I saw this today and thought it very interesting - Kraft changed their mac
n cheese recipe, last December, to be more healthful but didn't tell anyone
until now. The full story
<http://www.eater.com/2016/3/7/11173858/kraft-mac-and-cheese-different> and
a few key excerpts:
*Kraft announced that the revamped product would hit store shelves in
January — but unbeknownst to customers, it quietly began selling the
artificial-ingredient-free mac and cheese in December. (Only consumers who
paid careful attention to the tiny print of the ingredients list on the
back of the box might have seen the change.) Today, Kraft issued a
self-laudatory press release revealing its little experiment — which it has
deemed "the world's largest blind taste test" — and proclaiming that
"fifty
million boxes later ... people didn’t notice a difference."*
*...*
*"We constantly talk to our consumers and get feedback from them, and we
knew they wanted to feel better about the ingredients they serve their
families," Greg Guidotti, vice president of meals at Kraft Heinz, tells
Eater. "We saw an opportunity in the marketplace to improve our ingredient
line, but we didn't want make the change before we had the right recipe."
While the company only announced its intentions to oust artificial
ingredients from mac and cheese in April, Guidotti says they've in fact
been working on the new recipe for more than three years.*
*The idea to do a surreptitious switcheroo with the new mac and cheese was
born out of the skeptical consumer response to Kraft's initial announcement
that it was changing the recipe. "When we announced in April [that we were
changing the recipe] there was excitement but also concern, so we saw it as
an opportunity," Guidotti says. "We knew the recipe still tasted just as
good as you expect from Kraft, but whenever you say you've changed
something, consumers will say it probably won’t taste as good. Since we
knew it tasted exactly the same, we wanted our fans to experience that for
themselves without even being prompted."*
Cheers,
Deb
--
Deb Tankersley
Product Manager, Discovery
Wikimedia Foundation