Grocery.com

Consumers Pay Up for InstaCart’s Expensive Business Model With all the buzz about the latest InstaCart's $220 million round of financing, I finally decided to pull the trigger. But not to grace them with my first order, not so fast. Instead, I reached down to the waste basket by my desk and pulled out the receipt from my weekend trip to Costco.

Reading numerous analyst's accounts of InstaCart business model, I was almost persuaded to accept that finally a magic formula for riches in the online grocery business was discovered. What's more, this formula includes an unbeatable consumer proposition of $3.99 delivery fee (or a $99 per year fee waiver option), a "slight" markup on the groceries, and a two hours delivery window. Brilliant! Right?

But it gets better, if you believe the CEO and the analysts, there is also up to $30 per hour earned by InstaCart's personal shoppers. This company appears to have solved not only the online grocery shopping conundrum but also it has also found an answer to the biggest economic puzzle of our time the stagnation of pay rate. If you can push a cart and you are willing to work 10 hours a day you can bring home some $1500 per week. Not bad at all.

It all makes sense. Consumers want convenience, but no one wants to pay too much for delivery. We are all spoiled by free delivery of our takeout lunches and dinners and by our local grocery stores delivering groceries for free, if it is within a walking distance. Nevertheless, $3.99, $5.99 or a $99 yearly membership fee doesn't sound that bad (unless you start adding up all the other membership fees like the $99 for Amazon Prime, $110 for Costco Executive Membership to name the most prominent contenders to my retail membership budget).

Shopping for groceries is hard, and the Costco in Brooklyn this past weekend was, as always, a zoo. So I can imagine that for someone to do my shopping at the store and bring it to my house, $30 pay is well deserved. But I have to admit that I did not have the slightest idea how InstaCart can afford paying $30 for my order if they only charge me $3.99 for delivery, and tuck on only a "slight" markup.

This is when I decided to create an order with InstaCart from the receipt I just pulled out from the trash. Far from "slight", I found that price markup was in fact extraordinarily large. As you can see from the table below, where I added the items on my receipt to my online shopping cart, when its all set and done InstaCart's order would have cost me 44.5% more than what I paid at the store. $61.78 on an order of $138.96 - I never expected the difference to be so big.

InstaCart Vs Costco



Products
InstaCart
Costco Store
Diff


Kleenex Ultra Soft 3-Ply Facial Tissues 12/ 85 count*
$20.49
$13.29
54%


Kirkland Signature 2-Ply Bathroom Tissue 30 ct
$19.59
$15.99
23%


Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix 1 lb
$6.09
$4.89
25%


Kirkland Signature Organic Brown Eggs - USDA Grade AA 24 ct
$8.59
$6.99
23%


Blue Hill Bay Herring In Wine Sauce 26 oz
$6.09
$4.99
22%


Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado Oil 1 L
$12.79
$9.99
28%


Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore Tuna In Water 8 - 7 oz
$16.99
$13.89
22%


Blackberries 18 oz
$6.69
$3.99
68%


Roma Tomatoes on the Vine 2 lb
$6.09
$4.99
22%


Joy Ultra Lemon Scent Dishwashing Liquid 90 fl oz
$7.39
$5.99
23%


Kirkland Signature 50/70 ct Cooked Shrimp 2 lb
$26.89
$19.89
35%


Kirkland Signature 12" x 10.75" Foil Sheets 500 ct
$12.09
$9.89
22%


Kirkland Signature Dishwasher Pacs 110 ct
$11.99
$9.79
22%


Kirkland Signature Drawstring Kitchen Bags 13 Gal 200 ct
$17.09
$14.39
19%








Subtotal
$178.86
$138.96
$39.90


Delivery
$3.99
markup
29%


Tip 10% (second lowest tip suggestion at checkout)
$17.89










Total
$200.74
$138.96
$61.78


* $16.79, less $3.5 automatic coupon given at the store.

markup
44%





The Unsuspecting Consumer

If someone offered you to do your Costco shopping for a small fee of $44 for every one hundred dollars ringed at the register, would you think it was a good deal? When a $200 basket ends costing you $288 and a $300 basket a whopping $432, it's hard not to call this a ripoff.

Why do we all go to Costco in the first place? We pay the $55-$110 annual membership to get access to brand name products at better prices, we go there to save 10-30% on our groceries and other products, compared to the price of standard retailers. So adding another layer to the supply chain, a layer that is no less than 30-40% thick makes absolutely no sense.

Why would consumers agree pay 30-40% more? My answer would be, a combination of retailer deception and consumer ignorance.The ignorance has to do with the fact that grocery shopping is a basket based activity which makes it very difficult for the consumer to gauge the real price of individual items in their 13-30 products shopping cart. The deception part has to do with how brick and mortar retailers take advantage of this difficulty. We are all familiar with the "loss leaders" pricing strategy designed to attract consumer by highlighting the low price of a few items to lure them into the store. Once in the store, the retailer has calculated, the target bottom line is always met.

Price Fog

With gross profit margins of 13% for Costco, 25% for Walmart, 27% for Safeway, and 36% for Whole Foods, it is not surprising that consumers have no idea what grocery products cost. Moreover, prices at the same retailer fluctuate on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. And when you factor in cross retailer pricing, consumers don't stand a chance to see clearly. The fog surrounding grocery prices is really the only reason why InstaCart can get away with what most consumer would describe as ripoff.

The premise of Internet Commerce was to cut the middleman and to reduce the hands touching and inflating the price of the products at it moves up the supply chain. We are seeing more and more manufacturers selling directly to consumers on their online shops and on Marketplaces like Amazon's, Sears and Rakuten. With just a few clicks consumers can see and compare prices on pretty much every product or service and chose the best price from the retailer they trust.

Comparison shopping for groceries and basket level shopping engines are not yet developed to serve consumers effectively. There are some players in this space, the start-up company MySupermarkets offers basket level comparison shopping, but only for products it can find online on Amazon, Costco, Walmart etc. While this is a step in the right direction it hardly serves to clear the fog around what we pay for everyday products. And until this online and real world gap is closed, InstaCart can get away with charging whatever they want.

The Argument for Convenience


For those who want to point out the convenience factor, I'd say that while this aspect of the crowd sourced butler services is evident, as a motivation to switch your grocery shopping to InstaCart it may not be sustainable. If you are a weekend shopper as most busy people are, you just added a slew of new inconveniences to your life.

The first is the not so simple task of ordering groceries online, figuring out exactly what you need, how much of it you'd want to buy this weekend, making sure that you are buying the right product.

Unlike Fresh Direct InstaCart has a huge database management challenge. Since they don't buy or control their product selection (the retailer does), their product descriptions are basic at best. Most of the times product information is limited to the title and image. This elementary product information creates an expectations gap that has to be overcome buy on order notes and SMS communication with your personal shopper...

Which brings us to the second inconvenience of having to stay put for an hour while the personal shopper works your order. Unless you are billing at $250 an hour over the weekend, I'd say to force yourself out of your computer screen and do your own grocery shopping - and try to have some fun in the process.

Open Grocery Database Project Let's face it, while there are plenty of online retailers, selling hundreds of thousands of grocery and drugstore products, and while the owners of these products, the brands and manufacturers, would want to make the information related to their products freely available, it is extremely hard to find one reliable, extensive, standardized, easy to use, open source grocery database. We are hoping to change this and give everyone free and unrestricted access to simple downloadable database files containing UPC centric information about hundreds of thousands of grocery products.

We will start with a small installment. Our first file contains a little over 100K grocery products with the following data points: grp_id, upc14, upc12, brand, product_name. We are not including other data points in this file to conserve space and make the handling of the data manageable.

In the next installment we will include information such as detailed product description, product attributes, image file URL's, category, manufacturer and distributor information. Please note the grp_id (grocery product id) which will serve as key to our database alongside grb_id, etc (unique id's for brand names, category names, manufacturer, etc).

I recommend that we focus on 'upc12' for all the products (grp_id is and internal identifier). UPC12 is not always available, and for many products in this database it was converted from longer or shorter versions of the UPC. Anyone dealing with UPC lists knows that despite their stated "standard" status, they come in all forms and shapes. Our database was build from a variety of UPC lengths provided by many sources, but we did our best to convert them to the 12 digit format.

We have used a variety of techniques, from simple formatting (adding leading zeros) to calculating the check-sum digit for 10 and 11 digit UPC's using this Excel / Access formula:
=MOD(10-MOD(SUMPRODUCT(--(MID(A2,{1,3,5,7,9,11},1)))*3+SUMPRODUCT(--(MID(CA2,{2,4,6,8,10},1))),10),10)
Should anyone have a better system, or cleaner data, or ideas, please share your thoughts and data on this page. We can accommodate small requests for formatting or combining data points if it can be useful to the public. Feel free to make suggestions, requests and share your information by commenting on this page. -- thanks and enjoy, BenD

Click here to download: Grocery_UPC_Database.csv

Global Grocery Market Size In 2013 China's grocery market crossed the US$1tn mark to become the largest food and grocery market in the world. The US is a close second and predicted to remain in that position at least until 2016. Next are Japan, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Germany, Britain, and the list goes on.

Numbers are telling and confusing at the same time. The USA population is about 1/4 of China's, but we pretty much spend the same amount of money on food. What does it say about the per capita calorie intake in both countries, or about the price of food? It is well established that we are a fat nation, but just how much more do we eat compared to the average Chinese?

One trillion dollars on food spent by 1.4 billion people is a little over $700 per person per year. Compare that to the USA figure of also one trillion dollars spent by a population of 320 millions, that's $3,125 per person per year.

In a global market where the price of basic food is determined in commodity exchanges, it is hard to pin the the 4x per capita spending on the price of food. Indeed, the data below (source: numbeo.com) suggests that the price of basic foods in the USA is only 30% more expansive than China's.





If we calculate the yearly expenditure based on the cost of minimum calorie diet (365 days x $6.91 x 1.4bn people), Chinese people spend US$3.5tn on food each year, while Americans spend just a little over US$1.1tn. So where does this measurement gap come from?

The figures of around US$1tn market size for China and the USA represent a consensus of major research firms such as AC Nielsen and Euromonitor International. But measuring food market is notoriously difficult. How do you account for dumpling and noodle stalls in the streets of Hong Kong or the Halal food carts in New York City?

Food sold in retail stores indeed represents a large part of the global food market, but not all. There are street vendors, fast food chains, restaurants, there's food served in schools, hospitals and government organizations, etc. If these can account for one meal per day, that explains 30% of the gap between retail sales figures and the figures based on calorie needs.

As long as we don't measure the same grain of rice more than once as it traverses the food supply chain, the numbers should play out. Measuring the end points of the supply chain is a good way to go. Supermarkets sales, is one such end-point, probably the largest in many countries. But, unless we are willing to assume that Chinese folks somehow survive on a 600 calorie diet, it is fair to assume that as much as 2/3 of the Chinese food market still takes place outside traditional retail.

Supermarket and Retail Food Sales Info-graphics courtesy of - The Irish Farmers Journal

List of Major US Manufacturers This list is of typical manufacturers of grocery and other products you might find in your local supermarket. As you can see the list is long, but by no mean it is exhaustive. We strive to give our readers basic information about each of the manufacturers so feel free to search for any manufacturer on this list to see if you can learn more about them or if you are an insider, send us a short description to share with our readers.

1-2-3 Gluten Free, Inc.
14 Hands Winery
2 Degrees, Inc.
3I Corporation Ltd
3M
4C Foods Corp.
A & H Branded Products, LLC
A I Foods Inc.
A Michael Foods Company
A to Z Wineworks, LLC
A&W Products Co., Inc.
A-Grosik
A-grosik PSH
A. Lassonde Inc.
A.J. Funk & Co.
A.M. Braswell Jr. Food Co., Inc.
A.M. Braswell, Jr. Food Co.
A.V. Olsson Trading Co., Inc.
AB World Foods
ACCO Brands
ACH Food Companies
ADF Foods USA Ltd
AFAM Concept Inc.
AFC Trident Inc.
ALB-GOLD Teigwaren GmbH
AMC Card Processing Services, Inc.
AQUAhydrate
A*O LLC
ATK Foods, Inc.
AZ.I.VI.S.I.S.p.A - CANELLI - I - ITALIA
Aarhus Karlshamn UK Ltd
Aaron Industries Inc.
Ab Felix
Abbott Medical Optics, Inc.
Abbott Nutrition
Absolut Spirits Co.
Absolute Nutrition
Absorption Corp
Academia Barilla S.p.A.
Ace Comb Company, Inc.
Acetificio M. De Nigris
Acme Import Co.
Acme International Enterprises, Inc.
Acme Smoked Fish Corp.
Acme United Corporation
Actavis Mid Atlantic LLC
Ad-Visor
Added Extras LLC
Adina for Life, Inc
Adirondack Beverage Company
Adria Imports Inc
AdvancePierre Foods Inc.
Advanced Beauty Systems, Inc.
Advanced Food Products
Advanced Vision Research, Inc.
Advantage Research Laboratories, Inc.
Affy Tapple Inc.
Agadir International LLC
Against The Grain Gourmet
Agave Loco Brands
Agri Star Distribution, LLC
Agricola Apaltagua Limitada
AgroFarma, Inc.
Agropur
Agropur Division Natrel USA
Agrosik
Ahold USA, Inc.
Aidells Sausage Co.
Ainsworth Pet Nutrition
Airborne Inc.
Ak-mak Bakeries
Alacer Corp
Alagio Corp
Alb-Gold Teigwaren GmbH
Albanese Confectionery Group, Inc.
Alberto-Culver USA, Inc.
Albertsons, Inc.
Alcon
Aleia's Gluten Free Foods LLC
Alessio's Mangia, Mangia, Inc.
Alex's Meat & Provisions
Alexander Valley Vineyards
Alexia Foods
Alexian
Alexx, Inc.
Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG
Alico Srl
Alimentos Kern De Guatemala Sa
All County Provisions
All Foods Inc.
All Market Inc.
All-N-Food, LLC
Alle Processing Corp
Allegro Fine Foods, Inc.
Allens, Inc.
AllerMates
AllergEase Inc.
Allergan, Inc.
Allied Beverages LLC
Allied International Corp.
Allied Old English Inc.
Allstar Marketing Group LLC
Allstar Products Group
Alltrista Consumer Products Company
Almar Sales Co. Inc.
Alouette Cheese Usa, LLC.
Alpenglow Beverage Company
Alpha Baking Co., Inc.
Alpina Foods
Alpine Valley
Alter Eco
Alter-eco Americas
Alto De Casablanca S.A
Altos De Medrano S.A.
Alumax International Inc.
Alva-Amco Pharmacal Companies, Inc.
Alvarado Street Bakery
Amaral's Bakery
Amelia Distributing Co., Inc.
Amelia Springs Water, Inc.
American Beverage Corporation
American Beverage Marketers
American Blue Ribbon Holdings, LLC
American Covers, Inc.
American Flatbread
American Greetings Corporation
American Halal Company Inc.
American Health, Inc.
American International Industries
American Italian Pasta Company
American Licorice Company
American Marketing Team
American Pop Corn Company
American Roland Food Corp.
American Sales Company
American Scientific Resources
Amerifit Brands
Amodex Products Inc.
Amour-Eckrich Meats LLC
Amport Foods
Ampro Industries Inc.
Amscan Inc.
Amstel U.S.
Amy's Kitchen Inc.
Anagram International, Inc.
Anchor Bar Distributing Co.
Anchor Brewing Co.
Anco Fine Cheese
Andes Candies L.P.
Andre Prost Inc.
Angeline Winery
Angie's Artisan Treats, LLC
Angiogenesis Labs, LLC
Angostura Limited
Angry Orchard Cider Company
Anheuser-Busch
Anika Laboratories Inc
Animex Foods
Ann's House of Nuts Inc.
Annie Chun's, Inc.
Annie's Homegrown Inc.
Annie's Naturals
Ansell Healthcare Products LLC
Anton-Argires Brothers Co.
Antonio Mozzarella Factory, Inc.
Apio
Apollinaris
Apollo Food Group LLC
Apothecary Products, Inc.
Appalachian Brewing Co.
Apple & Eve, L.L.P.
Apple Villa Pancake House
Applegate Farms, LLC.
Aqua Star
Arcadian Sushi
Arch Chemicals, Inc.
Archie Moore's Food Products, Inc.
Arctic Ease, LLC
Arctic Zero, Inc
Argo Tea, Inc.
AriZona Beverages USA
Aria Foods
Aries Prepared Beef Company
Arla Foods Production
Arla Foods, Inc.
Arla Foods, Inc.
Armaly Sponge Company
Armour-Eckrich Meats LLC
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
Arnold Bakers Inc.
Arnold Products, Inc.
Arnold Sales Company, LLC
Aron Streit Inc.
Arooga's
Arrow Plastic Manufacturing, Co.
Arrowhead Mills
ArtCraft
ArtSkills
Artesian Fresh, Inc
Arthritis Research Corp
Arthur Dogswell, Inc.
Arthur Schuman Inc.
Artisan Confections
Artistic Studios, Ltd
Ascent Consumer Products Inc.
Ascenta Health
Ashburn Specialty Foods
Ashman Distributing Co.
Asian Food Concepts, LLC.
Ask Foods, Inc.
Aspen Mulling Co., Inc.
Aspen Products Inc.
Aspire Brands/Bonne Bell
Ata Retail Services, Inc.
Ateeco, Inc.
Athenos
Athens Pastries & Frozen Foods, Inc.
Athlade, LLC
Atkins Nutritionals, Inc.
Atlanta Foods International
Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Inc.
Atticus Bakery, LLC
Attune Foods, Inc.
Aunt Kitty's Foods, Inc.
Aunt Millie's Bakeries
Auntie Anne's, Inc
Aurora Products, Inc.
Australian Gold
Auto Expressions, LLC
Autocrat, LLC
Auvil Fruit Company
Avalon Winery
Aveniu Brands
Avent America Inc
Avery Dennison Corporation
Avery Products Corporation
Avignonesi
Avon Food Company, LLC.
Az. Agricola Ciccio Zaccagnini Sas
Azteca Foods, Inc.
Azteca Milling L.P.
B & C Products
B & W Quality Growers
B&G Foods
B&G Foods Snacks, Inc.
B.F. Ascher & Co., Inc.
B.R.A.T. Diet LLC
BBM Chocolate Distributors, Ltd.
BBU, Inc.
BCGA CONCEPT CORP.
BEF Foods, Inc.
BG Distribution & Marketing
BIC Acquisition Corporation
BIC USA Inc.
BIOgroupUSA, INC.
BLiS llc
BOLD Organics, LLC.
BPG International, Inc.
BabyGanics
Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.
Back Home Country Recipes
Back To Nature Foods Company
Badia Spices Inc.
Bagel House, LLC.
Bahlsen Inc.
Bai Brands, LLC
Bainbridge & Knight, LLC
Bakery On Main
Balance Bar Company
Balance Water
Balconi S.P.A.
Baldwin Richardson Foods Co.
Baltimore Spice Co.
Banfi Vintners
Banquet
Bantry Bay America
Bar Harbor Foods
Barbara's Bakery, Inc.
Barber Foods
Barberi International
Barcelona Foods
Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers Association
Bare Fruit, LLC.
Bari Food Products
Barilla America
Barney & Co. California, LLC
Barney's Premium Foods
Barrel O'Fun Snack Foods Co.
Barry Callebaut USA Inc.
Barry's Tea
Basic American Foods
Batampte Pickle Products, Inc.
Batch
Bath Accessories Co.
Bauli S.p.A.
Baumer Foods, Inc.
Bausch & Lomb Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Bausch + Lomb
Bay Beyond Inc.
Bay Valley Foods
Baycliff Company, Inc.
Bayer HealthCare Consumer Care
Bays English Muffin Corporation
Baywood New Leaf Acquisition
Bazooka Candy
BeSatori, LLC
Beanitos, Inc.
Bear Creek Country Dips, Inc.
Bear Naked Inc.
Beaumont Products, Inc.
Beaver Books Publishing
Beaverton Foods, Inc.
Becton Dickinson Consumer Products
Bee International
Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation
Beecher's Handmade Cheese
Beiersdorf Inc.
Beijo de Chocolat, LLC.
Bel Brands USA
Bel/Kaukauna USA
BelGioioso Cheese Inc
Bell & Evans
Bell Automotive Products, Inc.
Bell Laboratories Inc.
Bell Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Bell Plantation, Inc.
Bell'Amore Imports, Inc.
Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Bell-Carter Foods
Bell-View Brand Food
Bella Foods
Bella Four Bakery
Belle Glos Wines
Bellei, Luigi & Figli Srl
Bellino Specialty Foods
Bellisio Foods, Inc.
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.
Bench & Field Pet Foods, LLC.
Bendon Publishing International
Beneficial Blends, LLC
Bensons Bakery
Bentlin Products LLC.
Beringer Vineyards
Berkley Green
Berkley Medical Resources, Inc.
Bernard Food Industries
Bertagni
Berwick Offray LLC
Best Brands Consumer Products, Inc.
Best Case and Accessories
Best Dressed Associates, Inc.
Best Made Toys
Best Oriental Produce, Inc.
Best Provisions Co Inc.
Betin, Inc
Better Bowls
Better Bread Company
Better and Best Corporation
Betts Foods
Betty Lou's, Inc.
Beverage Network of Maryland
Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company
Bewley's Limited
Beyond Better Foods, LLC
Biazzo Dairy Products Inc
Big Dave Enterprises
Big Drum
Big Easy Foods
Big Fork Brands
Big Time Products LLC
Big Train, Inc.
Bigfat's Hot Sauce, Inc.
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc.
Binding Brauerei USA Inc.
Binney & Smith Inc.
Bio Pro Research, LLC
Bio-familia Ag
BioCare Labs, Inc.
BioNutritional Research Group
Biofilm, Inc
Bioforce Production
Biokleen
Biotab Nutraceuticals, Inc.
Birds Eye Foods, Inc.
Birkett Mills
Birra Peroni
Bischofszell Food Ltd.
Bischofszell Nahrungsmittel Ag
Bissell, Inc.
Black Diamond Stoneworks
Blackridge Cellars
Blackstone Winery
Blake's
Blaser's Premium Cheese
Bleyer Gift Packs
Blistex Inc.
Block Drug Company, Inc.
Blount Seafood Corporation
Blue Bell Creameries, L.P.
Blue Diamond Growers
Blue Dog Bakery
Blue Lake Citrus Products LLC
Blue Magic, Inc.
Blue Marble Brands
Blue Moon Brewing Company
Blue Sea Products, LLC
Blue Sky
Blue Sky Natural Beverage Company
Bob C. Beverages, LLC
Bob Chinn's Crab House
Bob Evans Farms, Inc.
Bob Timberlake, Inc
Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, Inc.
Bobby D's
Bobbysue's Nuts!
Boca Foods Company
Bodacious Food Company, Inc.
Boehringer Ingelheim Consumer Health Care Products
Boericke & Tafel
Bogdon Candy Co., Inc.
Bogle Vineyards
Boiron Inc.
Bolthouse Farms
Bona US
Bonne Bell, Inc
Bookbinder Specialties
Bookbinder's Food Products
Bosco's Pizza Co.
Boss Brand Crab Meat
Boston Beer Company
Boston Beer Corporation
Botanical Foods Company
Botanical Laboratories,

Rochas Fashion Rochas is a perfume, beauty and fashion brand owned by Procter & Gamble. The brand was founded in 1925 by Marcel Rochas who was a French designer. He was the first designer of the 2/3-length coats and skirts with pockets. Rochas has mostly gained its popularity from its signature perfume that goes by the name ‘Femme,’ which was packaged in a pink box with black lace.

In 2002, the popularity of the brand grew because of the appointment of Olivier Theyskens as its creative director. Within the first few months of his appointment, Theyskens developed an entirely new silhouette for the house that was elegant and had French inspiration. Style.com featured his full collection in their magazine in the fall of 2003. The collection was praised for being ravishing and extremely magnificent.

Over the next years, Rochas continued to gain praise among several fashion critics and was able to gain many loyal followers in the process. Rochas’ clients included some popular celebrities around the world such as Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Jenifer Lopez and Sarah Jessica Parker.

In 2006, Procter & Gamble made the shocking decision to discontinue Rochas Fashion. This was a big shock to most of the people in the fashion industry. The reason behind the closure was mostly economical and this angered most of the industry stakeholders because it was mostly viewed as a limitation on the right of people to look beautiful. There was some news about reopening the fashion segment in 2008 and the company went ahead and named Marco Zanini as the new artistic director for the fashion house. The first collection under Marco was showcased in February of 2009. Marcos was tasked with the responsibility of developing ready to wear collections. Marcos later left the company and was replaced by Alessandro Dell’Acqua who is currently working on his own line of designs.

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Pampers Products Pampers is a brand of baby products manufactured and sold by Procter & Gamble. Pampers Kandoo is a flushable wipe meant for small children and is also produced by P&G. They are easily moistened by lotion and their design makes them very easy to use and dispose of. At one time, Pampers was the only brand in the market that provided disposable diapers for babies.

Pampers was invented by P&G researcher, Victor Mills in 1956. The need for Pampers came from the backdrop of the dissatisfaction with having to launder cloth diapers every day. Victor Mills, together with his fellow researchers at P&G, decided to start developing a better disposable diaper. The researchers were able to develop the first diapers in 1961.

The first diapers that were rolled into the market were relatively heavy and were made from fluff with a rayon top sheet. Pampers introduced the wing fold design in 1966 and by 1969, the company had started producing the “third size.”

By this time, the popularity of Pampers had increased tremendously in the United States. Procter and Gamble replaced the pin-on design with tapes in 1971. In 1982, Pampers developed an elastic wing-fold diaper with refreshable tapes and elastic leg gathers. This was a hybrid of the 1960s design and the then modern hourglass design. The 1990s saw the development of gender specific diapers, but towards the end of the decade the brand resorted back to the unisex diapers. The brand has continued to grow and reinvent itself over the years in an effort to meet the demands and trends in the market.

A list of products currently produced under this brand includes the following:

Pampers Baby Dry

Pampers Swaddlers

Pampers Cruisers

Pampers Splashers Swim Pants

Pampers Easy Ups

Pampers Baby Wipes

Kandoo foaming hand soap

Kandoo instant foaming shampoo



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Head & Shoulders Shampoo Head & Shoulders is a brand of anti-dandruff shampoo manufactured and sold by Procter & Gamble. The researchers at Procter & Gamble started the manufacture of this shampoo back in 1950 after nearly a decade of research into making the formula. The formula introduced pyrithione zinc into the content of the shampoo. The product was introduced into the American market as a blue-green shampoo product. The brand has since then been able to grow and include more products into the brand line up. There are now about nine different varieties of Head and Shoulders products in the market. It is also interesting to note that the color of the formula has also changed from blue-green to white.

The idea of starting the Head & Shoulder brand dates back to 1950 when P&G realized that consumers in the market were not very happy with existing anti-dandruff shampoos. The company then invested their time and money into the development of a formula that would be effective in countering dandruff. It was after 10 years that the company finally discovered an effective formula that would help eliminate dandruff. The product was given the name Head & Shoulders and P&G went ahead and started working on the packaging and marketing campaigns for the product.

Head & Shoulders is currently working to eliminate the myth that dandruff is only the visible flakes that appear on the skin. The fact of the matter is that flakes are the result of the natural body reaction to a dandruff-causing fungus called Malassezia Globosa that resides on the scalps of every human being. Thanks to the research and products being produced by the company, you can now be able to counter and even prevent such infections.

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Wella Professionals Hair Care Products Wella is a brand of cosmetic products manufactured by Procter & Gamble. Franz Stroher founded the brand in 1880 during the time that the headquarters of the company was at Darmstadt, Germany. The company now has offices in over 150 countries in the world. It currently holds three business units, which include Professional, Consumer, Cosmetics and Fragrances. Procter & Gamble acquired Wella in 2003 and it has taken over the production and distribution of the products produced under the brand.

Wella has over the years been able to derive a substantial percentage of its revenue from the licensing of some of its brands under the company included the following:

Trussaidi
Marc O’Polo
Gerry Weber
Mont Blanc
Max Mara

The company has been able to grow throughout the Asian Pacific and exerting its hair innovation and dominance in the whole of this region. The company holds an annual hair fashion collection showcase. This event is meant to promote the brand in the region and also become an inspiration to hair stylists around the world. The event also generated the much acclaimed Trend Vision Award. This is a global hair dressing award that recognizes and encourages visionary and creative hair styles. This award is in line with the core values of Wella.

After the acquisition by P&G, the hair and fragrance businesses were combined. The salon business was put under P&G Salon professional. Wella has grown to become one of the biggest consumer goods company in the world. The brand restaging in 2008 saw Wella Professionals launch a new chapter with a new brand vision and modern brand logo. Other brands that fall under Wella Professionals include Clairol Professional, Sassoon, Sebastian, and Nioxin.

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