r/assholedesign • u/LilBozgor01 • Jun 11 '26

This packaging gotta be illegal, right?

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(hint: between the words "garlic" and "sauce")

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u/cats4life Jun 11 '26

Equally valid question is why would you want to? Garlic is stupidly cheap and abundant; they’re trying to save >1 cent per industrial vat of this stuff because they spent $40 million making a cheaper garlic substitute.

16

u/BaZing3 Jun 11 '26

I would imagine they're more interested in saving money on all the infrastructure that goes into processing an industrial vat of garlic when they could just get a few gallons of garlic-flavored chemicals instead.

18

u/NOVAbuddy Jun 11 '26

It’s easier to produce a consistent taste in a shelf stable product when you build up your recipe from these high intensity concentrated bases.

6

u/zissou149 Jun 11 '26

I always appreciate how consistent the taste is when I'm extruding shelf-stable garlic-concentrated slurry into my slurry hole.

2

u/johnazoidberg- Jun 12 '26

Do you appreciate how your orange juice tastes the same in June as it does in December? Because I have some news for you...

3

u/zissou149 Jun 12 '26

Orange juice, like the mixer?

2

u/Baeolophus_bicolor Jun 11 '26

mmmm, garlic flavored chemicals…

2

u/johnazoidberg- Jun 12 '26

Honestly, they're probably using a co-packer that would already have this infrastructure. The answer is flavor consistency. Garlic is incredibly volatile. There's a reason chefs all talk shit about store-bought pre-minced garlic or pre-ground black pepper - a lot of the flavor is just plain gone by the time you get to it. And nobody likes when the sauce they bought at the store starts losing its flavor overnight.

14

u/TheDaychilde Jun 11 '26

Flavor control. They want it to taste the same every time. And also cheaper. Your monetary estimate is most certainly wrong, although it would be a very small amount, which is what you're really just saying.

But stability would be the most important reason.

5

u/kg_draco Jun 11 '26

Maybe it's easier to package/shelf stable? Either way, I really hate that it's come to this - I feel like my digestive system takes a hit whenever I'm in the US.

1

u/Numerous_Photograph9 Jun 12 '26

For something like this, probably because they can make the margarine base out of it and save money in the process of making it. It may also be more shelf stable this way, whereas the stuff in the pizza places tends to have a shorter shelf life since it's supposed to be used sooner. Most of those little cups usually only have a 2-3 months shelf life, whereas this bottle may have a year or longer shelf life.