Shoppers short-changed by 'shrinkflation' as packets get smaller - how to beat it

Broadwood

There should be a law allowing only specified weights or liquid amounts, e.g. 100g 250g 500g 1kg 250ml 500ml 750ml 1 litre etc etc.

Petrol is sold only by the litre and has to be priced per litre. This stops retailers saying "Petrol only £1" and then gradually dispensing less and less over time.

Having to look at the small print to find the price of everything per 100g really is a total rip off. Retailers treat customers as mugs because we and the government allow them to.

boatman

Broadwood wrote: »

There should be a law allowing only specified weights or liquid amounts, e.g. 100g 250g 500g 1kg 250ml 500ml 750ml 1 litre etc etc.

Petrol is sold only by the litre and has to be priced per litre. This stops retailers saying "Petrol only £1" and then gradually dispensing less and less over time.

Having to look at the small print to find the price of everything per 100g really is a total rip off. Retailers treat customers as mugs because we and the government allow them to.

Not such a bad idea, as they clearly can't be trusted to do the right thing. Trouble is they would try and add water or similar to make up the weight because the price competition would be so fearce, regardless of the risk of prosecution.

maman

boatman wrote: »

Not such a bad idea, as they clearly can't be trusted to do the right thing. Trouble is they would try and add water or similar to make up the weight because the price competition would be so fearce, regardless of the risk of prosecution.

Or even stay within the law and try to fool us with smoke and mirrors.

So a bit like fish pies with miniscule amounts of fish or similar con tricks.

Wednesday100

Shopping in Tesco Slough this evening and noticed that the Everyday Value Ham now weighs 364g at £1.50. This product used to be 400g at £1.50 - and is still listed at 400g on the Tesco website - although the £/100g price on the website equates to a 364g pack weight. Both versions are listed as 30 slices.

Maths is not always my strong point, but I make that a 9.9% price rise.

Haffiana

Wednesday100 wrote: »

Shopping in Tesco Slough this evening and noticed that the Everyday Value Ham now weighs 364g at £1.50. This product used to be 400g at £1.50 - and is still listed at 400g on the Tesco website - although the £/100g price on the website equates to a 364g pack weight. Both versions are listed as 30 slices.

Maths is not always my strong point, but I make that a 9.9% price rise.

Well yes, it is a price rise. It isn't a con, it isn't greed, it isn't Brexit/political, it isn't a naughty plot, it is a PRICE RISE. Because things cost more these days.
The problem for manufacturers and shops is that people expect to buy at a certain price. So either they sell the same amount or same size for MORE MONEY or they charge the same money for a smaller amount.

So if you are not earning more money, and things are getting more expensive, then your standard of living will go down. That IS political, and you need to start asking your government why and what can be done to improve your standard of living. But don't blame Cadburys or Tesco or whatever. It isn't their fault.

quoia

Just one point about the list ....

Morland Old Speckled Hen Ale (12 pack) 500ml/bottle 440ml/bottle Tesco only - £12 at Tesco

Sadly the 12 pack at Tesco in the example ARE CANS NOT BOTTLES

Bottles ARE STILL 500ml

Cans in "standard" *** LARGE multipacks have always been 440ml

4 packs (of cans) are still 500ml

*** Occasionally SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL packs of 8 or 10 or 12 or 15 (etc.) cans MAY contain the 500ml size

NEVER found a 440ml bottle in my life
Did ONCE find a multipack of Hen in 330ml bottles in Morrisons but was a silly price compared to the 500mls

A._Badger

Haffiana wrote: »

So if you are not earning more money, and things are getting more expensive, then your standard of living will go down. That IS political, and you need to start asking your government why and what can be done to improve your standard of living. But don't blame Cadburys or Tesco or whatever. It isn't their fault.

Yes it is their fault if it is done deceitfully which, clearly, it is. They are attempting to fool the customer into thinking she or he is getting the same item they had bought before when they are not.

maman

A._Badger wrote: »

Yes it is their fault if it is done deceitfully which, clearly, it is. They are attempting to fool the customer into thinking she or he is getting the same item they had bought before when they are not.

Totally agree.


I think we all know that price rises are happening and will continue to happen but it's the underhand and patronising way it's done that infuriates.


Similarly I know that inflation is an average figure but some of these rises seem far in excess of price rises in fuel or raw materials or staff wage increases or any other contributory factor.


The right to cheap food isn't sacrosanct but neither are profit margins.

foible

minislim wrote: »

this sort of thing has been going on for years.

i recognise the brands and products that have been shrunk. so i just dont buy them anymore. unless its a real treat or they are on a really good offer.

but beware! even the offers sometimes aren't good value. Tesco's are good at that one.

notice which supermarkets dont appear to be listed??? Aldi & Lidl.

Lidl are most definitely at it. Right now their Himalayan pink rock salt grinder is 300g, previously it was 420g. Price unchanged, so that is an inflation busting price rise of 40%. The Tellicherry black pepper grinder has likewise shrunk from 200g last year to just 125g today, same price, giving a whopping 60% price rise.

Much the same deception across many other lines. They take their customers for fools.

spinynorman

With most of the grocer’s tricks, they rely on our ignorance and lack of observation - it’s only when you try to feed a family on a fixed weekly budget, you find that you’re a few meals short at the end of the month. Take sausages, for example - still sold as 8 per pack but they’re about a cm shorter than they were. We do need fixed weights and measures for food. We are still used to pints of milk (even though some sell in litres), but to sell less than a pint, there would be an outcry. Weights and measures apply strictly to alcohol but not to food? A deception, to say the least. Well, I’ll be keeping a list and dropping those ‘shrinkflated’ products and search for more honest alternatives - after all, a Cod fish finger in breadcrumbs is a Cod Fishfinger... no matter where it comes from (but not from Birdseye in future). People purchasing power folks, it’s the best sort of protest there is. ! :-)