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Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

theguardian.com

21–30 of 535 posts

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#21
post #13

We need laws to require special labelling with the price per net pound or price per net kiloggram clearly shown, and the previous price. Something like: $2.99/Kg (since 18/09/2023) $2.79/Kg (previous price)

Or a graph of the price per unit over the last 1-3 years.

They would probably change the SKU so the comparison is harder.

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#22
post #14

Yeah but what’s the alternative? Things are expensive, you’ve got to eat. I have to purchase things even if it’s affected by shrinkflation.

There are lots of alternatives to PepsiCo, Unilever, and Nestle.

Well, you just mentioned the companies that own about 90% of what is in Walmart. So, I wouldn't say, "lots".

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#24
post #13

We need laws to require special labelling with the price per net pound or price per net kiloggram clearly shown, and the previous price. Something like: $2.99/Kg (since 18/09/2023) $2.79/Kg (previous price)

Ontario (and maybe all of Canada?) has the former. Adding the previous price would be nice, but I wonder if it can be games by changing prices frequently.

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#25
post #14

Yeah but what’s the alternative? Things are expensive, you’ve got to eat. I have to purchase things even if it’s affected by shrinkflation.

Well, it's possible to increase prices without using these tactics to make it seem like it's not increasing.

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#26

> Guigoz infant formula produced by Nestlé went from 900 grams (31.75 oz) to 830 grams, while Unilever’s Viennetta ice-cream cake shrank to 320 grams from 350 grams. Wish I could be surprised at Nestle doing the most evil thing possible, but here we are.

Meanwhile the tale that we need interest rate hikes to soften consumer spending rather than enforcement by market authority continues to be peddled

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#27

> Guigoz infant formula produced by Nestlé went from 900 grams (31.75 oz) to 830 grams, while Unilever’s Viennetta ice-cream cake shrank to 320 grams from 350 grams. Wish I could be surprised at Nestle doing the most evil thing possible, but here we are.

Why do writers insist on reversing the comparison numbers in examples like that? It's annoyingly hard to scan.

E.g, they went from Big to Small and then Small to Big.

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#28

I think we should place a QR on every product label, and scanning that QR takes me to data about the product such as its historical mass/volume, cost, and unit price, as well as its brand owner right on up the chain. I see you, Nestle. Of course, giving customers information to make an informed decision is Bad For Business.

Coming up with unique identifiers for every single specific recognizable product would be an incredible feat, that would have huge impacts beyond this. Now I'd totally expect a brand to just renew identifiers at random and break any tracking that doesn't help them.

Cool, as a customer I'd stop purchasing products that had short records.

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#29
post #15

I think we should place a QR on every product label, and scanning that QR takes me to data about the product such as its historical mass/volume, cost, and unit price, as well as its brand owner right on up the chain. I see you, Nestle. Of course, giving customers information to make an informed decision is Bad For Business.

To combat this, manufacturers can just rename the product.

Cool, as a customer I'd stop purchasing products that had short records.

Re: Carrefour puts ‘shrinkflation’ price warnings on food to shame brands

#30

I think we should place a QR on every product label, and scanning that QR takes me to data about the product such as its historical mass/volume, cost, and unit price, as well as its brand owner right on up the chain. I see you, Nestle. Of course, giving customers information to make an informed decision is Bad For Business.

Mostly bad for business because of the massive data and engineering effort required.

If businesses weren't so intent on lying to customers, I'd feel some empathy for them.

But I don't.

Liars deserve to suffer.

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