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Why do vitamins and supplements companies leave so much empty space in their bottles/tubs? (mander.xyz)

submitted 1 week ago by Mothra@mander.xyz to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.ca

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Just got some Swisse vitamin D and 3/4 of the tub is air. I've had similar experiences with other brands too.

So what's the deal?

Wouldn't it be more profitable for them to use smaller packaging? Smaller=less material cost, more stock can be shipped in the same delivery. They can still sell it at the same price if they want

I can understand the "fill with air" gimmick for things like potato chips, but not supplements. These are numbered. There's 60 pills here, you're advertising this number on the label, you can still put the same number on a smaller tub.

Why tho?

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[–] sanguinepar@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

It's maybe cheaper for them to buy millions of the same size of container than to buy smaller quantities of various more suitably sized ones. Could be that for some medications/patient requirements those same tubs do get mostly filled up, and it's easier just to have the same size for all. Probably makes boxing and shipping simpler too.

[–] Regna@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Also, smaller sizes would get less exposure space on the shelves. They need them big enough for the brand and type to be legible and not disappear among other brand products on the shelves.

Source: temped in ”health” stores.

[–] sanguinepar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Good point.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 4 points 1 week ago

Correct. Same reason why most products in cans or bottles come in similar sizes. The cost for packaging and shipping has been minimized over time. There will be outliers, usually to try and stand out on the shelf. For unseen online shipping, the cheaper mass production is best, even if they're shipping air and it's wasted space. It cost them less.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This makes sense

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

The scale the bottles are produced at makes it so the cosy between a tall bottle or half size would be negligible. The actually material difference is fractions of a penny