Inflation? Recession? - Time To Buy Quality

Inflation or Recession or Both?

I recently listened in on a financial advisory call from our bank Wells Fargo. It was equally interesting and confusing. I came away from the call with some very specific thoughts that I want to share from a Keys® perspective.

Depending on who you talk to, we are experiencing unwarranted inflation with recession hiding in plain sight. So, naturally these are times to be thrifty, but thrifty does not mean cheap. Unfortunately, cheap is the go-to option for some when trying to save money. Out of pocket is out of pocket. When you weigh and make decisions on the outcomes and performance of a product, the game changes. The operative phrase is quality over quanity whether times are good or bad. At Keys® holding the line on pricing is our way of fighting inflation and offering quality assures that in a recession that our customers win.

No riddle intended; when you base your buying decisions more on what you get versus what you pay, a whole new world opens up. It is the world of quality over quantity.

The reason is that you get what you pay for at Keys®. Or, in the case of those that went away, you don’t get what you paid for. When Covid hit the world, many products did not survive, and companies like Keys thrived because we offer true value to our customers.

I believe that people instinctively know value and know it when companies change their products to make money by cutting quality. For example, at the beginning of Covid, some companies increased the water content of their products by 20% and charged even more. Water is a vital ingredient in moisturizing products, but not at 65%-70% of the total product volume. 5% or 6%, yes, but 70% is a ripoff. So, that 32-ounce bottle is no more than 16 ounces of product and 16 ounces of water. Many of those companies are gone and victims of their own decisions. We have all read the stories about people and companies that thrived during Covid, and most stories are stories about integrity. Being whole and complete is our simple definition of integrity.

Keys® Products Unchanged!

Our example is that Keys Tortuga lotion’s formula has been unchanged for 18 years. Meaning the quality has been maintained. We accomplish this through economies of scale. By growing more over the years, we have more buying power and can buy components and ingredients at a fair enough price to maintain our pricing by maintaining and controlling our costs. This philosophy is true of all Keys products and not just Tortuga.

When you buy quality, you are purchasing an outcome. Healthier skin is what our customers demand, while also being safe for them and their families are paramount. Simply put, that is what you get with Keys®. Whole natural ingredients in therapeutic proportions.

The lesson is more about buying quality and performance over price. Today we are seeing companies reduce their packaging size or switch to cheaper chemicals to save money to maintain their prices. That is fake, and performance suffers. It is an option to buy these more inferior products, but why?

When you pick up a 4-ounce bottle of Tortuga, envision that you are picking up a concentrated lotion that you only need a fraction of the product to get the same results. Yes, less is more, and a pea-sized drop o a Keys product is like a palm full of a big box product.