The Big Take
Shoppers Are Ditching Classic Brands They Once Loved
Customers are either paying up for higher-end items from upstarts or trading down to cheaper “private label” ones
A burst of color is washing over Kraft’s once dominant royal blue in the macaroni and cheese aisle.
Among new arrivals is Goodles, a protein-packed option with eye-catching neon branding that costs more than twice as much as a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese. At a Target in Chicago, Goodles’ Shella Good and Bling Bling Bac’n varieties are picked over; larger boxes with squeezy cheese sauce are completely sold out. Adjacent to the Kraft packages are two rows of Target’s low-cost Market Pantry brand: At 65 cents a pack, the red boxes cost about a third of the price as the Kraft perched just a few inches away.