I love apple sauce. Costco has a great package of three TreeTop jars at very reasonable cost.
When I first use it, I just pour the sauce right out of the jar into a bowl. It has just the right consistency to flow evenly.
But at the end, when the jar is almost empty, it’s really difficult to get the final dregs out.
After I have poured everything that is going to pour, I turn it over and use a table-spoon to fish out the rest. If it were a smooth glass jar, like most fruit jars are, it would be easy.
However, I have noticed that this jar design makes it very difficult to properly empty the jar at the end.
There are two flat sections on both sides of the label, partially visible on this photograph, that are meant to give the full jar a good grip surface from the outside. But inside, there is a ridge below the flat surface that is a great place for remaining apple sauce to hide.
I decided to examine the jar more closely.
Here is the jar empty and rinsed.
In addition to the flat sections on both sites hanging up apple sauce on the bottom, there are washboard sections of plastic (see red arrow in picture below) that are attached on the inside to both the front and the back of the jar.
From the outside, you don’t even know they are there.
However, on the inside, these washboard sections serve to hang up lots of apple sauce in such a manner that even scraping with a spoon does not get it free.
After trying to empty a jar with a spoon, I noticed that at least five or six tablespoons of apple sauce remain in the jar at the end – and end up being rinsed and wasted down the drain. Also, using the spoon gets sauce all over my hand. There is no good way to get the last product out of this jar.
In the picture above you can see the indentation below the flat section on the left and right (green arrow) and the washboard inserts on the front and back (red arrow). There must be a reason why they went all out to make the jar this hard to empty, but I don’t get it.
All I see are intentional obstacles to keep the consumer from getting the last 10% of their product out of the jar.
TreeTop Apple Sauce is a great product in a very bad package.
Enlighten me, anyone?
Two years later (2/26/2016), after “Someone” tipped me off in a comment below:
Why do your plastic applesauce jars have indentations and ridges that make it difficult to remove all of the applesauce from the jar?
The indentations and ridges in the jar are necessary for structural integrity. The jars are filled with applesauce heated to 190oF. The ridges or indentations allow the jars to be filled at high temperature and then maintain their shape after sealing and cooling. As a suggestion in removing the last portion of the applesauce, try turning the jar upside down and tapping the closed container on the counter. This will help the remaining applesauce settle to the lid area.