Are we getting short changed.....

I have heard about this phenomenen(SP) twice today, once on the TV and once on the radio. Apparently to keep their profit margins up and keep supermarkets happy manufacturers are putting "less" into their products.

For example people have noticed that packets don't contain as much at they did before but the packaging outside is still the same. The one that really shocked me was (don't laugh) Toilet rolls. Apparently the tubes inside have been made "bigger" so less paper is put on the rolls, but they can still offer us "6 for the price of 4" or even the standard 6 sand charge what we think is a good price, but we are all getting much much less for our money!

Anybody out there read the article or got any ideas about this. Are there any other OS products which we should know about?

Mega xx
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Comments

  • flufff
    flufff Posts: 899
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    noticed tesco did this with their value washing powder now 1kg instead of 1.2
  • megasaver
    megasaver Posts: 162 Forumite
    Baby wipes was something else that hadn't really registered. They used to contain 80 wipes in a pack, now they have 72. Have been told they will go down to 64 soon..... I so hope that isn't true :eek: .....I cut mine in half as it is to make them go further!
  • I've been wondering something similar about cat food. I've noticed that the space our local Tesco allocates to all brands of 400g tins of cat food is diminishing whilst that given over to foil pouches is increasing all the time. Are they trying to phase out tins, I wonder? To my mind foil pouches are an expensive alternative especially as one of our boys (feline, that is) is awaiting an op for an over-active thyroid and is eating 2 x 400g tins a day all on his own:eek: :eek::eek: At this rate the £300 op will be an economy measure!!!
  • seraphina
    seraphina Posts: 1,145
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    I always use the price per 100g/1kg/100 sheets or whatever to compare prices - that way it doesn't matter how much is in the box, you can still keep track of the "real" price. :)
  • Jet
    Jet Posts: 1,623
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
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    To my mind foil pouches are an expensive alternative especially as one of our boys (feline, that is) is awaiting an op for an over-active thryroid and is eating 2 x 400g tins a day all on his own:eek: :eek::eek: At this rate the £300 op will be an economy measure!!!

    Wow, that's one hungry moggy! :eek:
  • livalot
    livalot Posts: 193 Forumite
    I sometiimes open a bag of multipack crisps (I can assure you it does not happen very often!) and ask where the crisps are, as there only seem to be fewere and fewer lurking in the bottom of a very very big bag - I can't be bothered buying the multipacks anymore as I end up eating at least two bags just for the odd crisp "fix".
    seraphina wrote:
    I always use the price per 100g/1kg/100 sheets or whatever to compare prices - that way it doesn't matter how much is in the box, you can still keep track of the "real" price. :)

    I do this too.... but the point is your money is not stretching as much as it did. The 100g/1kg/100sheets is costing you more now than it did a year ago.....but we are not aware of this so much. Especially when manufacturers use these subtle "packaging" tricks.
  • Blimey no wonder my shopping doesn't last as long any more. Just thought it was greedy kids!!
    :j
  • emilyt
    emilyt Posts: 2,051
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    Think we should go back to the old days where we could take our own container and buy how much we want by the weight of the item. Not only would we know exactly how much we were getting but it would bring the cost down as we wouldn't have to pay for pacckaging.Thats the problem with packaging as it always look like we are getting a lot more than we are.
    When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile :D
  • twink
    twink Posts: 3,827 Forumite
    i have noticed the same with cat food in asda, less space for tins

    this was in the mail today

    pringles was 200g now 170g
    ovaltine 400g 300g
    heinz beans 450g 420g
    yorkie bar 7 chunks 6 chunks
    rolo 11 10
    bowyers sausages 475g 400g
    foxs glacier mints 226g 200g
    palmolive naturals soap 125g 100g
  • Quasar
    Quasar Posts: 121,718
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    I'm afraid that is a widespread practice. Unless you read the weight which must be stated if the item is sold by weight, you are none the wiser and think you are buying the old quantity.

    In the case of toilet rolls, as they are sold by number then it's easier to make them look the same size.

    Makes me mad when I think of all the profit they make by these underhand but not quite illegal tricks.
    Be careful who you open up to. Today it's ears, tomorrow it's mouth.
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