The Great 'shrinking food and other items' Hunt

mac.d

Primrose said:

prowla said:

I swear I saw a packet of crisps last week which said "xx% less packaging" on it.

That's no doubt because there was less product inside to have to wrap!   Some people just have a very clever way with words!

On a similar note, Coffee Mate tubs have gone from 1kg > 800g and 500g > 450g and now loudly proclaim, I'm carboard please RECYCLE me. They'll be copying that "xx% less packaging" next.

thriftytracey

Coffeemate is so expensive now. I have stopped buying it.  I do search for cheapest but generally same price at almost every supermarket.  Sometimes Asda have it cheaper but then when you drop by there are none in stock.

mac.d

I know, when I looked at the price in Tesco recently I had to laugh, well over £3!

I used to by the 1KG tins in B&M for around £4.30 but its slowly increased to £4.89 which wasn't that bad, but it's now dropped to 800g for the same price, which makes Asda the cheapest place to buy when they have the 450g tubs for £2.55. I have found Aldi have their own version in the special buys occasionally as a reasonable substitute, but its not stocked very often. 

Like you, I'll just stop buying it now.

Primrose

Shrinking to the point of non existence soon apparently. - Kiwi Shoe Polish, which is abiut to stop being sold in the UK  due to the fact that more people are resorting to informal footware.

short of buying up a few tins of their "blacking" so that my OH can still keep his formal black leather shoes in good condition, can anybody suggest a suitable substitute?   I,m sure the military will still need their parade ground footware to be kept in immaculate condition.  Are there alternative similar brands?  .  We,ve only ever used Kiwi in this house - not sure i  recall seeing other makes of "blacking polish", messy stuff that it is to use ! 

Pollycat

You could try Cherry Blossom.
Meltonian is another brand that is a cream polish.

just-a-consumer

I got my usual Morrisons own butter spread today as a lower priced substitute for my preferred Lurpak retailing at up to a fiver for 500g.  I saw the spread on the shelf priced at the usual £2.49 but on placing in my basket noted that the content weight was 450g which raised an eyebrow. (See photo).  On getting home, I compared with a pack bought last month and indeed my suspicions were proven … the pack weight had been reduced by 10% but selling at the same price.

My question is … when the government (through the ONS?) compile their Consumer or Retail Price Index, do they consider the retailer changes in pack contents when putting items in the National Shopping Basket or is it just “the price of a pack of a commodity” irrespective of such changes? 

Other random items I would cite would be Andrew toilet wipes which were in packs of 42, are now generally on packs of 40 and are now introducing packs of 38.  Heinz Beans used to be sold in tins of 420g, now 415g. I won’t discuss the reducing diameter and/or depth of Custard Tarts, but the same principle applies. 

Krakkkers

Its a different product if you look at the calorific value, fat etc.

just-a-consumer

Krakkkers said:

Its a different product if you look at the calorific value, fat etc.

Thanks for that.  I had noticed and I understand that retailers sometimes do change the composition of a product eg M&S Roast Beef filled Yorkshire Pudding tastes much different now to what it was 6 months ago.  I no longer buy that previously much loved product.  However, my question still stands … do the people who compile the various indices for government on which our pensions etc might be calculated, take these materiel and pertinent changes in weight for an ostensibly ‘same product” into consideration, as if previously a pack lasted me for 10 days, it will now only last me 9 days.  This ultimately makes MY shopping basket more expensive without an visible increase in cost of individual items. 

elsien

Short answer - yes they do.
Long answer is in the ONS guidance. 

cymruchris

It looks like they've not only cut the size of the pack but cut the amount of butter within (as it's a blend). If the fat per 100g is lower then there's definitely less butter in that butter. It'd be interesting to see the 'ingredients panel' for both.