Innocent Smoothies have lost their innocence - weights and measures trickery ...

2sides2everystory

I always thought of Innocent the smoothies company as an ok company because it had some connection with Virgin originally.

However, a year ago I saw they had reached Denmark with Innocent Smoothies but that to offset the transport costs (I assumed) they had cleverly reduced the size of the cartons from 1 litre to 750ml. It is a actually quite amazing how similar they look on the shelf - no doubt the smaller carton is 5mm narrower and slightly shorter and they fill it nearer to the top or some such.

My friends in Denmark were rather disappointed - the price for 750ml there has always been significantly higher than 1 litre in London but so are many basic goods we take for granted in London so I have not thought too much about it ...


... until tonight.

My local Sainsburys has removed all the 1 litre packs and replaced them with 750ml and is running a very misleading 2 for £4 promotion to deflect from the 25% reduction in size.

It also has some new shaped 1.25l cartons which it describes as value packs.

My view is that this kind of marketing messing with weights and measures and deflecting customers with promotions at the point of changing the weights and measure is UNLAWFUL.

To make matters worse, I was overcharged as is the case with almost every main shop in every main supermarket like as not - the cashier scanned a single £1.10 item twice this evening. I was in a hurry and did not check in store and I may yet find further mistakes.

Supermarkets take the lion's share of our income.

It is about time we started putting them in their place and stop them colluding with suppliers to trick customers and to sharpen up on the tills to reduce overcharges.

I am heartily sick of both ills.

sarahg1969

They claim research showed that their customers would prefer a smaller carton. :rotfl:

http://innocentdrinks.typepad.com/innocent_drinks/2011/06/big-and-slightly-smaller-change-is-afoot.html

Rolandtheroadie

Coco pops dropped to 295g from 325g but the price remained the same recently.

Supermarkets are trying to make us feel prices arnt increasing by reducing quantities. The reason for this may be that in the past they've increased the price and lost custom.

sarahg1969

If you find that something's not shrunk, you'll see it's a 'new recipe' that means more water has been added.

DCFC79

2sides2everystory wrote: »

I always thought of Innocent the smoothies company as an ok company because it had some connection with Virgin originally.

However, a year ago I saw they had reached Denmark with Innocent Smoothies but that to offset the transport costs (I assumed) they had cleverly reduced the size of the cartons from 1 litre to 750ml. It is a actually quite amazing how similar they look on the shelf - no doubt the smaller carton is 5mm narrower and slightly shorter and they fill it nearer to the top or some such.

My friends in Denmark were rather disappointed - the price for 750ml there has always been significantly higher than 1 litre in London but so are many basic goods we take for granted in London so I have not thought too much about it ...

cant really compare the 2 countries though, different economies, maybe wages are higher as well

... until tonight.

My local Sainsburys has removed all the 1 litre packs and replaced them with 750ml and is running a very misleading 2 for £4 promotion to deflect from the 25% reduction in size.

they didnt remove them, the 1 litre cartons were all sold no doubt and the empty space was filled with the new carton size,

It also has some new shaped 1.25l cartons which it describes as value packs.

My view is that this kind of marketing messing with weights and measures and deflecting customers with promotions at the point of changing the weights and measure is UNLAWFUL.

its not unlawful, the shelf edge label shows the price and the carton size, i dont know about you but when i take an item from the shelf i happen to use my eyes and i look at the sel and see the price has gone up/down or pack size has gone up/reduced

To make matters worse, I was overcharged as is the case with almost every main shop in every main supermarket like as not - the cashier scanned a single £1.10 item twice this evening. I was in a hurry and did not check in store and I may yet find further mistakes.

should have checked your receipt, mistakes are made and its not end of fthe world

Supermarkets take the lion's share of our income.

It is about time we started putting them in their place and stop them colluding with suppliers to trick customers and to sharpen up on the tills to reduce overcharges.

I am heartily sick of both ills.

lol another thread about these drinks,

Darksun

2sides2everystory wrote: »

My view is that this kind of marketing messing with weights and measures and deflecting customers with promotions at the point of changing the weights and measure is UNLAWFUL.

Your view is wrong, it's perfectly lawful, unless they're marking the packs as 1L when they only contain 750ml, or something like that.

Also, Innocent are majority owned by Coca Cola, so you should probably rethink your views of the company

MamaMoo_2

Deja vu thread...



https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3340692

2sides2everystory

Darksun wrote: »

Your view is wrong, it's perfectly lawful, unless they're marking the packs as 1L when they only contain 750ml, or something like that.

The law is broader than that about deceiving customers, Darksun. It is relatively new law and I for one would like to see it tested.

I believe I have witnessed an unfair practice which is prohibited under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

I believe it may contravene CPRs under paragraph 3 of PART 2. It is unfair as it materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer with regard to the product. Whether it is also a matter which contravenes the requirements of professional diligence is open to interpretation perhaps.

I believe that the substitution of an exactly similar looking carton which contains 25% less than the product has habitually contained requires a special notice to customers that the size has been reduced beyond simply altering the new carton size in the usual small print. I contend that the subsitution of the smaller size in this improper way constitutes a misleading action which is also prohibited under paragraph 5 of PART 2 of CPRs.


I apologise if there is already a thread about this. I'll take a look in the morning.

redped

I think you're clutching at straws here. Plenty of food & drinks manufacturers are downsizing their products, whilst maintaining a similar price. It's either that, or increase the price of the original larger size. Given that a lot of people have a view about what something is worth (plus a fixed amount of money to spend on groceries), they're more likely to pay the same price for a smaller item than the larger price for the original size.

DCFC79

Does the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 still apply when the sel(shelf edge label) is showing the carton size. As this link says customers struggled to finish the 1 so the 750ml should be easily manageable to finish plus its more likely to fit into the fridge door.

browneyedbazzi

2sides2everystory wrote: »

The law is broader than that about deceiving customers, Darksun. It is relatively new law and I for one would like to see it tested.

I believe I have witnessed an unfair practice which is prohibited under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

I believe it may contravene CPRs under paragraph 3 of PART 2. It is unfair as it materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer with regard to the product. Whether it is also a matter which contravenes the requirements of professional diligence is open to interpretation perhaps.

I believe that the substitution of an exactly similar looking carton which contains 25% less than the product has habitually contained requires a special notice to customers that the size has been reduced beyond simply altering the new carton size in the usual small print. I contend that the subsitution of the smaller size in this improper way constitutes a misleading action which is also prohibited under paragraph 5 of PART 2 of CPRs.

I'm sorry but you're incorrect and you can contend all you like but there is NO CHANCE of successful prosecution for a CPR offence in this circumstance. If the new carton has the new measure included on the packaging as required and the information on the shelf edge label is correct then you were not deceived. An awful lot of products are sold in different sizes with the same or similar packaging and it is assumed that the average consumer can read the size/weight/volume information off the packaging.

btw...I'm an authorised officer under the CPRs so this isn't just a lay person's view.

Also, as someone who buys innocent smoothies, I prefer the new size because often I can't get through a 1L carton in the time it's safely kept once open and often ended up pouring some away.