The Conservative Cave

Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: bijou on July 13, 2008, 03:56:10 PM

Title: Honey, they shrank the packets of food
Post by: bijou on July 13, 2008, 03:56:10 PM

Quote

...'There is a grocery shrink ray that has been unleashed on supermarkets across America,' said Ben Popken, editor of consumerist.com, a popular consumer affairs website.

Facing higher prices for ingredients and a tumbling dollar, American food manufacturers have been forced to tackle the issue of price inflation. But rather than increase the prices of packets of food on the shelves - which tends to steer consumers away from expensive branded goods towards cheaper varieties - many of the big food manufacturers have simply shrunk the size of their products while keeping prices steady.

'That's why we call it the grocery shrink ray,' said Popken, adding that his website has seen a massive increase in alerts from users over recent weeks.

Kellogg's has slashed the size of a wide variety of its cereal boxes by 2.4 ounces while Kraft has cut the number of slices of cheese in some packets from 11 to 10.

'That's a good one,' Popken said. 'There is a little green label on the package that says "sensible serving". Kraft is giving you less for the same amount of money but it tries to claim it is helping you out fitness-wise.'

...

link (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/13/consumerspending.oil)

Title: Re: Honey, they shrank the packets of food
Post by: DixieBelle on July 13, 2008, 04:11:29 PM

I've been following this phenomenon with interest. I've also been reading Popken's website.

One of the sneaky tactics our grocery store chain is using is to offer "buy one get one free" or "buy one get one half off" on these shrunken products. Seems like a bit of a steal when priced that way. Then they stop the sale and people continue to buy the items. It's shrewd and a bit underhanded.

Title: Re: Honey, they shrank the packets of food
Post by: bijou on July 13, 2008, 04:29:30 PM

I hadn't seen the site before, I have noticed the shrinking sizes of products here as well.  Crisps (chips) seem to be the most prone to this.

Title: Re: Honey, they shrank the packets of food
Post by: Miss Mia on July 13, 2008, 04:42:04 PM

My mom always talked about how sugar used to be in a 5 lb bag and how they changed to a 4 lb bag but kept the price the same.

I think I heard that nearly every week at the grocery store.  LOL

Title: Re: Honey, they shrank the packets of food
Post by: NHSparky on July 13, 2008, 07:06:17 PM

Guess ya'll haven't drank coffee for the past 20-25 years.  It used to be a full pound.  Now you'll be lucky to get a 8-10 oz bag.

Title: Re: Honey, they shrank the packets of food
Post by: Miss Mia on July 13, 2008, 07:18:49 PM

Quote from: NHSparky on July 13, 2008, 07:06:17 PM

Guess ya'll haven't drank coffee for the past 20-25 years.  It used to be a full pound.  Now you'll be lucky to get a 8-10 oz bag.

I buy from a coffee shop.  :)