When will consumers wake up to the shrinking food package + inflation scam?

[IDemo]

I do much of the grocery shopping in the household, and it hasn't been a mystery that food packaging has been on the downsizing path for some time now. But today, several items had me trying to stifle my language, with ridiculous boutique prices and visibly smaller sizes. Coupling dramatic price hikes and less content (now right-sized for your convenience!), the food industry has let it be known they fully intend to enjoy the same obscene profits that their brethren in other areas of modern capitalist society do. They are trying their best to camouflage their efforts, but seasoned shoppers can tell instantly by weight or package feel that the standard jar of peanut butter or box of cereal doesn't measure up, literally.

I guess they figure nobody stopped driving with $4.00 gas, so why shouldn't they get some of the gravy as well? How far is it they think the simultaneous micro-sizing of portions and macro-sizing of prices can go before the buying public says enough? You can't stop eating, but you can make many choices about what, where and how to go about getting the basics of your diet. You can buy bulk or generic foods, join a co-op, take part in a community garden and or raise your own, and purchase from local farmers markets (though these are often not the cheapest route, either).

Something's got to give, it's only a matter of when.

[Retrograde]

1. I have a 1960 cookbook that talks about reduced package sizes

So I'd say never.

[AnneD]

6. The real pisser....

Is trying to figure out the equivalent ingredients to get the same end results. I have a recipe that calls for a large package of pudding. I now have to use 2 small but that makes it a bit dry so I have to add more milk. It never seems to turn out as good as it once did.

[enlightenment]

53. Get a scale

and measure by weight. If your recipe called for a 3 ounce packet of dry pudding mix, you'll be able to weigh out the three ounces from the 2 smaller packets and save the bit left over for another day.

My scale has become my best friend.

[Retrograde]

70. Fine if the recipe or cookbook tells you how big is "large"

A lot of older cookbooks assume that everyone knows what a #1 or #2 can is and proceed accordingly. US cookbooks generally measure by volume instead of weight. It's especially a problem with canned seafood, like tuna: they were always small cans, and I know they're smaller now, but I don't remember by how much.

[enlightenment]

72. I do understand the difficulty of translating

volume to weight (designed a couple of cookbooks that needed to translate to both US and UK measurement).
I discovered that, when I am very frustrated by this, the Internet is a life-saver, though I suppose it depends on how much time you have to devote to the research.

For example: this website has a handy little chart for that unique #1, #2 can issue -- http://www.ellenskitchen.com/pantry/cansize.html
She does discuss changes over time to a degree, but more importantly, lists the original sizes and comparative volume.

Another trick I've used (if you have time and don't mind the slog) is to search for 'retro' food ads. Search for the medium or large images and they are often big enough that you can literally read the package on the advert and figure out how much it held before the downsizing/uppricing trend hit.

[nanabugg]

89. Oh THANK YOU!!! I have been screaming this for so long here and on other blogs even at

HP but I can't get a movement started with the consumers. I also tried for the last 6 years to get the Congress involved by sending letters, emails and blog comments to various sites to no avail. I don't even hear it mentioned. But it seems to me that when a package shrinks the very least thing that should happen is that the covering should change so that unobservant consumers know that there was a change. The big problem is that the packages all look the same as the previous, larger packages. I JUST CAN'T GET ANYONE TO PAY ATTENTION. We need the consumer advocate agency to step in and at least publicize what is happening to them..they are being scammed by the food manufacturers.

[Change has come]

2. DU rec

[RagAss]

3. What are we supposed to do, storm the Bastille ?

Anyone who food shops knows this is getting worse by the month but people have to eat.

[IDemo]

16. See paragraph 2, sentence 4 of the OP

Primarily, stop supporting the big name brands with your dollar. That's the kind of storming of the Bastille they will pay attention to.

[knitter4democracy]

27. Almost everyone I know doesn't.

Aldi here is almost always packed. Good food, cheapest prices, and everyone's shopping there. At Meijers (our state's version of Walmart that's much better), the store brand stuff is almost always gone first. People are buying loss leaders first and picking and choosing after that.

[nanabugg]

90. But what you don't realize is that many "store brands" are owned by the big food manufactures. nt

[knitter4democracy]

92. I'm in Battle Creek. Kelloggs makes a lot of those store brands, I know.

We know, but the non-advertised brands are cheaper.

[Freddie]

59. I only buy store brand

Except ketchup (must be Heinz) and cat food. Since the pet food scare of a few years ago was largely store brands, we stick to Fancy Feast and Purina One.
I pack lunches for both of us and deli meat is outrageous. Lately I'll make an extra meatloaf for sandwiches or a batch of egg salad, eggs are still cheap.

[marmar]

88. "What are we supposed to do, storm the Bastille ?"

Yes, and not just because of food prices.

[jsr]

4. It's "new improved"

Nabisco's Fresh Stacks package of saltines, top, contains about 15 percent fewer crackers than the old package.


Skippy peanut butter jars now have an inward "dimple" on the bottom to reduce the amount they hold.

[brewens]

77. I noticed my hair jell now has free bubbles. The figured the could just add

air to that package.

[CountAllVotes]

5. The lastest in "tuna"

My god I couldn't believe it -- a little package of it now with a whole 2 oz. in it for close to $1.50 or some crap.

I woke up a long time ago re: this issue.

READ the labels and see how the writing is smaller now too so you can barely make out the weight, etc.?

Inflation ...

Nothing to see here literally and I mean nothing; never seen tuna in a tiny plastic package before, never and it was indeed NOTHING!

& recommend!!!!

[nobodyspecial]

9. Aldi's sells water-packed tuna

in 5 oz. cans for 58 cents. Lots of great deals like this at Aldis and the quality is just as good as name brands.

[CountAllVotes]

13. I get some at WINCO for $.50

and I feed it to my beloved cat who deserves it!

YES SHE DOES!!! my beloved cat!!!

[nobodyspecial]

20. Don't know that store

But I feed myself the tuna and it's pretty good.

[CountAllVotes]

23. WINCO ....

It is an employee-owned grocery store.

The prices are much lower and I save lots of $$$ by shopping at this store -- as much as 50%+ on some items.

I don't know how widespread they are but being they are employee-owned, they have my business!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

35. That's my favorite store too. nt

[zuzu98]

79. I believe Hy-Vee stores are all employee owned as well.

We don't have one close to us, but when I'm driving through a town that does have one I go out of my way to shop there.

[Le Taz Hot]

86. I love Winco!

I do all my grocery shopping there. And I REALLY love the bulk section -- particularly the spices. I had to buy Nutmeg the other day and I got it from the bulk section. I paid a little over a $1.00 but got enough to fill a large glass spice container. I looked at the price of the commercial small plastic jar of Nutmeg and it was over $3.00 -- three times the price for probably a 1/3 the amount. What I get for $75.00 at Winco would easily cost me $95.00+ anywhere else and that's being generous.

[Dokkie]

48. Thats a strange way of phrasing it

You don't talk yourself when you decide to use your feet. Why not say you "eat the tuna" instead of "feed myself".

Thats it, just thought I had to say something

[kestrel91316]

36. Tuna can do many nasty things to your cat - most notably

it has been found to contribute to oral squamous cell carcinoma. I have personally seen 3 or 4 cases in practice, most recently last year.

Just FYI.

[CountAllVotes]

44. She gets maybe 1 TBS a day at the most

She's a very finicky eater. She mostly likes Fancy Feast dry cat food.

She sometimes might eat a tablespoon or so of tuna but that is it. Most of the can gets thrown away usually.

Otherwise, she does not care for any sort of canned food.

Cats ...

[kestrel91316]

74. The cat I saw recently that had to be PTS because of oral SCC

was only getting a tiny bit of tuna, every day, for years.

I won't let any of my cats within a mile of any fish.

[CountAllVotes]

82. She isn't getting any more of it

Last edited Mon Sep 3, 2012, 10:42 PM - Edit history (1)

She is not eating it anyway -- a waste of money and there isn't much of that to waste around her.

I wish I could get her to eat wet food but she doesn't like it.



The late Old Kitty (who lived to be almost 18 years old mind you!) did not eat wet food either.

The last Mr. Flame (who died of grief IMO) would not eat canned food but would eat tuna at times. I hope this didn't cause him to die, I don't know.

I'm still real sad about losing my two cats.

[knitter4democracy]

29. Aldi has saved us more than once.

When the ex stopped paying child support one summer, that store stretched my food money to the point where we were okay. I still shop there first, then Sam's Club, then Meijers. Yeah, I know, I know, Sam's is evil, but we don't have a Costco, and for a lot of stuff, they're the cheapest per unit.

[Lugnut]

38. I shop at Aldi weekly.

The produce is always nice and the price for staples is lower than anywhere else. Dairy and meat prices are lower and I've never been disappointed with the quality.

[RebelOne]

68. My problem with the cheaper priced tuna is that

I prefer the albacore tuna and even though it comes water-packed, it is not cheap. The cheapest price I have found it was at Big Lots for 99 cents a can and it was awful.

[CTyankee]

66. the can tuna size shrunk too. I now wait til it's a buck a can and stock up to the

extent that I can (limited storage space).

[nobodyspecial]

7. Stop buying prepackaged, processed foods

I do the bins at the local food co-op. It's a great deal on grains, nuts, beans, cereals, etc.

[NJCher]

18. I was just going to say that

Plus grow your own. I know I, and some of the others at our DU Gardening forum, are processing plenty of home grown produce at the moment.

You don't even need a garden. Our own tomato expert here at DU grows hundreds of tomatoes in plain ole' black plastic containers. Taking his suggestion, I now have around 9 eggplant and about a dozen tomatoes in such planters. This is in addition to my 11 raised beds, which contain herbs, beans, kale, horseradish, lettuce, zucchini, acorn squash, cucumbers, melons, and arugula.


Cher

[frazzled]

8. Don't buy things in packages??

I avoid most mass-produced packaged goods. True, you have to buy crackers sometimes, but I never buy, say, Nabisco. Of course, I have the luxury of feeding only two adults right now (our kids are grown and gone), so we tend to stick to fresh vegetables and fruits, grains, and meats/fish that are not prepackaged. (I live near a fish market and even several butchers, so again I'm lucky.) I try to buy things like spices and nuts in the bulk section at Whole Foods, which saves quite a bit of money over the packaged/bottled stuff.

But I did note that prices were down at my local Jewel supermarket this week. It was really noticeable. The bread I wouldn't buy at $4.79 a loaf was now $2.79 ... not on sale!

[nobodyspecial]

17. Jewel was losing a ton of money because people wanted value

so they have a whole new pricing strategy, emphasizing lower every day prices on staples. I still think they are too expensive.

Back to Aldis, they have reduced fat whole wheat crackers that taste just like Triscuits for $1.25 a box. If you have an Aldis near you, definitely check them out. They always have really great produce deals each week. For example, avocados for 48 cents and blueberries for $1.49 a pint. Bananas are always about 35 to 40 cents per pound and a bag of prewashed spinach is $1.69, same price as the hummus. They even have non-GMO organic soymilk.

[NJCher]

25. really, I'm not stalking you, ns

But I was just about to bring up Aldis.

Aldis is run differently than most supermarkets. They are super-efficient. There is a lot of thought that goes into their operation, such as how they handle grocery carts. They are also not cheapskates with their help. Around here they pay 12 an hour.

Those blueberries nobodyspecial mentions are sometimes 99 cents. But with the bananas, you have to buy the whole bunch. You can't just buy a few. Price here is around 40 cents a lb.

They have a cracker assortment that's 2.74 and the crackers are better than anything I can get at a grocery store or even Trader Joe's.

Oh and another thing, Aldi has incredibly good dark chocolate which is low in fat. $1.89 for a bar!


Cher

[knitter4democracy]

31. Best. chocolate. ever.

They have the same spiral hams on sale at the holidays everyone else has for at least ten cents a pound more. Their fish is good, the processed stuff is good (if not better), and I use only their stuff for baking anymore. Great quality.

[noamnety]

83. I love aldis

I have to remember to go the afternoon before holidays. They're good about marking things down if they are close to expiration, but you can get especially good deals if they're going to be closed the next day. I was in there yesterday, they're closed today for labor day. Bananas were marked down to 10 cents a pound, I bought about 7 big bunches. I'm bringing most to my classroom for hungry kids, and the rest will go in my freezer for smoothies.

[frazzled]

32. There's no Aldi's near me

And the Jewel is a block-and-a-half walk from my house. So we do tend to use that for things like aluminum foil, King Arthur flour, sugar ... day to day stuff. My parents love Aldi's and say they save bundles there.

I'm sort of less interested in general in the prices than in reducing one's consumption of unnecessary goods, and making best use of what you do have ... and eating well on it. I'm willing to pay for quality produce (within reason) at the farmer's market, but I try not to waste it. When it looks like we have nothing left in the house, and my husband suggests making a trip to the market, I always find something to whip up: five eggs and the half bunch of spinach left over at the end of the week (plus the Parmesan cheese we always have on hand from Graziano's) makes a beautiful souffle that will feed 3 people easily. Tonight I made a beautiful glazed peach tart with some extra peaches we had that would have cost $18 at the bakery, but probably was made at home for less than $4.

As I said, I don't like to pay for a downsized box of crackers (the Aldi's ones sound great!) ... but I'm willing to invest in a good Parmesan Reggiano, which can be utilized in dozens of dishes.

But I will have to make an occasional trip to Aldi's: I certainly love a bargain.

[GP6971]

63. Jewel is owned

by Supervalu which is experiencing some serious financial issues. Jewel's price reduction is a direct result of the major senior management shake up at Supervalu.

Supervalu's equivalent to Aldi is their Save-A-Lot chain. Don't hear too much about them though.

[zuzu98]

80. We have a new Sav-A-Lot nearby

I had heard that it was like Aldi's but was very disappointed in the quality of the items, particularly the produce and the meat. The parking lot is always packed, though, because there are few grocery options around here (we don't even have a Wal-Mart) and this is twon has been hard-hit by the Bush recession.

[panader0]

10. I remember when Fritos cost a dime

weighed more, and had no genetically modified corn. But I'm 61.

[reformist2]

30. That's before they realized how many crazies would pay $4 a bag for it.

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.

But the flip side is that we probably shouldn't be eating that junk anyway...

[justabob]

50. $4.00 a bag

I freaked out a few weeks ago when I realized that name brand chips were stamped 4.79, likewise NutterButter cookies. Used to be that Oreos were the expensive ones, now they are all that high. Last time I remember noticing they were in the range of 2.79, but I don't buy them often, especially the name brands... Nabisco, Lays etc. Even plain store brand tortilla chips are 3.00 a bag. It is insane.

[banned from Kos]

11. Go to the liberal-run warehouse bulk package company Costco for food

Smaller food packages do not mean inflation is here.

It means buyers are gullible or desperate.

[IDemo]

26. Not inflation in a broad economic sense,

But charging the same or more for a smaller amount of product means food price inflation, no matter how you want to describe it.

We used to use Costco 20 years ago, but just the two of us don't generally need items in the quantities they sell (or have the storage room for it).

[kestrel91316]

37. Unfortunately, in many cases you can't FIND larger packages to buy. You

are stuck with the tiny-and-getting-tinier one. Rolled oats is virtually impossible to find in more than 1 lb boxes most places. And the next size up is like 20 lb, and that's REALLY hard to get ahold of.

[grasswire]

40. oats are so great to buy in bulk...

...as well as other grains and spices and nuts. So much less expensive, and the quality is the same as name brand.

Plus you can get ANY quantity you desire!

[socialist_n_TN]

12. I just went to the grocery store today............

My wife and I talked about it when I got home. I believe it was coffee and some brand of frozen meals we talked about today.

[nobodyspecial]

22. Make your own frozen meals

Whenever you cook, double up and freeze the other half -- much cheaper and healthier. Have you ever looked at the labels for those things. In addition to tons on unpronounceable ingredients, they contain at least a half day's worth of sodium.

[IDemo]

28. Excellent suggestion, thanks

We've actually talked about this a time or two but haven't yet done it.

[nobodyspecial]

33. Just get into the habit and it comes much easier

If you are going to be in the kitchen and making a mess, it's just as easy to do large batches -- just make sure you have the ingredients on hand. I only cook about three days a week, but don't eat out or eat many processed foods. For example, I make a big pot of oatmeal (steel cut oats and slow cooking oats with added goodies like hemp powder, ground flax and chia seeds) on Sunday and just dish up a bowl each morning, adding fresh fruit like bananas or blueberries. Way tastier, healthier and cheaper than those little packets full of artificial ingredients and sugar. I also make a huge bowl of basic salad -- mostly spinach, but whatever other greens look good as well -- with tons of other chopped veggies. Then I use it for several days, adding things in as I go along, like using whole wheat tortillas and avocado for a veggie wrap or tossing in garbanzo beans for extra protein and fiber.

With farmer's markets in full swing, now is a great time to make veggie/tomato sauces for winter using all the goodies like zucchini and eggplant. You can freeze those in quart Ziploc bags. You place them flat and they take up little room. Love the tastes of summer in the middle of winter.

Be careful with plastic, though. I never put anything piping hot in plastic ware. And definitely don't defrost or reheat. Always put it in a pot or microwave safe ceramic ware.

[AnneD]

85. I have done batch cooking for years......

Only way to go. I usually do it on the weekend. I will get a bulk package of say hamburger and make a small meatloaf, meatballs, spaghetti, chili, and patties. I save some and freeze some. I do the same with chicken, roast, or what ever is on sale. Found a good cook book that got me started on batch cooking and now have enough containers to make it doable. It is so nice to come home from work and not have to cook.

My daughter always said that our leftovers were better than some folks meals.

[justabob]

51. I've been doing that too

It is easy once you get in the habit of doing it, and so much cheaper than buying individual frozen meals or bags of frozen prepared food etc.

[gulliver]

14. It's because the middle class itself is being shrunk.

If we stopped making it so easy to go to prison and so hard to get an education, the middle class would grow again. And the stores would start having more and better stuff in them again, just like we had under Clinton.

[reformist2]

15. I think the new smaller sizes are kind of funny.

[raccoon]

42. I guess you think high gas prices are hilarious, then? nt

[reformist2]

45. No, I find it funny because it's not like they're fooling anyone anymore.

Besides, a lot of the packaged food they've been downsizing is junk anyway. Am I really going to pay $3.99 for 11 1/2 oz of potato chips? I don't think so.

[LeftyMom]

19. Most packaged food is shit you should be paid to eat.

Try to stick to the produce section and bulk dry goods. You can't go wrong with identifiable ingredients priced by weight, and you can buy exactly the amount you need.

You'll save a metric fuckload of money and you'll be healthier for it.

[Honeycombe8]

21. I noticed. It's a bummer. I'm having to be more creative when I shop. nt

[knitter4democracy]

24. Oh, we have. People talk about it all the time.

What can we do, though? People here in Michigan do garden and put up stuff for the winter, buy produce locally, etc. Still, when we need flour or margarine, it hits us hard.

It's bad, and it's getting worse (and will get much worse with the loss of the corn crop). We have to eat, though, so people will keep spending more and more on food, and keep doing their best to survive.

[juajen]

69. Don't eat margarine. Real butter is the healthy choice. Honest!

[knitter4democracy]

84. I'm allergic to dairy.

Not all of us can eat butter.

[Drahthaardogs]

34. Make everything you can from scratch.

I even make my own mozzarella. I shop Costco for my meat, rice, and pasta as well as canned tomatoes and cheeses I do not make myself. I rarely buy processed food.

[IDemo]

46. How are you making your own mozzarella?

If I have anything like the luck I had making my own beer (tasted like cider vinegar gone bad), I'd be better off paying the premium.

We do enjoy the occasional homemade tomato/basil/mozzarella pizza.

[Drahthaardogs]

61. I make my own mozz and ricotta because

When I moved to Nebraska, I could not even find real ricotta cheese for making cannoli at Christmas time. Despite having a historic "Little Italy" the Italian-Americans in the midwest have done a shitty job of preserving their heritage and passing on some of the old customs to the next generation (they could learn a lot form the Mexican-Americans about preserving their heritage while embracing America). Anyway, I could not find anything worth eating out here. As such, I started making my own marscapone and eventually my own mozz. Some cheese really require the right equipment, an aging room, raw or at least not high temperature pasteurized milk. Ricotta, marscapone, and mozz do not.

This is where I get my stuff and the recipe I use (the microwave one). There are likely other sources, but this is the one I use.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/

If you like homemade pizza, try the Caputo OO flour from Italy for pizza (King Author makes a version here). It has a lower protein content so less gluten formation. As such, you can start making pies that are close to the real Napoli style you find south of Rome.

[KatyaR]

67. Now I want to make my own cheese.

www.cheesemaking.com has a starter set for $70 that makes 30 pounds of cheese--I'd be set for life!!!

It's funny that you brought it up--President Obama's beer recipes have made me want to make my own beer.

I'm really wanting to eat right, and I've set a date for myself to start in ernest instead of wishy-washing around. I think I may try these kits this fall. I swear you eat better when you grow your own.

Thanks for the link!

[Drahthaardogs]

73. Beer is kind of hard to make.

Wine, on the other hand , is relatively easy. In the old days we had to press the grapes, etc. Now with the modern concentrates, oak chips, etc. I make a Super Tuscan that is really really good whereas before I could not even afford them.

[druidity33]

78. With your own grapes?

I've been growing interesting berries and thinking about gooseberry or jostaberry wine. Ever tried a non-grape recipe? Do you have a link for winemaking that you prefer?

Cheers!

[Drahthaardogs]

81. I buy the concentrate juice, but my grandfather used to make it from grapes

then distill the dirty wine and make Grappa.

The thing with using your own grapes is to make sure you kill the wild yeasts with sodium metabisulfite or you can get some nasty stuff in there.

I have made raisin wines in the past (like Amarone). Here is a link I use for making fruit wines.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/starting.asp

[druidity33]

87. thanks for the link!

I think i'll try some gooseberry wine next year. Maybe Autumn Olive wine this fall. I'll need to get some good glass gallons and a few bungs, but there's a homebrew store nearby that i can get all my supplies from...

Cheers!

[Zalatix]

39. It's the result of rising food shortages.

And after this drought, it's really going to get worse.

If there aren't store shelves picked clean of scantily stocked food in America, there most certainly will be in other nations.

Our solutions, in addition to the OP's 2nd paragraph sentence 4, are as follows:
Window Farms, on a personal level - http://www.windowfarms.org/whatisawindowfarm

Windowfarm is a vertical, hydroponic growing system that allows for year-round growing in almost any window. It lets plants use natural window light, the climate control of your living space, and organic "liquid soil."

In the hydroponic system, nutrient-spiked water is pumped up from a reservoir at the base of the system and trickles down from bottle to bottle, bathing the roots along the way. Water and nutrients that are not absorbed collect in the reservoir and will be pumped through again at the next interval.

Skyscraper farms, on a national level - http://www.verticalfarm.com/

&feature=player_embedded

[IDemo]

47. The drought is very definitely going to worsen the situation,

but the shrinkage and price hikes predate this season's disaster.

[roamer65]

75. Delete.

[MADem]

41. A pound of pasta, a pound of coffee--13 oz. What a pantload.

Toilet paper rolls like EUROPE!!

Two litre soda bottles that are 1.75 litres!

I agree--it's horseshit. Especially when you've got kids or grandkids in the house, and you're responsible for feeding a crew.

[RandiFan1290]

57. My pound of coffee is down to 11.08oz

I don't trust that 11.08oz either

[MADem]

58. The BAAASSSS-tids!!!!!!! nt

[no_hypocrisy]

43. This is downright blatant.

My supermarket has cut a ring cake in half and is selling it at the same price as a whole cake cost less than a decade ago.

[Dokkie]

49. Hmm

maybe its because the dollar in your wallet doesnt measure up to what it used to be. Dont blame the food manufacturers from trying to adjust to the debased dollar, blame the Fed.

[CrispyQ]

52. "Something's got to give, it's only a matter of when."

It will give sooner than you think.

Check out this photo.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/03/opinion/frum-food-price-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

[lumberjack_jeff]

54. Wake up and what? Stop eating?

Until recently, inflation was known as a wage-and-price spiral. Today, only prices are spiraling, because the driver for those costs is commodity prices, the proceeds of which go only to capital.

[IDemo]

65. Stop eating as much or as well

If you extend the downward trending portion sizes and upward trending price graphs, sooner or later people will begin missing meals or substituting with cheap carb-intensive foods.

[lunatica]

55. I shop Costco and The Dollar Store

At Costco I get food for a month for $200 or less including daily meat for 2 of us.

[KurtNYC]

56. I don't think it is greed. The food business is in crisis right now.

Wal-Mart is selling food at a loss and they are crushing regional grocery chains. The margin unprepared food is very slim and many stores sell milk and other items below cost.

The stores are not immune to $4+ gas -- it raises their costs also. The drought and global warming are making food more scarce and what there is has to be shipped farther. Milk, butter, eggs, beef, pork, chicken are all going up due to the corn and soy crop. Going to get much worse from here.

[DonRedwood]

60. OMG...I almost blew a gasket when I picked up pudding cups THEY CUT TWO OUT

Jello pudding cups....package of six $2.99 at my store, all the time.

Two days ago I see all the puddings and jellos in the sale aisle with orange discount pricetags. (Jello brand). I grabbed up a bunch. The dates weren't off. $1.49. SCORE

Then I get over to the aisle where they usually are. All the jello brand boxes had shrunk from six to four cups. (that's why they were getting rid of all the six cup packages)

The price for four? $2.89. THEY CUT 1/3 of the product and only dropped the price 10 cents.

Mother F*****rs. They are trying to break the middle class by taking every penny from us, any way they can. Every business is basically colluding at this point.

[NutmegYankee]

62. +1

[PrBelvr]

64. This finally hit me this weekend

I have been seeing this for awhile when my wife and I go shopping. Ice cream no longer sold in 16oz cartons but now 14oz. Tuna sold in 5oz cans instead of 6oz. But for me what finally ticked me off was flour tortillas in 8 count packages rather than the dozen packages they have been packaged for years. I got ticked and contacted the manufacturer and told them I am sick tired of food manufacturers down sizing product packaging and selling the product at the same price. I told them I understand the rising cost of goods and was willing to accept a price increase. But to change the package count is getting too far!

[global1]

71. A Couple Of Comments About Food Package Shrinkage......

1. I get a number of food business tabloids/journals and inside info to that business. I've been looking now for the last couple of years for articles that talk to the issue of food package shrinkage. I would have thought that this would be discussed in these tabloids/journals (i.e., trends, how to, who is doing it, etc) - but to my surprise - I've never seen any mention of this in these tabloids/journals. So I wonder how does food package shrinkage come about? Is this something that is just discussed at the highest levels in food companies? Do packaging companies foster the idea by coming up with unique packaging that looks like the old one but is somehow distorted (bottom of package pushed in)? If there is anyone out there on DU in the business - how does this come about? Who makes the decisions?

2. It is unfortunate that most marketing of consumers is deception. People are paid to come up with ways to fool us into spending our money. I've said this before on DU - I wonder if there is a direct correlation to the rise in MBA degrees and the deception that is plaguing our consumers.

3. This not only happening in the food business. It is happening in the health and beauty aid business as well. Perfumes, deodorants, shampoos. Did you notice that the shampoo you've been using isn't as soapy or sudsy as it use to be? Well what is happening companies that make your favorite shampoo are tapering off of the ingredients that contribute to the soapiness or sudsiness. Less suds when you apply your shampoo makes you want to use more of it to get the same sudsiness you use to get before they took it out. Hence - you wind up using more shampoo everytime you wash your hair and your run out of product quicker so you have to go out and buy more.

Consumer deception, shrinking of packaging, outright lying in ads, commercials and on labeling is rampant. It is all designed to pull more money out of your wallet everytime you go shopping. I don't know where this will lead to - but how small can they cut the package sizes and raise the prices before we're down to a giant cardboard roll with only 12 sheets of toilet paper on it?

[nanabugg]

91. Here is why no attention to this: 1% too rich to even see it; middleclass has enough money to

not really care about the poor...they will gripe but do nothing; poor too powerless to make any noise about this and too firghtened to complain for fear their food stamps will be cut off.

[roamer65]

76. It all leads back to a lack of population control.

We simply need to stop producing babies. The carrying capacity of this planet is finite and we are exceeding it.

More people equals more demand for limited or dwindling resources.