Is Your Product Super-Premium... Or Just Over-Engineered?

The CPG industry has a problem: brands keep over-investing in product quality that shoppers don't actually value.

I've seen it hundreds of times. A brand spends months perfecting a formula, sourcing premium ingredients, and engineering the "best possible" product. Then they launch at $7.99 and wonder why shoppers reach for the $4.99 competitor instead.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: most shoppers can't tell the difference between "premium" and "super-premium" ingredients. They care about perceived value, not actual COGS.

The brands winning right now are the ones who understand that value perception is about the total package - taste, design, price point, and shelf presence - not just what's inside the box.

My advice: Test your product at multiple price points with real shoppers before you commit to that expensive ingredient upgrade. You might find that the $0.30/unit savings on ingredients doesn't hurt purchase intent at all - but it makes your margin viable.

This is exactly what TestPilot was built for. Real purchase behavior data, not focus group opinions.