The Best Instant Lemonade
Mix Brand Available at the
Kroger in Denton
A Feasibility Study
Written by:
Karla Gonzales
Forrest Gates
Jose Avila
Marcy Luetke-Stahlman
Table of Contents
iii
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Methods ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Price.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Popularity .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Taste ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Results......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Price.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Popularity .............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Taste ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Overall Matrix..................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Recommendation ................................................................................................................................................................ 13
Appendix ................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Introduction
5
Introduction
People have favored lemonade since the turn of the ages. Society has recently begun to focus on a
different lifestyle: quickness, price, and calories. Lemonade has drastically changed from the past
several years, as companies not only focus on taste anymore, but criteria such as those mentioned
above. Now, instant mix lemonade seems to be an in-demand product. Instant mix lemonade is
known for its low calories and quickness. We are testing instant lemonade because it is a popular
product, so there are many competitors out there. In this feasibility study, we went to a local
supermarket grocery store and examined such lemonade products. We chose three products
offered at the Kroger on University Drive that fit our criteria (calorie-free or light lemonade powder
packets). The products we chose were (Figure 1):
•
•
•
Crystal Light
Kroger Brand Lemonade
True Lemonade
This study is for our local Denton college community.
Figure 1: Lemonade brands tested
College students live life in the fast lane, and we
understand their need for quick, easy-to-make products. We want to find the best lemonade
product that will benefit them the most.
We will first discuss our methods used to determine the best product, describing what our testing
criteria will be. Then, we will show and explain our results. We will conclude and interpret the
results based on our criteria. Our team will make a recommendation based on the results and the
audience of this report.
Methods
Instant drinks are very popular in our current fast-paced society. With so many options out there,
we are performing this study to help university students in Denton choose the best lemonade
instant mix offered at Kroger. To determine “the best” we will test the following criteria:
•
•
•
Price
Popularity
Taste
We will rank the three lemonade brands based on a points system. One is the lowest point and
three is the highest. For each test that a product “wins”, it will get three points. The second place
product will get two points and the last place product gets one point. We will add up all the points
at the end and that is how we will determine the best product.
Methods
7
Price
Price is our first criterion in determining the best product because it is the first thing a consumer
looks at. We will rank the three products on a scale from one to three, one being the most expensive
and three being the cheapest. Refer to Figure 2 for the scale we will use:
1
Popularity
2
3
Figure 2: Price scale
Popularity is the second criteria we will use to define the best of all three lemonade products. To
determine the most popular brand we will perform a simple survey. We will hand out a
questionnaire to our classmates, asking the following question: “Which of the following brands do
you prefer?” The results of the survey will be tallied, added and the product with the most points
wins the popularity test.
Taste
To determine the best tasting product we will perform a single-blind study. We will prepare 8 cups
of each brand of instant mix lemonade to test the flavor. We will ask volunteers to taste all three of
the lemonades and rank each by how they tasted. The ranking system we will use is a scale from
one to three, one being the worst tasting, and three being the best tasting. Refer to Figure 3 for the
scale we will use. The product that has the highest points will win the test, and receive three points
for our overall point system. The worst tasting product will get one point. The cups will be labeled
A,B,C, so people will not have a biased opinion. A will be True Lemonade, B will be Crystal Light, and
C will be Kroger Brand Lemonade.
Worst
Average
Best
Figure 3: Taste scale
Results
9
Results
This section presents our results of the price research, popularity survey, and taste study.
Price
We went to the grocery store and looked up the price for all three products, Table 1 has the prices
listed at the local Kroger in Denton:
Product
Crystal Light
Kroger Brand Lemonade
True Lemonade
Price
$2.50
$1.87
$2.89
Table 1: Price results
True Lemonade is the most expensive, Crystal Light is slightly less expensive and Kroger Brand
Lemonade is the cheapest. Under our points system, True Lemonade gets one point, Crystal Light
gets two points, and Kroger Brand gets three points. Figure 4 shows the brands ranked under our
scaling system.
True Lemonade
Crystal Light
Kroger Brand
Figure 4: Price ranking
Popularity
The results of the popularity survey we conducted are tallied and listed in Table 2.
Product
Crystal Light
Kroger Brand
True Lemonade
Tally
II
II
IIII
Table 2: Popularity results
True Lemonade won the popularity contest because it was chosen as a preferred product four times
out of the eight surveys. Crystal Light and Kroger Brand tied for second place. True Lemonade gets
three overall points in our points system and Crystal Light and Kroger get two points each.
Taste
We recorded the taste study results by ranking the products on the points and scaling system.
Crystal Light ranked the best tasting lemonade the most times so it won the taste test. Kroger Brand
Lemonade ranked the second best and True Lemonade was the worst tasting lemonade. The points
Conclusion
11
added up in our overall points system to determine which product is the best. Figure 5 shows how
each product ranked according to our scaling system. Our complete results for taste are shown in
Table 3.
True Lemonade
Product
Crystal
Light
Kroger
Brand
True
Lemonade
Kroger Brand
3
3
3
Ranking
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
3
Crystal Light
2
2
3
1
1
2
3
3
Overall Matrix
1
Figure 5: Taste scale
2
Total
20
1
10
3
18
Table 3: Taste results
We used a point system to rank all the tests on an even basis. The winners of each test received
three points, the runner-up got two points, and the loser got one point. We added up the points and
Crystal Light and Kroger Brand lemonade tied for first place with seven points. True Lemonade
came in second with five points. Refer to Table 4 for our overall results.
Product
Crystal Light
Kroger Brand
True Lemonade
Conclusion
Price
2
3
1
Popularity
2
2
3
Taste
3
2
1
Total
7
7
5
Table 4: Overall results
Our results show that Crystal Light and Kroger Brand lemonade are the best instant lemonade
mixes at the local Kroger. Although True Lemonade won the popularity contest, our surveys and
research show that it was tasteless and expensive. Crystal Light was deemed the tastiest lemonade
in our study, but got second place in the price ranking, and tied for second in the popularity contest.
Kroger Brand lemonade won the price ranking, being the cheapest of all three products, but scored
second in the taste test and tied with Crystal Light in the popularity test. By score, both Crystal
Light and Kroger are the best lemonades, but it seems that Crystal Light is preferred for its taste
and Kroger by its price. The results were surprising to our team. But based on our survey, singleblind study, and research we come to the conclusion that Crystal Light and Kroger Brand lemonade
are the best instant mix lemonades available at the local Kroger in Denton.
Recommendation
13
Recommendation
We recommend Kroger Brand Lemonade because our tests show that it has above average taste
and a very reasonable price. Even though it tied with Crystal Light, the audience of this study is
money-conscious college students, which is why we are recommending Kroger Brand Lemonade
not Crystal Light. We do not recommend True Lemonade. Our tests revealed True Lemonade is both
expensive and tasteless. If you are willing to spend a few extra bucks, Crystal Light is for you. But if
money is your priority, like the majority of university students, your product is Kroger Brand
Lemonade.
Appendix