The 24oz container I purchased was in Feb and 7 months later the same product has shrunk. I’m surprised because they’re California raisins, a very local product. But the cost of paper, packaging and transport fuel are going up so something had to give.

Plus, do you really need that much more yogurt? Who cares? With an obesity rate that’s so high, maybe we should be thankful that these companies are shrinking sizes.

I noticed the grocery shrink ray again today with Doritos. I remember the 16 oz bags from a few years ago, which was downsized to 14oz. Now they are 12.5oz.

Breyer’s has done this for years with ice cream though: first it was half-gallon containers… then 1.75 quart containers… now it’s 1.5 quarts. Yet the price has not gone down.

Anyway, at our local store at least, the sales sticker on the shelf still reads 10/$5.00 and the displayed unit price is still better than any of the other choices – but there is absolutely no indication that you are now paying the same price for a container that is 25% smaller. There is no “check out our new eco-friendly package!” sticker, no “new and improved” label – nothing except a hidden 25% price increase.

There was a neat story on MarketPlace a few weeks back about these hidden price increases too. They also talked about how some marketing approaches will talk about how times are rough and how they can save you money, but it questioned how good a strategy it is to point out how broke we are!! LOL

I guess times have changed.

I just got whacked at a Dollar Store – and did I feel dumb. I’ve been buying some vegetarian corn dogs I like there and thinking I was getting them like $1 cheaper than at the regular store. They also have this nasty little practice where the register screen is turned so you cannot see prices as they ring up, if you ask them to turn it they say it is store policy and they cannot or they say it won’t move (uh huh). I shoulda known…

So the other day when the total on a few items was more than I expected, I checked my reciept when I got outside. Sure enough, I paid over a dollar more for those silly dogs than I had expected. I went in to check the price on the shelf. The price is in BIG numbers. In tiny, tiny print is the brand name of the corn dogs. A different brand name than the corn dogs on the shelf behind the price tag.

By the way, this is a VERY COMMON PRACTICE (one of those things my ex-hubby told me they were taught to do some 20+ years ago). So if you complain, they show you that YOU are wrong, not the store…

And yeah, I’m more embarassed and mad at myself because I know better. :/

I, too, greatly dislike being duped that way. But we have to remember that these companies also have to pay the shipping cost. Since the price of gas is strangling everyone, they have to cut somewhere.

Customers (as a group, not as individuals) won’t buy the products if the price change. Why? Because it’s that big bold information written clearly on the shelf label that everyone looks (or glance) at.

By changing the product size or the amount in the content, companies win big. First off, a lot of customers won’t see the difference and will keep buying the product. Second, the business is fighting the cost of freight and rising gas price. One container of yogurt might not be heavy, but a whole skid (couple of hundred units) filled with them will surely have a considerable weight. Now, reduce the average weight of each unit shipped per skid, per store, and VOILÀ! the company just saved a whole lot of $$.

But the question remains: what can we do ?

Apples and oranges. Nobody but the individual is responsible for making eating choices for them. If the person doesn’t want to make healthy choices — it is a free country and they have a right to be obese if they want to be. Leave them alone.

And it’s not just about obese people. Speaking for myself, when I eat yogurt, 6 oz is fine if it’s a snack. If it’s a meal, like I eat it, 6 oz isn’t enough to satisfy my hunger. An 8 oz. carton is.

The result of a carton shrinking to 6 oz would cause me to eat 2 of them, not 1. Whereas with 8 oz I know I’ll be fine with 1 carton.

It’s true that they fudge sizes. Sneaky, maybe, but it’s hardly evil. Corporations are feeling the same crunch as everyone, and they’re looking for ways to pinch pennies.

The photo shows Lucerne, a great dairy brand. I love their yogurt. They’ve already been exploring ways to cut costs–about a year ago, they stopped using throw-away plastic lids, opting for a stronger foil wrapper.

Prices go up! They will always go up! It’s good to be aware, so thanks J.D.

Making you’re own yogurt? Genuis!

Judging by the number of overweight people in America, perhaps some smaller package sizes will be good for us? I understand that is only benefiting some of the population, but it is what it is. Packages will get smaller. You can choose to buy or not to buy.

I also second the yoghurt maker idea, I picked one up for $14 at Amazon. Throw in some leftover plain yoghurt with a bunch of milk and it goes to work for several hours and you have fresh yoghurt. I use goat milk because of a dairy allergy.