Shrinking Products/ Increasing Prices

[OceanAnnie]

We had a sundae from McDonald's a few days ago. It used to be on the dollar menu. Now it's $1.39 and judging from the cup a good 1-1.5 oz less.

What have you noticed lately?

 

[vikster1]

Cereal boxes. Graham crackers. Girl scout cookies. Box of pasta from 16 to 12 oz. Everything is getting smaller.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Cereal boxes. Graham crackers. Girl scout cookies. Box of pasta from 16 to 12 oz. Everything is getting smaller.

Yeah. That I have seen. I hadn't seen it at restaurants though.

 

[jen73]

the Little Debbie Oatmeal creme pies...I thought they were bigger or maybe my hands have gotten bigger...now I feel like I just have to eat two...lol That's the only thing I have noticed though..lol

 

[clh2]

The dog food we get just changed from 28 to 26 pounds. Same price, though

I wish they would have just raised the price.

 

[OceanAnnie]

The dog food we get just changed from 28 to 26 pounds. Same price, though

I wish they would have just raised the price.

Yeah I know! It's a double whammy that's for sure.

 

[tvguy]

Half gallon of ice cream (2 quarts) is now 1.5 quarts.

The little soda cans, I don't get why people buy those. And I laugh at the 1 liter bottles of Coke and Pepsi for $1.49 when the 2 liter bottle is 99 cents.

If you buy General Mills cereal at Walmart, look carefully. The BOX is smaller, but there is more cereal inside, for less money. Dateline did a story on that. Walmart noticed how much empty space there was at the top of a cereal box. They calculated that the savings from less cardboard, and reduced shipping costs offset the cost of putting more cereal in the box. Bottom line, the box costs more to make than the cereal.

 

[disneysteve]

This stuff drives me nuts. Just raise the darn price and keep the product size the same.

 

[ctinct]

It's especially aggravating when you have a recipe that calls for a particular size can/ bottle/ jar/ box of something, only that specific size is no longer available.

 

[crisi]

The Girl Scout cookies my girls have been selling for nine years have remained the same size. We did get a $.50 price increase a year ago - the only price increase in nine years.

 

[ten6mom]

Pretty much everything. My son says the clif kids z bars I have been buying have shrunk suddenly. Most orange juice half gallons are no longer half gallons. We were at outback for dinner last night and their desserts certainly have shrunk since the last time I was there a few years ago! Oh. The "regular" fountain drinks at Disneyland too!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I have two of the "6 rolls = 8 rolls" paper towel packages in my closet. One of the packages looked smaller. One of the packages has 59 sheets per roll; the other has 64.

And not to get too off topic, but the "48=36" and "36=18" and "18=9" types of packaging that toilet paper and paper towels come in is so annoying! It's very difficult to price compare with unit pricing when they are playing Fun With Math in their packaging.

 

[manning]

What inflation? There's no inflation. At least that's what the government tells us.

If that's the case can someone explain the big jump in prices?

 

[kacaju]

The little soda cans, I don't get why people buy those.

I love those for my lunch when I am at work...I do not need to drink a whole can at work, When I eat lunch I like a fizz of soda or seltzer..not plain water...which I drink all day. So those little cans are perfect!!

 

[MSLRAC]

The Girl Scout cookies my girls have been selling for nine years have remained the same size. We did get a $.50 price increase a year ago - the only price increase in nine years.

Not sure which bakery your area uses but ABC Bakers has decreased the amount of cookies in each package just since we started 5 years ago. Some flavors are down to just 15 cookies per box. Our service unit has not had a price increase in those 5 years because we're at $4 a box and don't feel as if the market will support a price increase.

But I have been noticing smaller packages and higher prices in just about everything that I buy at the grocery store. I think the most noticeable has been the protein bars that my kids take for lunch, they went from 12 in a box for $3.50 to 6 in a box for the same price. Then I noticed this week that they have a new double box for $6.50 a box. It drives me nuts when they do stuff like that. Just raise the dang price and be done with it.

 

[Eastern]

The cereal boxes are unbelievable. So small! I have been saying, 'how are they going to charge more money for these tiny little boxes?' and I got my answer. I wanted to buy Oatmeal Squares and at my Wegman's, you can now only buy them in a 3-pack for $7 and change.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Not sure which bakery your area uses but ABC Bakers has decreased the amount of cookies in each package just since we started 5 years ago. Some flavors are down to just 15 cookies per box. Our service unit has not had a price increase in those 5 years because we're at $4 a box and don't feel as if the market will support a price increase.

But I have been noticing smaller packages and higher prices in just about everything that I buy at the grocery store. I think the most noticeable has been the protein bars that my kids take for lunch, they went from 12 in a box for $3.50 to 6 in a box for the same price. Then I noticed this week that they have a new double box for $6.50 a box. It drives me nuts when they do stuff like that. Just raise the dang price and be done with it.

See, to me it would be time to look for an alternative. I don't know what. But that would make me mad enough to look. There just comes a time where companies have maxed out on value per dollar.

Getting half of something for the same price as before would do it for me.

I know it's hard to find alternatives with everything going up, but I sure would try. That's just ridiculous.

 

[momof1princess]

I've noticed that, just in the past few months, not only are package sizes and quantity decreasing, but sales cycles are different. One example: DD16 loves pop tarts, so, when they'd go on sale 3 for $5.00, I'd buy 3 boxes. They haven't been on sale for that price here in over 3 months. I saw them 2 for $4.00 a couple of weeks ago, but that's not a sale price for me; I can get them for $1.98 per box anytime.

 

[gracie1]

Chips have definitely gotten smaller (dorito's potato chips, etc). When you open the bag half of it is air

 

[sherry7]

This drives me crazy when I'm making a recipe that calls for a can of tuna, cream of whatever soup, etc. All of those have gotten smaller. Shredded cheese is shrinking too. It's a bad surprise when you need 2 cups for a recipe, and the bag only has 1 1/2 cups in it. I'd rather pay a bit more and get the standard sized products that I'm accustomed to.

Someone else mentioned toilet paper. Has anyone else noticed that toilet paper is getting narrower? I do realize that my rear end has expanded over the years, but toilet paper is definitely narrower.