find out if buying brand
name over buying generic really was a better choice, or if it was just a rip-off. Did the
brand name create a better chip at the higher price, or were the chips comparable with
the generic chip being a better financial choice for the consumer. Our initial thought
was that Ruffles would be the easy favorite for our volunteer taste-testers, and a little
research on the internet on similar taste-tests revealed the same answer. However, to
make the test fair we decided we would not tell our volunteers which chip was which, in
case it would skew the results one way or another. By giving these unbiased tests, we
were able to determine if Ruffles brand potato chips really were worth the cost over
the generic brand, “Food Club Wavy Potato Chips”.
II. Methods
To gather research on our subject we bought one bag of generic “Food Club Wavy
Potato Chips” and one bag of “Ruffles Original” potato chips. We also purchased plastic
bowls to which we used to serve to chips. We then developed a list of criteria that our
volunteer taste-testers would use to judge the two samples. These were:
Crunchiness
Saltiness
Appearance
Taste
Overall Choice
We asked our volunteers to choose the chip that best defined each criterion. We
conducted a blind taste test in which the volunteers were unaware of which brand they
were sampling. Despite this, our results remained even. Upon seeing these results we
decided to change our strategy way and reveal to our volunteers, which chip, they were
sampling before they chose for each criteria. In the end, we tallied up all our results and
developed our conclusion.
Results
3
III. Results
After polling 25 volunteers, we found that the taste, appearance, and overall choice
categories tied between the two chip brands. The only clear information we received
was that the Ruffles brand chip is the saltier pick, and that the generic brand is the
crunchy pick. Halfway through we decided to change it up by revealing, which chip was
the generic and which was brand name to our volunteers. Previously, we had kept it a
secret in case it would influence the results. However, what we found was that it made
no difference at all and the results continued to show us that the chips were an even
match between each other.
Ruffles
Generic
Taste
25
25
Appeal
20
30
Crunchiness
25
25
Saltiness
35
15
Overall Choice
25
25
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Ruffles
Generic
Conclusions and Recommendations
IV. Conclusions
Our feasibility report solidified our
decision that Ruffles brand chips are
not worth the price over generic brand
chips. Rather than pay the extra money
it costs for a brand-name bag of chips,
you could save money and find a chip
you even prefer over the brand name.
In tough economic times, and during a
recession, it is important to cut back on
your spending and save where you can.
By buying the Food Club wavy brand
chips, you will save just a little money,
each time you purchase a bag of chips.
V. Recommendations
After reviewing the results from our feasibility study, we
would like to recommend to you, the consumer, to purchase
Food Club wavy potato chips or other generic or “off-brand”
chips over the expensive brand-name chips such as Ruffles.
Our Research has led us to recommend Food Club brand wavy
brand chips over Ruffles brand chips. Our research findings
show that the taste, appearance, and overall preference
categories received equal marks. The even split in the results
show us that these products are of a similar quality. By
choosing the generic brand, you will still be receiving high
quality, at a lower price.
5
Appendix
7
Nutrition Facts
RUFFLES® Original Potato Chips
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 bag
Amount per Serving
Calories 160 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 10g 15%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Monounsaturated Fat 6g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 160mg
7%
Potassium 340mg
10%
Total Carbohydrate 14g
5%
Dietary Fiber 1g
4%
Sugars 0g
Protein 2g
4%
Vitamin A
0%
Vitamin C
10%
Calcium
0%
Iron 0%
Vitamin E
8%
Thiamin (B1) 4%
Vitamin B6
6%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 56.2% Carbs 35.0%
Protein 5.0%
Great Value: Original Potato Chips, 12
oz
Serving Size 28 g
Servings per Container
12
Amount per Serving
(+)
Calories
150
Calories from Fat
90
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 15% (-)
Saturated Fat 1.50g 8%
(-)
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0
(-)
Sodium 160mg
7%
(-)
Potassium 380mg
11% (-)
Total Carbohydrate 15g
5%
(-)
Dietary Fiber 1g
4%
(-)
Sugars 0g
(-)
(-)
Protein 2g
(-)
(-)
Vitamin A
0
(-)
Vitamin C
8%
(-)
Calcium
0
(-)
Iron 2%
(-)
(-) Information is currently not available
for this nutrient.
(+) 1 Oz.
Index
9
Index
A
O
Appearance ...................................................................................I
Overall Choice ......................................................................... I, 3
C
P
Calcium .....................................................................................7, 8
Calories ......................................................................................... 7
Carbohydrate .............................................................................. 7
Cholesterol .................................................................................. 7
criteria .............................................................................................I
Crunchiness .............................................................................. I, 3
Polyunsaturated Fat................................................................. 7
Potassium..................................................................................... 7
potato chip ....................................................................................I
Protein........................................................................................... 7
D
Dietary Fiber ............................................................................... 7
F
Food Club Wavy Potato Chips ................................................I
G
R
Ruffles.................................................................................... I, 3, 5
S
Saltiness ..................................................................................... I, 3
Saturated Fat .............................................................................. 7
Serving Size.................................................................................. 7
Sodium .......................................................................................... 7
Sugars ............................................................................................ 7
generic................................................................................... I, 3, 5
T
I
Taste............................................................................................ I, 3
Thiamin (B1) ................................................................................ 7
Trans Fat ....................................................................................... 7
Iron .............................................................................................7, 8
M
Monounsaturated Fat ............................................................. 7
N
Nutrition Facts ........................................................................... 7
V
Vitamin A ...................................................................................... 7
Vitamin B6 ................................................................................... 7
Vitamin C ...................................................................................... 7
Vitamin E ...................................................................................... 7