Let's revisit this sachet thing. I didn't want what I wanted to say to be drowned in the noise of sentiment and vibes during the week.

”The Varian Rule” is what is at play with sachets.

”A simple way to forecast the future is to look at what rich people have today”
Attibuted to Google’s chief economist Hal Varian:

"A simple way to forecast the future is to look at what rich people have today; middle-income people will have something equivalent in 10 years, and poor people will have it in an additional decade."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varian_Rule
It is also a strategic move by FMCG companies who suddenly find that the middle class has disappeared. They extend their product's lifetime and usefulness by creating economically affordable units. It is also sometimes VERY profitable to do so if you are smart.
I have used toilet paper for my own experiment. I saw that luxury toilet paper never comes in small packs. I buy them anyway because it is one thing I don't skimp on. My wife felt it was too expensive and needless and I allowed her to buy the cheaper version to test.
We found that the quality version which was seen as expensive actually lasts twice as long and was ultimately cheaper in real terms. The so-called "cheaper version" also had smaller units of packaging for people who wanted to pay less. It came down to cashflow for purchase.
There are people who don't use toilet paper at all and swear by water. After they kept defending their "approach" which I found quite unhygienic, I now realized that moist wipes were a very big category in developed countries as well. Maybe that will be the next frontier.
Clayton Christensen mentioned in the innovator's dilemma that the low-quality alternative typically gets better over time and captures more market share. Most FMCGs are very wary of losing market share and sachets help with market diversification and extension. Ansoff's Matrix.
Over time, they hope to benefit from Varian's Law unless the disruptor is persistent as in the case of Bigi vs Coca-Cola then acquisition may become an option.

The reality is that Varian's law holds long-term and it is why disruptors also look at non-consumption.
Sachets work where there are no disruptors and they become the disruptive strategy. It started by taking existing sugar boxes and splitting it into smaller quantities by retailers. It happened to salt, it happens to ALL consumer products you can think about. Sachets help preserve
Water consumption is the biggest sachet space and I can bet you that none of the consumers are bothered about environmental impact. Until we start looking at it again to see what rich people are doing today (healthwise) and make that the next disruption.
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