Earlier this year, Beyond Meat switched to formulating with avocado oil to combat falling US sales.

This is a fascinating move.

A burger deemed unappetizing to meat consumers (and ‘Franken-meat’ to non-meat eaters) changed ONE thing... and completely altered customer perception of their product.

There’s an entire Reddit feed about it with the general consensus being “I don't eat this stuff very much because it's unhealthy. I would definitely be more likely to eat it now.”

Even my boyfriend, who would never consider a Beyond Burger instead of a real meat burger, shared this article with me and said: “I’d probably order that now. It’s a healthier burger for me now, right? Since it has avocado oil.”

Few ingredients in CPG hold as much perceptive power—and as much control of your COGS—as the oil you use.

And yet the oil you formulate with is one of the most ‘intuitively guessed upon’ ingredients by the internal team in early CPG formulations. 

When client Brala’s Best went through Product & Prosper’s sampling program as part of our go-to-retail process, we discovered the key threat to their purchase and repurchase rate: canola oil.

The question became – so, what oil can we feasibly use instead?

The Customer Perception of Oils: The Survey

Since there was a lack of accessible research around oils online, we crowdsourced 143 responses to the question:

“Would you buy a new food item with an ingredient labeled with…”

• Coconut Oil

• Sunflower Oil

• Cultured Oil

• Rapeseed Oil

• Olive Oil

• Canola Oil

• Grapeseed Oil

• Avocado Oil

Note: we didn’t include Safflower Oil, Soy Oil, or Palm Oil.

The Survey Results

The Extremes: As with any topic, we see extremes in the results. On one hand, we have the “the seed oil scare is a scam” group and on the other, we have the “I stay away from anti-inflammatory seed oils” group. 

Of course, these divided responses correlate with where the respondents live and shop and the media they consume.

The Majority: The generally moderate customer perception around seed oils is encapsulated by this one respondent’s comment:

Nonetheless, there were clear winners – and clear losers for customer perception of oils.

The Winners: Respondents were most open minded to purchasing products using coconut oil, with 97.9% saying ‘yes, I would buy a new food item with an ingredient labeled with this oil.’

Avocado oil came in second with 97.5% yes rate.

And interestingly, olive oil came in third, with a 94.3% yes rate.

The Ones in the Middle: As consumers, respondents seemed most split on: sunflower oil (52.6% yes) and grapeseed oil (47.9% yes). 

The Losers: By contrast, the three oils with the lowest “yes” rates were canola oil (39.0%), rapeseed oil (37.5%), and cultured oil (32.4%) (sorry, Zero Acre). 

So, what oil should you use?

Well, it depends. I recommend starting with these questions & considerations: 

Is oil an important ingredient for your product and category? 

How to find the answer: Go to the store and see what products in your category put on their labels. If you’re aiming to be on-shelf with “Made with Avocado Oil” players, then it’s an important ingredient for your category and you need to give it some thought.

Pro tip: If you don’t see oil callouts on competitor packaging—but your product generally uses oil— it’s a category ripe for disruption. Capitalize on that. 

Is oil an important factor for the customer & channels you’re selling in? 

Generally speaking, conventional channel consumers = “the seed oil scare is a scam” and natural & premium consumers = “I try to stay away from seed oils.”

So, who’s your customer? Where will your product really sell off shelf? 

How much does oil affect your product’s price? And will that price affect your sell-through on shelf?

If oil affects your price significantly enough where you can’t compete on shelf with healthy margins, you’ll need to learn into those consumers who are willing to pay more – and who will be more picky of the oils used. Namely, lean into natural, premium sales channels then brand and formulate for those customers and shelves.

Bottom line: If your product isn’t selling, be like Beyond Meat. Go back to the customer and understand their perception.

What do you think our next customer perception survey should be on? 

I’m thinking: natural & artificial flavors. 👀