Ugly shrinkflation deception

[manning]

Here is a site listing 14 items

Price stays the same but the quantity is being reduced

Shrinkflation is happening across grocery stores - here are 14 of the most extreme examples, from toilet paper to candy bars (msn.com)

 

[fla4fun]

There really isn’t any great answer. If they raise the price, they may lose the sale altogether. If they slightly reduce the quantity, but keep the price the same, they may or may not lose the sale. Either way, the consumer loses. I have a set amount budgeted for groceries each week, that is non-negotiable. I find myself buying a lot more store brands these days, especially when it comes to non food items, so I can have enough food to get through a week. It will be nice when I can find another job . . .

 

[LuvOrlando]

I doubt it has anything to do with inflation, it's sneaky way to increase the price of per unit sold without consumers realizing it's happening. Many businesses enjoyed record profits during the shutdowns because we were all trapped and now that people are shifting spending their unnatural profits are dropping off a cliff but instead of acknowledging it's the natural course of the correction the spin is it's inflation & due to people wanting living wages. I call complete and utter bull, not on you OP but on the spin.

 

[peabody58]

Nothing new... I noticed it when I started spending my own money in the 70's. If you shop at Aldi's, you'll notice all the odd size packaging.

 

[neverlandsky]

Which is why it's best to purchase these items when they are loss leaders on the grocery sale's ad & stock up.

 

[DLgal]

It's not deception. The item weights or quantities are clearly listed on every packaged item, per labeling requirements. If people don't look at that, that's their problem.

 

[RamblingMad]

This has been going on for decades now. Check out Twinkies. This is from 2013:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/15/twinkies-return-smaller-size-bankruptcy

 

[Pea-n-Me]

There was a thread on this a few years back, so it’s not new.

That said, it’s annoying, and it seems to be getting worse lately.

Prices are rising out of control and eating into everyone’s budgets. (Less for more, same idea.)

Gas
Groceries
Building materials
Services
Restaurant prices
Real estate
Automobiles
Car rentals
Household necessities, to name a few

 

[RedAngie]

The only reduced size item that bothers me is canned tuna. Most brands are now 5 or 4.5 ounces, not quite enough for 2 tuna salad sandwiches, unless you like them skimpy.

Ice cream no longer a half-gallon? Big deal. 4 lb bags of sugar instead of 5. Not a problem.

Eh, it’s been going on for decades.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Now we need RECIPES to adjust, LOL! And packages of BUNS!

 

[MrsPete]

Now we need RECIPES to adjust, LOL! And packages of BUNS!

Yes, that's the real problem! I have recipes that call for a can of beans or a cake mix (or whatever else), and if the package changes sizes, the recipe will go wrong!

 

[MillauFr]

No small or shrinking packages at Costco. I just shop there and don't pay any attention to prices. I buy what I want.

 

[ronandannette]

...Eh, it’s been going on for decades.

Right? So why all of a sudden is this very-not-new issue all over the news? This is just a quick google search; all articles published over the past week. It's also been on our local talk radio and mentioned on the supper-hour news twice.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8023694/shrinkflation-canada-covid-19/
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/...re-of-shrinkflation-inflations-devious-cousin
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/08/1014399406/shrinkflation-inflations-sneaky-cousin
https://www.cbs8.com/article/life/s...ller/509-83b7c2ff-9804-41aa-b157-d1bfe4bb4531
https://www.businessinsider.com/shr...dy-bars-chocolate-toilet-paper-cadbury-2021-7
https://globalnews.ca/video/8031135...-affecting-the-quantity-of-items-in-your-cart
https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/forget-inflation-its-now-shrinkflation
https://thedeepdive.ca/shrinkflatio...e-finding-clever-ways-to-mask-surging-prices/

 

[tvguy]

LOL, my wife's biggest complaint isn't with these products, but at the meat counter. With just the two of us, everything is pre-packaged in weights far more than we can eat. We have bought mega packs of chicken for years and repackaged them at home, almost always skinless boneless chicken breasts when they are on sale for $1.99 a pound. But now ground beef is almost always a pound and a half per package, when we want less than a point, and the steaks are huge. We have started buying one steak when we can and share it. But dividing up ground beef is kind of a pain.
We buy all our cereal at Walmart, and so far they still have a deal with General Mills to use small cardboard boxes with more product inside than the other grocery stores. Strange to put the boxes side by side. The physically smaller box from Walmart has 4 ounces more cereal in it, and costs $1 less.

 

[RedAngie]

With ground beef I’m finding standard packaging in my local markets to be random weights between 1.25 to 1.40 lbs. I usually buy on sale and try to add up the packs to be close to an even pound amount, (or half pound), then separate them into 1/2 pound quantities and freeze them.

I did notice that Walmart has pound packages and I sometimes pick one up, but I don’t do my full grocery shopping there. My local Walmart doesn’t have a full fledged supermarket.

 

[ronandannette]

With ground beef I’m finding standard packaging in my local markets to be random weights between 1.25 to 1.40 lbs. I usually buy on sale and try to add up the packs to be close to an even pound amount, (or half pound), then separate them into 1/2 pound quantities and freeze them.

I did notice that Walmart has pound packages and I sometimes pick one up, but I don’t do my full grocery shopping there. My local Walmart doesn’t have a full fledged supermarket.

It seems to be the opposite here. Things that used to be packaged by the pound have been uniformly "shrunken" to 375g or about 14oz. Hamburger, bacon, packaged cheese, coffee - all now 375g. Sugar is sold in 1 or 2kg bags which are weird amounts; 2.2 or 4.4 lbs.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Jarred spaghetti sauce about 28 oz. Not enough for a full pound of pasta. Although some boxed pastas are 12 oz. now.

 

[RamblingMad]

Right? So why all of a sudden is this very-not-new issue all over the news? This is just a quick google search; all articles published over the past week. It's also been on our local talk radio and mentioned on the supper-hour news twice.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8023694/shrinkflation-canada-covid-19/
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/...re-of-shrinkflation-inflations-devious-cousin
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/08/1014399406/shrinkflation-inflations-sneaky-cousin
https://www.cbs8.com/article/life/s...ller/509-83b7c2ff-9804-41aa-b157-d1bfe4bb4531
https://www.businessinsider.com/shr...dy-bars-chocolate-toilet-paper-cadbury-2021-7
https://globalnews.ca/video/8031135...-affecting-the-quantity-of-items-in-your-cart
https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/forget-inflation-its-now-shrinkflation
https://thedeepdive.ca/shrinkflatio...e-finding-clever-ways-to-mask-surging-prices/

Inflation in general is all over the news. Both homes and used cars cost significantly more than a year ago. Rent is also going through the roof.

Basically, most people's salaries aren't keeping up if back out stimulus.

So we're living in a Disney world, where stuff outside of Disney is also going up just as much or more

 

[mrodgers]

It's not deception. The item weights or quantities are clearly listed on every packaged item, per labeling requirements. If people don't look at that, that's their problem.

Leave it to the Dis....

This has been going on for decades now. Check out Twinkies. This is from 2013:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/15/twinkies-return-smaller-size-bankruptcy

Ho Ho's. It's not just sizes that change. Clearly the current Ho Ho's are not made with the original chocolate quantity. They are far less chocolaty than the actual Hostess ones of yesteryear.

 

[mrodgers]

It seems to be the opposite here. Things that used to be packaged by the pound have been uniformly "shrunken" to 375g or about 14oz. Hamburger, bacon, packaged cheese, coffee - all now 375g. Sugar is sold in 1 or 2kg bags which are weird amounts; 2.2 or 4.4 lbs.

I think it was meant standard packaging as in the packages made by the butcher. Prepackaged, yes, everything is packaged in smaller quantities.