Authored by Tessa Weigand, Chief Transformation Officer at Curion
In her Food Dive article, Tessa Weigand, Chief Transformation Officer at Curion, issues a call to action for traditional CPG brands: stop chasing short-term cost savings at the expense of product quality.
As market share slips to smaller, premium, and private-label brands, the core issue goes beyond pricing or shelf placement. The hard truth is that many legacy products are no longer “good enough” to win consumer loyalty. With ingredient cuts, reformulations, and margin-driven decisions degrading quality over the past decade, the consumer backlash is growing. From declining brand loyalty to the FDA’s Red Dye No. 3 ban, the signals all around us are shouting that consumers demand better product quality in CPG.
Key Takeaways:
Product quality is the #1 driver of brand loyalty, outranking price and brand image.
Cutting corners has long-term costs. Years of cost-driven reformulations have hurt product performance and consumer trust.
Consumer expectations are rising. Shoppers today demand transparency, better ingredients, and performance that justifies the price.
Short-term margin gains aren’t worth long-term losses. Even slight market share erosion translates to tens of millions in lost revenue.
The path forward is investing in product quality. Brands that prioritize quality and innovation can regain ground—those that don’t, won’t.
Curion specializes in delivering impactful insights to the world’s top CPG companies, helping them develop winning, repeatedly purchased products. Curion’s deep data-driven product insights, sensory expertise, and state-of-the-art consumer centers enable them to uncover responses to critical client objectives. With over five decades of experience in the product testing industry, Curion is dedicated to guiding clients with their proprietary XP Xperience Performance platform, connecting brands to consumers at every step.
An innovator in the industry, Curion recently developed a groundbreaking benchmarking product testing method, the Curion Score™, which has become a trusted and sought after tool within the industry. As one of the largest product and consumer insights companies in the U.S., Curion has built a reputation for excellence and trust among the world’s leading consumer brands. Curion’s commitment to innovation and expertise, coupled with a passion for delivering actionable insights, makes Curion a valuable partner for companies looking to develop and launch successful products.
