Supermarket Safari:

A competitive product review of Yacon chips

Competitors
Brand Name/
Price
Supreme Lutong
Ilocos Banana
Chips
Php 45.00
Glam and
Gabys Banana
Chips
Php 10.00
Tobi Vacuum
Fried Banana
Chips
Php 17.50
Leslies Thin and
Crispy Banana
Chips
Php 12.95
Jovys Banana
Chips
Php 43.50
Goody Goody
Banana Chips
SM Bonus
Banana Chips
Php 44.50

Product
Forms

Packaging
and Sizes

Flavors or
Varieties

Main
Ingredient

Location/Shelf
Position

In Store
Location

Dried,
Processed

Polyethylene
bag
(5.5 x 9 in.)

Camote chips
(Honey glazed and
Garlic), Taro chips
(BBQ, Garlic and
cheese)

*Banana
chips: fresh
banana

Within a crate on
a table; front
row, middle part

Standalone

Dried,
Processed

Polyethylene
bag (5 x 7 in.)

Fresh banana

Shelf middle

Right side
of store

Vacuum
fried

Aluminum foil
bag
30 g

Fresh banana

Dried,
Processed

Aluminum foil
bag
40 g

Fresh banana

Dried,
Processed
Dried,
Processed
Dried,
Processed

Resealable
aluminum foil
pouch 185 g
Aluminum foil
pouch
Polyethylene
bag 200 g

Fresh banana

Top shelf

Top shelf

Top shelf

Fresh banana

Top shelf

Fresh banana

Middle

Middle of
aisle

Middle of
aisle
Middle of
aisle
Middle of
aisle
Middle of
aisle

1) Does one of these competing products stand out? Yes Why or why not? Cultural significance is
strategically emphasized in the other product by including the provinces name. Moreover, its
packaging was better than the other.
For those found in the grocery, two products stood out among the other product for different
reasons. Tobi Vacuum Fried Banana Chips stood out because vacuum fried products in the market
are not as common as deep-fried or baked chips. While Jovys Banana Chips stood out among the
other products because of its packaging. Its brand name was very large and bold and its design
was clean, it being eye catching. Also, its packaging material was resealable.
2) Where in the store were most of these types of products located? These types of products were located
along with other native goods like Pakaskas, etc.
In the grocery, these types of products were usually found in the same aisle as chips, nuts and
native delicacies. It is usually near the shelves where nuts and dried mangos are found.
If one product was easier to find, where was it located? Front row; middle part. In most cases, such a
product is located just about eye level.
3) How many different forms or sizes of this product were there? 2 What are they? Packaging sizes (5.5 x 9
inches and 5 x 7 inches) as well as the packaging thickness differed.
4) Which product was the most expensive? Supreme Lutong Ilocos Banana Chips. Why? Apart from a welldetailed nutritional facts table as well as an informative list of ingredients used, this product was
the most expensive because of product packaging and branding. Additionally, the target market
was visiting tourists (local and international).
5) Which product was the least expensive? Glam and Gabys Banana Chips. Why? The material used for
packaging was less durable. Packaging design was rather simple. Aside from that, product
information (i.e. ingredients, nutrional facts, manufacturer information, etc.) cannot also be
found.
6) Which packaging stood out the most? Supreme Lutong Ilocos Banana Chips. Why? It was able to
attract tourists by including the places name in its branding; packaging was also a plus factor
because of the incorporation of many colors and figures which blended harmoniously.

7) What can be done to get our product to stand out from the rest of the competition? As observed, the
packaging played a significant role in making products stand out with its design and packaging
innovation. A step in getting our product stand out would be ensuring that it is eye catching on
the shelves. During the activity, the banana chips were not easily recognized on the shelves, as
there were other kinds of products more eye catching. There were a wide variety of packaging
materials and sizes for banana chips. The packaging material and size of the product needs to be
considered so as to sell the product in a sufficient amount that consumers would most likely
respond to. It was also observed that banana chips were usually deep-fried. Thus utilizing a
different cooking method, such as vacuum frying would not only improve the quality of the
product but also make it stand out among other brands. The product takes pride in utilizing
yacon due to its health benefits. This must have backed up claims and must be simply stated and
shown in the label to convince consumers and encourage them to buy the product.
Summary of findings
Banana chips were usually sold in the province; in small cafeterias and stalls near stopovers. However,
such products were not usually common in grocery shelves. Three groceries (Robinsons Supermarket, Las
Pias; Shoppersville, Katipunan; Rustans Supermarket, Katipunan) the researchers went to do not sell banana
chips while one grocery (Savemore, Katipunan) only sold two brands of the said product. Only one grocery (SM
Hypermarket, Las Pias) had a significant number of different brands of banana chips. They were found in the
same aisle with chips, native delicacies, nuts and popcorn. The brands observed had different packaging
materials, sizes, and labels. Their prices ranged from Php 10.00 44.50 where the smaller sizes cost below
Php 20.00 and the bigger sizes around Php.44.50. The products were all produced by deep-frying except for
one Tobis Vacuum Fried Banana Chips. The observations were used to see what could be utilized to make the
Yacon chips stand out among its competitors.