A premium grocery range will now include a paragraph affirming the buyer's judgement, after research by its marketing department suggested that expensive chickpeas should do more emotional work. The product itself remains chickpeas.
Each packet describes the contents as carefully considered, thoughtfully sourced and quietly exceptional, qualities not normally demanded of something destined to sit behind the toaster until spring. A new olive oil bottle assures customers they are exactly the sort of person who understands olive oil bottles.
Shopper Imogen Reed said she did not mind paying more because the packaging looked as though it had a preferred architect. She briefly considered the budget alternative, but its label appeared to be addressing her as someone who merely wanted dinner. The premium label understood that she wanted a narrative.
The range will expand into reassuring pasta, aspirational salt and rice with excellent connections. A spokesperson said the difference was an entire philosophy of purchasing. Asked to describe that philosophy without using the word curated, he requested more time. Reed later served the chickpeas in a bowl she called rustic, which cost considerably more than one the manufacturer had bothered to finish.
