A Sad Discovery

Back in the day...when quality was rarely
sacrificed for profit... 

After extolling the virtues of Cheerwine in a glass bottle, I have discovered that the formulation for my favorite soft drink has been tampered with yet once again.

On a particularly long day at the office, I decided to treat myself to a bottled Cheerwine on my way home. I stopped at the store, and made my purchase, eagerly anticipating the excellence of the drink to hit my taste buds. But as its bubbly effervescence washed my mouth, something was amiss! The taste was off. I couldn't believe it! What was wrong? I proceeded to check the side of the bottle where the words Real Sugar appeared where once the words Real Cane Sugar had been proudly proclaimed.

It is hard to believe that there is a difference between Real Sugar and Real Cane Sugar. I always thought Real Sugar WAS Cane Sugar! Apparently not. The difference is evident from the taste. The Real Sugar is slightly less sweet than the Cane. This difference affects the cherry flavor of the drink dramatically.

Why on earth did they make the change? I am sure that it must boil down to a matter of a penny or two per bottle. The really sad thing is that the quality is noticeably diminished. I don't drink soft drinks very often, but I am far less likely to drink them when they don't taste the way that they should.

It is just sad, that in corporate America, no one really seems to care. Everything is about the bottom line. We lose so much when the only lens that we use to evaluate a process, a product, or a service comes down to how much it costs. Such a myopic approach necessitates an erosion of quality, and quality is what made America great!

I believe that we need to rethink the way we do business in this country. It is time for us to be able to honestly say that if you are paying more for American goods and services it is because they are superior to less expensive substitutes. That simply isn't the case in most instances today. I lay the blame at the feet of corporate management. The paradigm is wrong. The saying isn't "Build a cheaper mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." for a reason. People don't want a cheaper mousetrap. But they ARE willing to pay more for one that WORKS.

Make a product that is superior and you won't have to wring your hands at the loss of business to overseas competitors.