Grocery Items getting smaller???

[cwasil]

I do all the grocery shopping and it seems like the boxes keep getting smaller. I think we're all aware of the ice cream sizes shrinking and I swore I used to get 8 bars of Dove soap for what I buy 6 for....I'm just wondering what else you have noticed. Seems like the cereal boxes have gotten smaller but with so many coupons available that doesn't really bother me so much.

The idea that companies are trying to "trick" us with smaller bags of cereal in the old big box or the ice cream containers with the same profile as before but not as deep just makes me sick. I'm now curious as to what I've missed in the store...thinner aluminum foil?...smaller rolls of toilet paper?...curiousity is what this post is about because I doubt I can do anything about it. Thanks

Chad

 

[antmaril]

Pasta boxes are definitely smaller. You used to get a pound of pasta in a box and now it's about 13 ounces.

 

[dodukes]

Well I dont know about grocery but I have noticed fast food items such as the individual sizes at KFC. I remember them being almost twice the size they are now in those red containers that are now "reusable". Sorry i just want more food not a reusable container..LOL.

oh and edited to add: Yes I have noticed my fun size milky ways are WAY smaller and thinner than they used to be...hahaha

 

[TangaroaTiki]

Yes, I have noticed this trend also! Granola bars have the same size wrapper, but are at least 1 1/2 inches shorter!!!

 

[mcorbo]

Bought Scott TP the other day and noticed that the new roll is 1/2 narrower than the empty tube I took off the holder.

A long time ago (probably about 15 years), Benadryl Children's instead of changng the size or price, they musthave diluted the medicine, since the dosage double, so half the medicine for the same price.

Tuna cans seem to have gotten smaller than they used to be too.

 

[n2mm]

Yep, we noticed this a while ago. Sometimes the same size box but the OZ is different and the package inside is smaller. Cans all shunk too.

 

[ElGravy]

Yup its the Grocery Shrink Ray at work. Shrinking gorceries and then companies give us an "EXTRA 25%" trying to trick us into thinking we are getting a better value.

 

[pennymom]

Coffee used to be a full pound also. Companies think that people don't pay attention, and most probably don't!

 

[Soarin_04]

Of all the things besides the ones mentioned (granola bars, coffee, and pasta especially), we noticed the portions of frozen fish also. I normally pick up a bag of frozen tilapia to just defrost and toss in the oven and the filets are smaller than my hand these days (and I have pretty small hands).

Notice, though, the one thing that hasn't gotten smaller: the prices.

 

[CTdiznymom]

I just commented to my dd about the size of MALLOWMARS! When I was a kid they were pretty big, now they're the size of a half dollar. Isn't anything sacred these days? LOL

 

[mrodgers]

oh and edited to add: Yes I have noticed my fun size milky ways are WAY smaller and thinner than they used to be...hahaha

Er..... fun size candybars have never been "fun" size. A fun sized candybar for me wouldn't fit in the back seat of my car without folding it in half

 

[MickeyManiac]

Yep, tuna has gone from 6 oz to 5 oz. I also noticed canned milk was a couple of oz smaller.

 

[Purseval]

http://inflation.us/artificialeconomy.html

Workers at a Honda plant in China recently went on strike over wages and work conditions. The Chinese have had enough of slaving in factories for $30 per week while Americans sit home on their couches, collect $400 per week in unemployment benefits, and consume the goods that the Chinese make. Chinese manufacturers are now being forced to increase the wages they pay to workers and these costs will be passed on to American importers of Chinese goods like Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart recently eliminated their "rollbacks" on grocery items in the U.S. Grocery prices at Wal-Mart rose by a shocking 5.8% in July from June. In fact, some items in Wal-Mart like a 36-ounce bottle of Windex and a 12-ounce box of Quaker Oats rose in price by 51% and 66% respectively in July over June. Considering that in 29 states, Wal-Mart controls more than half the grocery market, almost all Americans are beginning to feel the effects of massive price inflation.

With 70% of the goods sold in Wal-Mart made in China, NIA believes that Wal-Mart's massive price increases for grocery items will soon spread to all other items sold. It is crystal clear for us to see what is ahead for U.S. prices of consumer goods, yet the mainstream media continues to talk about deflation. Cotton prices have surged 28% during the past two months to their highest level in 15 years. That alone guarantees higher clothing prices, but combined with the wage situation in China, Americans could see an unprecedented surge in clothing prices in the months to come.

 

[Malibustyle23]

Yep, tuna has gone from 6 oz to 5 oz. I also noticed canned milk was a couple of oz smaller.

This one has bothered me the most! My DS does tuna everyday for school lunch. I used to use one can for every two days but now I can barely make two sandwiches with a can more like a sandwich and a half. STINKS!

I buy the large box of Mom2Mom wipes from Safeway and the box now carries 6 packs of wipes instead of 8.

I almost wish they would poll us as to whether to raise the prices or shrink the sizes and leave the prices alone. Sometimes I have the measurements done to a science in my day to day uses.

 

[rainydayplay]

I buy soap in the 8 pack for $3.50-ish. Last time, I got it home, opened the first box, and thought, "Gee...didn't this used to be bigger?" Now, it's a "personal" size instead of a full bar.

 

[csharpwv]

There was actually a very interesting report on 20/20 or one of those similar investigative shows about this just a few months ago.

They interviewed an independent Family & Consumer Scientist and Believe it or not, the reason why a lot of these companies reduced product size was based on the average amount of waste. They pointed out KFC very specifically that anytime a customer ordered a 3pc Chicken Meal - the customer would throw out 1/2 of their sides if they ate all of their chicken - OR they would throw out 1/2 their chicken if they ate all of the sides.

Same way with other products -

BUT - that DOESN'T mean that they shouldn't have lowered the price when they cut the portion in half! BUT that was a way to increase profits AND decrease waste at the same time.

Three cheers for the less waste part - but BOOO to the same or higher price price!

But anyway - statistics and research aside - the American Consumer isn't willing to pay more - but the corporations know that the vast majority of people don't pay attention to the exact quantity they are buying - so...
We buy less product unknowingly - and pay the same knowingly - BUT before you know it - the quantity stays the same - OR they introduce a "Free XXounce BONUS!" which bumps it up to the same price as before - AND THEN..... they drop the bonus and raise the price to what the OLD non bonus size was - and it's a cycle from there - over and over again!

Grand ideas! ...

 

[southern_redhead]

Frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I noticed this years ago, when I got 2 or 3 less breasts per bag. Then they started packing the same AMOUNT of breasts but they seem much smaller.....

 

[clh2]

Tuna cans seem to have gotten smaller than they used to be too.

Oh - yes they shrunk. This is one of my biggest pet peeves of late. It used to be that the 6oz can of tuna met our needs - but the 5 ounces ones, just don't have enough. So - we now use 2 cans of tuna in certian things instead of 1. What a racket...

 

[Laura24]

english muffins are missing a few nooks and crannies!!! Ridiculous!!! Less places for the butter to nook and cranny.

 

[QVCshopper]

Most recently, the Iams cat food went from 8 lbs to 6.8 lbs for the same price, and all of the Iams 8 lbs were discounted by 50% due to the old size. It's crazy! Everything is shrinking; maybe it'll be better for our waistlines.