Country Crock: Healthy Recipe Leaves Bad Taste in Consumers' Mouths

Author

Bradley Brooks, Steven Cox, Timothy E. Burson

January 1, 2016

Region

North America

Topic

Strategy & General Management

Marketing & Sales

Length

3 pages

Keywords

marketing

product innovation

brand equity

consumer behavior

multi-attribute models

Journal of Critical Incidents

Student Price

$4.00

Target Audience

Undergraduate Students

Executive Education

Country Crock spread (a butter substitute made by Unilever) had changed its recipe to meet increasing consumer pressures for healthy food products. Consumer posts on sites such as the brand’s website, Facebook page, and Twitter page almost universally stated that the new recipe had (literally) left a bad taste in consumers’ mouths. Country Crock was torn between meeting increasing consumer demands for healthy food products vs. offering a positive taste for consumers. This critical incident poses three alternatives for Country Crock: (a) maintain the new recipe with the healthy ingredients; (b) return to the original recipe; or (c) develop some new recipe. Which option should Country Crock choose?

Learning Outcomes

Identify the risks of meeting consumer preferences for one attribute that simultaneously could move the product offering away from consumer preferences on another attribute
Identify how product positioning can be determined by applying attributes to develop a perceptual map
Identify and evaluate risks to brand equity from a multi-attribute product offering using Keller’s Brand Equity Model
Propose a course of action to respond to a dilemma of how to meet multiple consumer preferences that can be incongruent

Submitted by Gordon-Amber on Apr 29, 2024

Rating

Country Crock's decision did not have as much as a positive outcome as much as Diet coke, Lite Beer, or even fast food vegan options did. They were better off with the origianl receipe for their signiture butter.

Submitted by Hunter-Taylor on Apr 29, 2024

Rating

I think that it was a good idea for Country Crock to try and provide healthy butter that consumers were asking for; it shows their good business ethics, but if the customers didn't like it then they should have changed it back to the butter that everyone liked.

Submitted by Riggs-Justyce on Apr 29, 2024

Rating

After reading this case and how they recieved so many bad reviews on their new reciepe - the only thing I believe Country Crock should do is go back to the drawing board and try again or stick with the original butter. After all, if that's what the consumers want - give them just that.

Submitted by zilton-kennedi on Apr 29, 2024

Rating

Honestly, this was my least favorite case in the entire class. I honestly did not feel that this case presented any real issue, and I feel like this case was simply a matter of what you would prefer to purchase, or your tastebuds.

Submitted by Bruce-Jakobi on Apr 29, 2024

Rating

Whenever any company releases a new product, there are always going to be some people that do not necessarily like it. In spite of that, if I was Country Crock, I would return to their original butter recipe because, after all, this is the recipe that led you to be successful in the first place. In addition, the new recipe doesn't just tast slightly worse, it literally left bad tastes in the consumers' mouths, and that is not something you want to be known for. If possible, I would consider selling both the new and the original recipes to appeal to everyone.

Submitted by Pao-Yi-Chen on Apr 29, 2024

Rating

Country Crock tried to make its recipe helather; however, that recipe had left a bad taste in consumers' mouths. There's no any products that make every single cunsumer satisfied, because everyone has his or her prefer. In this case, I think Country Crock should still provide the new recipe, but decrease the selling amount. Keep the original recipe for its old consumers, and develop some new recipe to get some new consumers.