71–80 of 535 posts
A brand of laundry detergent I use recently decreased the size of its 36oz bottle to 28oz. The kicker, however, is the approximate number of loads listed on the bottle changed from 27… to 28. The instructions on the back now recommend filling the cap to a lower bar for “medium” loads. I’ve been meaning to write to the manufacturer to ask if they’ve quietly changed their formulation to something more concentrated, tho…
I don’t know what the correct term is in English but in my country, “comparative pricing” is mandatory, so when you’re buying coffee for example there’s a secondary price listed that tells you what the cost is per kilogram or whatever other unit makes sense. For me this already solves the problem, because what I really care about isn’t whether I get 500g or 400g of coffee, I care about the real price compared to the…
This is great, shrinkflation is one of these disgusting practices that play on the human psyche to trick people. But also carrefour (and large retailers like them) are notorious for abusing their power when buying, and are a large part of the systemic problem. I don't know how much this is negotiating technique.
Does it matter if the customer benefits?
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)
It’s incredible to me that MBAs are still able to pitch “what if we made the product deceptively smaller but charged the same price?”, and don’t get thrown out a window. As if that’s a novel sustainable long-term strategy in CPG.
What are you talking about though, it absolutely is "sustainable", and businesses have been doing it at least a couple decades, so why would they stop? It makes the profit line go up, which is all that matters.
I think "all that matters" needs qualifying to "all that matters to some people".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't worry, in a few months they will make a package that says "Now with 20% more".
The barely legal "20% free" packages. https://www.cdiscount.com/au-quotidien/alimentaire/nestle-cr...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't worry, in a few months they will make a package that says "Now with 20% more".
The barely legal "20% free" packages. https://www.cdiscount.com/au-quotidien/alimentaire/nestle-cr...
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)
Safeway is somewhat insidious with things like this. They'll have a relative price (per pound/oz) for one size of an item, and then for the same item, different size, they'll use a different metric (per packet/slice, etc.) to make them not (easily) directly comparable.
Unless there is a really strong pattern, I think that might be a situation were you shouldn't assume malice when stupidity will do.
I think it's quite likely they get the data from that from some feed who's ultimate source (or sources!) is someone keying in whatever's most convenient without any organizational consistency controls between items.
IIRC, every package has to have a weight/volume measure, but that doesn't make the most sense as the "unit" for many products, and there's even room for legitimate disagreement on what the right measure should be (e.g. should you list a package of sliced cheese by the slice, to use the unit the consumer is probably thinking in, or by the oz, to make it comparable to non-sliced cheese).
I don’t know what the correct term is in English but in my country, “comparative pricing” is mandatory, so when you’re buying coffee for example there’s a secondary price listed that tells you what the cost is per kilogram or whatever other unit makes sense. For me this already solves the problem, because what I really care about isn’t whether I get 500g or 400g of coffee, I care about the real price compared to the…
My salary did not increase 35% between this and last year. For Church & Dwight (Arm and Hammer brand manufacturer) to not only increase the price by at least 35% with shrinkflation, I wonder where the extra profit are going toward.
When I just immigrated 20 years ago, I used to be in awe at the size of commodities and food portions in the US. Nowadays, things are shrinking noticeably and eventually, stuff bought in the US would look just the same in terms of size as what's available in Burma (Myanmar), which is my home country. That observation makes me feel like the US (and probably all of the affluent western nations) is approaching the end of the era of abundance, and life for the future generation would be tougher. Pretty sad/concerning to think about it.