The Sachet Economy

Walk into any sari-sari store and you will find shampoo, coffee, and detergent sold not in bottles or boxes but in small single-use sachets. Economists call this the "sachet economy," and it is often praised as a clever way of serving the poor. A family that earns a daily wage cannot afford to spend a large sum at once on a full bottle; by buying small portions, it can obtain what it needs within the limits of each day's cash. Manufacturers, for their part, gain millions of customers they would otherwise never reach. Critics, however, point to two hidden costs. The first is financial: measured per milliliter or per gram, sachets are usually more expensive than larger packs, so the poorest households end up paying the highest unit prices. The second is environmental: sachets are made of layered plastic and foil that is nearly impossible to recycle, and they now clog canals and wash up on beaches in enormous numbers. Some companies have responded with refill stations and buy-back programs, but these remain small. The sachet, in short, solves a real problem of cash flow while creating others of cost and waste, a reminder that a product's convenience and its true price are not always the same thing.