The Great 'Shrinking Food' Hunt

Flyhigh

Rocky chocolate bars (my favourite) used to come in packs of 10... but now there's only 9. BUT they're on offer in Netto on Monday for 49p so I'll be stocking up then.:j

raychill

on a similar subject (I have noticed things reducing but no examples come to mind) I have always checked and compared prices when I've shopped.

It used to be (as a general rule) that a bigger pack was better value than a smaller pack - and I think most people got used to this.

But I have noticed in the last few years that this is no longer the case and often it is better value to buy 2 smaller sized items, than the larger one. Very cheeky!

They are taking advantage of previously learned consumer behaviour and assuming we'll just trust them & not relearn!

arizonalinda_2

I noticed about a year ago schloer went from 1ltr to 750ml for the same price. Now have noticed the washing liquid pouches have gone from 24 washes to 20 washes.
Do the makers of these shrinking products think we have no memory of the last time we bought the item at the old size?
I have noticed too when reading the shelf lable they do try and make it hard to work out how much per 100g or ltr. They sometimes choose to say for example £8 per kilo rather than 80p per 100g on a 325g sized product.
Most people don't have the time to stand there and work out wich, of several of the same items is the cheapest and take the one which looks to be cheapest but it's not always so. This is how the trick you into buying the nore expensive one.

Ruseph

This has been going on for years where the manufactureres sneakily reduce the product size without telling anyone, and then suddenly advertising NOW 10% bigger! When in fact they reduced it sometimes months or years previously. This is really annoying and despite manufacturers not putting up prices, I think we would be far better off paying a few pence more than in some cases 50% less product, and isn't this is in complete contravention of any eco/environmental policy, to be increasing the amount of packaging to product ratio? I simply avoid buying certain items on principal now.

One example I can think of that used to be bigger is Pringles that used to be 200g tubes, and I used to think if I eat all that it's equivalent to 8 multi-bags of walkers (25g), well the regular tubes are now just ~165g. Occasionally there is the XL tubes at either 200g or 215g, but of course you pay more for them.

Sorry Andy c24uk above didn't read your post and this is similar post but yes Pringles have changed product size numerous times and it depends on where you buy them, my discussion is just one example of this.

I also Re-iterate the Tropicana 1.75Ltr down to 1.5Ltr very recently and still at the same price, very annoying.

I always try and remember the price per litre or price per kilo to help with this, which also helps with named and store brand products at different sizes. ie where you can pay more per kilo for a 200g jar of coffee than you can for 2 x 100g Jars?
(and as arizonalinda mentions above these are almost deliberately and confusingly not displayed in the same units for similar products, and obviously you will then have to multiply in your head or divide to compare similar products, and this would be particularly hard in stores like Morrisons where the shelf labels are invariably missing or in the wrong place)

Unfortunately you have to be smart and most stores and manufacturers assume we are not!

It's time we showed them all that we are and won't be messed with!

Pamelamac

I noticed that Tesco 'My Baby' wipes have 80 in the single pack and a great snap fastener to stop the wipes drying up. However, when I last bought the 'better value' multipack it had only 72 wipes per pack and a sticky fastener which gets covered in fluff and dust and stops working after a while, then you have to use them quicker or they dry outj.

Also, I realised a packet of four Tesco school tights were going to be too small for my daughter and decided to exchange it for the next size, the price on the pack was £4 for 4 pairs, however, when I took them back, all the sizes were still £4 but there are only 3 pairs in a pack....which seems a massive jump in price from £1 per pair to £1.33.

keri

Andyc24_uk wrote: »

I'm working in South Korea at the moment, and like in seemingly most countries, tubes of Pringles can be found in virtually every corner shop. Up until a couple of months ago, they were in the same size (230g) can that you regularly find in the UK, and had a Pringles logo on the seal. Then, around the end of February, they mysteriously shrank - the tubes are now smaller in diameter and look out of proportion, and the weight is now down to 200g. Initially I thought the shop was importing fake Pringles, as the packaging has changed slightly and the seal is now plain white - but the new size cans are now everywhere, in every store. I was in Japan last weekend and saw the same thing there as well - so it's probably only a matter of time until European Pringles get downsized too

Well, my daughter must have been right! A couple of weeks ago she told me Pringles chips had got smaller. The reason she knew was because she could now put a whole one in her mouth with no trouble whereas beforehand it was always a bit tricky!!

AfroKinky1

Being taken for a ride is no fun at all.

My supermarket spending has dropped by 20-25% over the last 3 years. I've reminded myself that my mother coped with much less products in her shopping basket. Also, I've remembered that food is not for my entertainment, it's to fuel my body.

blackberry-rum

elsol wrote: »

i think you'll find that a 33% reduction. if it were 50% it would now be 750ml...

I am a food packer and wanted to put the other side of the story accross. We are being hit by the most ridiculous price rises in raw materials that we have ever seen. in some instances we have witnessed an increase of over 200%. our costs are also rising, BUT you lot (aka the customers) want everything to cost less!!! unfortunately, it just can't happen.
Furthermore, the reason why we reduce weights/sizes is because many products have a natural price point. you can't suddenly start charging £1 for a milky way, or £2 for a small bag of nuts, so in reducing the weight, we can keep products at their price point.
Please don't always assume that we are getting greedy, because the truth is in fact the complete opposite! i am part of a trade organisation that represents small independant companies and 7 of them (small companies) have gone bust in the past couple of months due to these price rises.
Remember too, in order to get the best value, shop around, don't just march to your supermarket!!!!!

But surely it's not an economy for the company to reduce the size of the goods and keep the price the same, because it must cost money to change the size of the packaging, change what's written on the packaging, eg the weight, even change the size of the boxes in which the goods are packed for the supermarket? Wouldn't it be both more HONEST and cheaper to simply put up the price; this would also mean not patronising the customers by imagining they won't notice the reduction in size. :mad:

eastry

Has McDonnalds shrunk trhe size of teh Coffees and Milkshakes?

jacquimac71

Harvest Chewee Bars used to have nine in a pack. They now have 6 in a pack for the same price, as far as I can see.