If you look at the price per ounce, it's much more expensive to buy single-serve bags and containers than a large size. Yet, they are growing in popularity. The packaging is designed to make the food or beverage easily portable. It conveniently fits in a purse or backpack, and the container is tough enough to withstand being toted around. The "rightsizing" of portions is especially appealing to consumers. It makes it a lot easier to regulate one's calorie intake. There's no measuring or guessing or... kidding ourselves that we only consumed only 100 calories when we know we really ate over half the bag.
As a mother watching a household budget for a family of five, I don't buy many products that come in single-serving bags, but there have been a few over the years. As a matter of convenience, I sometimes buy Lance cheese & crackers. I buy single-serving yogurts because the kinds we like don't come in big tubs.
However, I have avoided buying single-serve containers to regulate calories... until now. Brie cheese. After having a little bit of cheese in Germany with my breakfast each day, I decided to incorporate it into my American breakfast routine. I even found a big wedge of it on clearance at Kroger because the expiration date was quickly approaching. Score!!
I got out my food scale each morning and weighed the proper amount. The fact that I cannot remember what that amount is should tell you something about my ability to self-regulate when it comes to Brie. I would find myself taking it out in the afternoon for a snack - I mean, hey, it's cheese... calcium, right?? Good for me, right?? I finished that wedge waaaaay sooner than I should have, and the next time I went food shopping, I bought a wheel of it. Soon that wheel was gone.
Then I was at Fresh Market, looking around the cheese section to see what other yummy, calcium-laden goodness I could find, when I saw Ile de France Brie Bites. At $8 for a bag of 5, they are obviously no bargain. However, I know that 5 of these little bites are probably all I should eat in a week. So I decided to buy it.
Wow, they are really good. They are creamier inside than regular Brie, so they spread really well. I don't know why it is, but I find it a lot easier to not open the next single-serve package of Brie Bites than going back to an open wheel of Brie. I guess there is something about not opening a brand-new package that makes it easier to resist.
Since the Brie Bites are rather expensive, I don't buy them every week. Sometimes I'll have a different cheese in the morning with my bread, and I continue to buy regular packages of cheese for that. I don't find it hard to resist an open package of cheddar. But Brie... mmmmmm.... Brie... I could easily eat an entire small wheel in one sitting.
The title of my blog asks "Do we need it?" I'm sure in the case of my Brie, technically, the answer is "No." I don't NEED to eat Brie, in the first place. I could just leave it on the store shelf. I am a bit bothered by the extra waste generated by these Brie Bites. That's one reason I make coffee with reusable filters in my Keurig instead of K-cups. Maybe one day I will buy a wheel of Brie, take it home, and see if cutting it up and putting it in individual containers helps me self-regulate better. After Brie has been a more regular part of my diet, hopefully it will be easier to resist, like the cheddar. But for now, at least, I think I will buy the little containers.
In case you're interested, here's a photo:
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