The Kerrygold Experience

During my weekend round of errands I stopped by the Whole Foods market. The Whole Foods experience is always interesting, a slicked-up organic grocery store trying to retain some farm stand charm (while full of Land Rover driving power brokers.) Every Saturday the store is filled with product demonstrations. Many of the demos are run by the store, but they frequently invite manufacturers in to host their own "show and tell." Today in the cheese department the Kerrygold company was hosting a demo.

The lovely product demonstrator was Hazel. I was truly enjoying her lovely Irish lilt while she spoke about the products (in this case two kinds of cheese and salted butter) and factoids about what Kerrygold cows eat (grass as opposed to oats) as she slathered cheese-sized pieces of butter onto French bread. I thought the butter was quite delicious, enhanced by a perfect French bread loaf. As Hazel was beginning to speak about the Dubliner cheese and the special aged Cheddar, another shopper leaned in for a taste of bread and butter. I watched the newest arrival (let's call her Lorraine) sample the Kerrygold butter. While I loved the taste of the butter, Lorraine was not swayed by the taste of the product, or Hazel's Irish lilt. In fact, when Hazel asked if Lorraine liked the butter Lorraine responded by saying "It's nothing special - why would you need to import butter from Ireland?" I managed to stifle my guffaw, but nearly choked on the aged Cheddar I was sampling as Lorraine continued to badger Hazel. "Really, what's so different about your butter?" Hazel explained about the grass-eating cows in Ireland. Hazel then asked sweetly "Would you like to try the cheese?" Lorraine samples it and says "Eh, it tastes like Cheddar - I can get this from Vermont." Hazel going in for round three smiled and responded by asking if she would like to try the Dubliner on offer.

I could no longer stifle my laughter so I walked away before Lorraine responded, but I also wanted to finish my shopping so I could go back and speak with Hazel - who was quite gracious about the camera phone picture. I told Hazel that I was going to write something for the blog and asked a few questions about who she worked for (Kerrygold) and how often she does product demonstrations (three times a week for 3.5 hours each time.) I asked how often she encounters someone like Lorraine - who couldn't take a sample and say "great!" or "thanks" - but wanted to debate the merits of the product. She said most people just took the sample and left it there, that "Lorraine" encounters were pretty rare and shrugged it off with a laugh. How fortunate I was to witness such a rare occurrence.

Here's my question:  Do you sample the cheese, chocolate or "energy drinks" to see if it is better and quietly ponder dubious marketing claims as you walk away?  Or do you sample the product and debate the product representative? We're not talking automotive engineering or political candidates here, we are talking condiments. Comment away shoppers - the Internets is open and operators are standing by.

Comments

[Lee McEwan]

I only tend to 'sample' food and drink products I already know and trust in store. In other words, I treat it as a freebie - gratefully received.

If I haven't tried something before I may not like it and would prefer not to take the risk of walking around the supermarket for the next 10 minutes with a bad taste in my mouth. Am I alone in being so conservative?

[Lori Magno]

JF:

I would have guffawed out loud if I wasn't afraid that Lorraine would smack me!

[Jeff Flemings]

Actually for me it's usually neither. I think all claims are pretty much dismissable out of hand so I blow them all off. Personally I would only engage the presenter if I 1. had time to talk and 2. cared enough to know more. Typically I would grab and go. Free is free, my friend.

PS - next time definitely let the guffaw rip, it's your privilege as a customer to guffaw whenever you like! : )