PRICE POINTS aside, micro-marketing has also given the lower-income group access to branded, hygienically packaged goods. Rather than having mayonnaise or ketchup dispensed from large containers in wet-market stalls, consumers can now have them for almost the same price in single-serve or foil packs. In India, where increasing health consciousness has prompted the move toward packaged, branded formats, people are now more conscious about the quality of water, standard cooking oil, and calorie intakes, Euromonitor reports. This is the reason flexible packaging is fast becoming popular for food items like milk and biscuits.

In the Philippines, downsizing used to be primarily about cost but secondary benefits have kept the trend going strong, says Abad of TNS. Controlled usage is one such benefit. A consumer tends to use more of a product when it comes in a bottle or box, Abad says, but perceives the sachet to contain just about the right amount.

Top 10 Food Corporations

COMPANY NAME	GROSS REVENUES (in million pesos)	RANK IN TOP 1000 CORPORATIONS by gross revenue (2003)
Nestle Philippines Inc.	53,373	9
San Miguel Corp.	49,811	12
Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.	30,258	19
San Miguel Foods Inc.	26,930	24
Universal Robina Corp.	19,874	33
Unilever Philippines Inc.	16,779	40
Jollibee Foods Corp.	13,912	49
Dole Philippines Inc.	12,932	52
Monde Nissin Corp.	12,132	56
Del Monte Philippines Inc.	8,814	85

Synovate's data show that for the A, B, and C classes, one of the main reasons for buying single-serves or mini-sizes is that usage is controlled (they also liked the packets' handy size that make them easy to carry around).

Abad says consumers have also somehow developed a perception that small packs tend to be more concentrated, in the same way that they feel soda drinks in one- to two-liter bottles tend to lose their fizz faster than those in 12-ounce cans. That's not true, of course, but as Abad points out, "You have people buying 12 sachets from the supermarket, and it's not because they're trying to scrimp."

Sociologist Arnel de Guzman, however, has another theory about the sachet mania in this country. "On the surface it's an economic necessity; the poor cannot buy in bulk," he says. "(But) I tried to look at it on a theoretical basis, and one possible explanation is na-instill na yung 'smallness' mentality. It reflects the Filipino mentality. This is everyday culture, it's a lifestyle and we cannot get out of the near-sightedness and smallness."

Abad, though, has a much less negative view. She says that downsizing not only allows the D and E classes to buy what they need at the moment, it also offers the average consumer variety and a chance to get to know the product. Or as Macapagal says, "How can you fall in love with a product if you haven't tried it?"

Micro-managing also addresses the variety of wants in a family, he notes. "The ones with children, what are they buying? They've got four children, they have four different things that they want. You can't buy one big container to just satisfy one," Macapagal says.

That's a situation mothers like Gemma Candelaria find themselves in frequently. In the her home, she's the only one who likes the Cheezee spread and Nescafe coffee. Only one of her kids likes Milo. Some of her children prefer soap over shampoo for their hair. There used to be a lot of whining, but now she's able to satisfy everyone by buying in sachets. Marketing whizzes themselves can't stop smiling. And so long as we have a basket case of an economy, they will continue chanting, "It's a small, small world" as cash registers ring merrily in the background.

SIDEBAR: All that Trash