I have been attending Fancy Food Shows (FFS) since 2001. Most often the one here in NY where I live, but I also regularly make the trip to San Francisco now that there is a meeting of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association the same weekend.
I don’t expect to run across truly innovative products at a FFS. But I have been attending for over fifteen years and so I have a extensive baseline for trendspotting. I don’t look specifically for stupid products but this one jumped out at me as being incredibly silly and extremely un-sustainable, and “worthy” of singling out.
Herbal infused ice cubes that cost $18.00 for a box of 12.
The packaging is similar to what you’d find for a single-serving jam or jelly or syrup. It’s a plastic cup covered with foil. You put the unit into the freezer, wait until fully frozen, pull back the foil, and pop the herbal-infused ice cube into a glass. There are 25mls (less than one ounce) of water in each cup. That’s about $50 per liter for some tap water and chopped herbs. Really? I’s so hard to chop some herbs and pop them into some water and then into an ice cube tray? How lazy do you have to be?
And then there are the packaging and collateral. The little plastic tub, the printed foil peel-back cover, the printed cardboard box, POP display materials, the master shipper box, sales sheets, shipping, and more. Someone invested in this? Really?
All that makes Herbal Infused Ice Cubes my choice for stupid food product of the month for January, 2018.
Please share your thoughts. Do you agree with me that this is a stupid product? Do you think it will be a success in the long run?
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This series is inspired by the Stupid Patent of the Month collection at EFF which I discovered and follow on TechDirt.
If you have an idea for a stupid food product, please send an email to tcl_info@thechocolatelife.com