Shrinking Products/ Increasing Prices

[disneysteve]

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,

I understand the appeal of 8oz vs 12oz but they aren't 2/3 the price. In fact, the small cans usually cost more per can than the larger cans. It makes more sense to buy the regular cans and pour out 4oz.

 

[kymom99]

We have a recipe for buckeyes that we have been making since I was a little girl. Over time, the sizes of all the packages of ingredients has changed. The worst it the giant Hershey bars. We originally needed one and now we have to buy 3.

I do think that the reason the potato chip bags are half air is so the chips don't get crushed, but maybe they don't need quite so much air. I have noticed the sunchips bags and the baked chip bags are much smaller now.

Many brands of bacon are now in 12 oz packages rather than 1 lb.

 

[havaneselover]

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.

I think we use abc too and I'm embarrassed to have my dd sell so few cookies for $4/box. I'm very budget conscious and it's just not a good value. I get that you're supporting Girl Scouts, but...

 

[clh2]

I think we use abc too and I'm embarrassed to have my dd sell so few cookies for $4/box. I'm very budget conscious and it's just not a good value. I get that you're supporting Girl Scouts, but...

Dear GSUSA: My budget for Girl Scout cookies shrunk this year to 2 boxes. My hips and thighs thank you because between your increasing prices and decreases in product sizes, I simply did not eat nearly as many cookies as I am capable of.

 

[epsmith921]

A previous poster mentioned 1 lb bacon shrinking to 12 oz packages. This is quite true. Also if you look, a number of packaged deli type items have gone from 16 oz to 14 oz last year, and now are going to 12.

Some of this is related to the fact that many people have a price they're willing to buy a "package" of something for. Then there's the freight cost that has skyrocketed. If we can get the truck to weigh less and then have fuel savings from that while still selling the contents of the truck for the same price, we can help our margin. The costs of pretty much everything for food manufacturers is up.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

For me, it's been the spaghetti sauce in a jar. It used to be a litre, which was enough to feed my family, and now its only 750 ml for the same price. It's not enough to feed the family, so I have to buy two jars and have leftover sauce. It's just irritating.

I'm starting to make my own spaghetti sauce most of the time now.

TP

 

[Megkel]

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.

The cookies my daughter sold this year had 14 cookies in a box for the Tagalongs and Samoas. They used to have 15 in a box. They sold each box for $3.50 though. Apparently in San Fransico they were $6 a box!! We spent way to much money on Girl Scout cookies this year. Never again will I be pregnant through cookie season!

 

[MSLRAC]

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.

Oh we have been looking for alternatives but DS has texture issues with his foods because of his Autism and SPD so it's hard with him.

I think we use abc too and I'm embarrassed to have my dd sell so few cookies for $4/box. I'm very budget conscious and it's just not a good value. I get that you're supporting Girl Scouts, but...

I agree that the value just isn't there anymore. People will still buy to support the girls but they aren't buy near as many boxes as they used to.

 

[tvguy]

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!!

My work day starts at 3 am, and I can not tell you how many of my co-workers walk in at 3 am now with TWO of those 16 ounce cans of Mountain Dew Kickstart. And they usually have downed them by 4 am.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Oh we have been looking for alternatives but DS has texture issues with his foods because of his Autism and SPD so it's hard with him.

That does make it hard. I hope you find something he likes as well.

I find I'm going to the grocery store more often. Running out of things much quicker than before. I guess I haven't adjusted too well with product downsizing. Too busy keeping my eye on the bottom line. Pretty nuts. We are paying more for groceries and we aren't getting the amount we used to. That's a pretty big adjustment on it's own.

Somebody mentioned ice cream. Don't get me started on that!

 

[MSLRAC]

That does make it hard. I hope you find something he likes as well.

I find I'm going to the grocery store more often. Running out of things much quicker than before. I guess I haven't adjusted too well with product downsizing. Too busy keeping my eye on the bottom line. Pretty nuts. We are paying more for groceries and we aren't getting the amount we used to. That's a pretty big adjustment on it's own.

Somebody mentioned ice cream. Don't get me started on that!

Thanks!

I find that we are running out of stuff more often too. Even buying in bulk at Costco, stuff that used to last all month is starting to run short. I keep adding more and more to our grocery budget each month and it seems like it's never enough.

 

[crisi]

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.

We are a Little Brownie Council. And its really hard to sell cookies when people have heard from someone else that there are fewer cookies in a box, even when they haven't changed....or that they've gone up in price every year even when we've had a single price increase. Council's vary though.

 

[MSLRAC]

We are a Little Brownie Council. And its really hard to sell cookies when people have heard from someone else that there are fewer cookies in a box, even when they haven't changed....or that they've gone up in price every year even when we've had a single price increase. Council's vary though.

I actually went back through all my cookie manager notes from over the years and they have changed. LB decreased the number of cookies per box in 2009 just like ABC. It was a GSUSA decision and both bakeries complied. Neither bakery as decreased the amount of cookies per box since. So the change may not be have occurred recently, but it was big enough to still have people talking.

 

[ellone]

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.

It doesn't take that much effort to shred a block of cheese. You'll save a bit of $ and you'll avoid the wood pulp they add to shredded cheese to keep it from sticking together.

 

[ILUVALASKA]

Yes. This practice is everywhere. Drives me nuts. Went to Red Robin a year ago, ordered artichoke dip for a dollar more than before. Received a small cup instead of the larger bowl. Server tried to con us in to thinking it was the same size. Please.

 

[Mommee]

Applebee's oriental chicken salad. I ordered a full-size salad last week with the intention of saving half for my son. For the first time in my life, I ate the WHOLE salad! And it wasn't because I was overly hungry

 

[pigletto]

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.

I just thought the same thing as I was reading through these posts. I usually put some type of granola bar in the kids lunch. They have definitely shrunk. And it isn't just one brand. They are almost half the size. I am paying more for them too. I then end up packing more snacks than I would have previously because the ones I used to pack are so much smaller. I just don't think I am going to buy them anymore. There has to be a decent (and healthier) alternative that I can make on my own.

 

[manning]

What inflation?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DH was going to Target, so I told him to see if they still had the Tide Pods on clearance. He came home with a package that was $9.99. NO, that wasn't the clearance package. I returned them and bought the clearance package when I was there several days later. The clearance pack had 5 more pods in it! I paid $2 less and got 5 more pods. (We typically just use liquid Tide, but since they were on clearance I figured we would try the pods.)

 

[JenzyHP]

We are a Little Brownie Council. And its really hard to sell cookies when people have heard from someone else that there are fewer cookies in a box, even when they haven't changed....or that they've gone up in price every year even when we've had a single price increase. Council's vary though.

I'd say its truly hard to sell the cookies since I see a huge box of knock off cookies at costco for $5.