Firstly - I must just mention that, yes, in my last post 'A floor display' is an anagram of 'April Fool's Day'............... moving on, whilst away birdwatching for the Easter break in an almost uninhabited corner of North-West Scotland, in search of Stork or similar I spotted a 'brand' called 'What - Not Butter!' lurking in the cool-cabinet of a small independent store. This brought to mind the recent announcement by Asda that they were culling a load more lookalikes, soundalikes and me-toos from some 10 categories in grocery, having successfully done this in the past with no apparent ill effects to such as the yellow fats market. And here was a tiny store that stocked not only 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!', but also its aforementioned scarce and presumably migratory near-doppelganger! Good on 'em. I've always thought rationalisation is a dangerous game, safe and easy short term, but with unseen future consequences. When I worked at Cadbury, many moons ago, the accountants wanted to cull the marzipan unit (sweet) from Roses, as it was the most expensive unit and lots of people didn't like it. But I had research that showed that 17% of Roses buyers purchased Roses and not Quality Street BECAUSE OF the marzipan. They loved it! Of course, the accountants won in the end, although by then I'd moved on, so I can blame someone else for the mistake. Meantime, arriving home, the more organised half of our grown-up household had placed a whacking great bank-breaking online grocery shopping order within about 30 minutes of our return to civilisation. We mainly get deliveries from Waitrose, and occasionally Sainsbury's. I asked which, to discover it was the latter. Why? Answer: Because they stock Galliano and we need it for the cocktail cabinet! On small decisions, much bigger choices can hinge.
