Posted on 06/08/2022 5:56:50 PM PDT by American Number 181269513
It’s the inflation you’re not supposed to see.
From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It’s dubbed “shrinkflation,” and it’s accelerating worldwide.
In the US, a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the UK, Nestlé slimmed down its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins from 100 grams to 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams.
Shrinkflation isn’t new, experts say. But it proliferates in times of high inflation as companies grapple with rising costs for ingredients, packaging, labor and transportation. Global consumer price inflation was up an estimated 7% in May, a pace that will likely continue through September, according to S&P Global.
“It comes in waves. We happen to be in a tidal wave at the moment because of inflation,” said Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts who has documented shrinkflation on his Consumer World website for decades.
Dworsky began noticing smaller boxes in the cereal aisle last fall, and shrinkflation has ballooned from there. He can cite dozens of examples, from Cottonelle Ultra Clean Care toilet paper, which has shrunk from 340 sheets per roll to 312, to Folgers coffee, which downsized its 51-ounce container to 43.5 ounces but still says it will make up to 400 cups. (Folgers says it’s using a new technology that results in lighter-weight beans.)
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Gatorade reduction really ticked me off.
Things are pretty bad when toilet paper comes in “fun size.”
Gatorade is one that I put on my families “do not buy” list anyhow . It uses “ fetal Tissue Flavor Enhancer “ . Yuck!Yuck!Yuck!
It’s the worst in what used to be half-gallon ice cream boxes and ready made orange juice.
Been going on for years. Link sausage was 16oz, now 12-13oz, Ivory soap (most soaps?) has air whipped into it, many personal products (shampoos, etc.) used to be 24oz, now 20oz.
Don’t forget the smaller coffee cans and bleach bottles
Oh, geez - that's totally a not-before-dinner image.
I found some breads are actually making the slices thicker so you will run out and buy more.
The list is HUGE!
Reminds me of Amos 8:5
“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
And the sabbath,
that we may open the grain-bins?
We will diminish the ephah,
add to the shekel,
and fix our scales for cheating!”
At least the chocolate ration has been increased.
Been going on as long as there have been packages.
So why aren’t all packages the size of thimbles by now?
Because when the price jumps, the package size jumps back up.
It’s accordioning, not shrinkage (with apologies to George Costanza).
I noticed some time ago that toilet paper had shrunk in width. I used to barely be able to stack two rolls on a shelf. Not there is room to spare.
I wish they would just be honest, keep the sizes the same and raise the price.
“I was in the POOL!”
Ah yes, bleach. In the last 2 or 3 years the active ingredient in household bleach, sodium hypochlorite NaOCl, has been reduced from 8.25% to the much weaker 6.0%. Even if the bottles haven't changed, the ingredients have been diluted. Result is the bleach now doesn't work as well.
Agreed. For any given product the cost/waste of packaging goes up when sizes shrink. That alone is enough. Then when it comes to portioned items (say can of tomato sauce) the change can ruin a meal or make people use more and scale UP which is very annoying.
I see shrinkflation every time I go to the supermarket.
We re seeing it on every item and every size.
My wife is recovering from a hip replacement, and she has not been in a grocery store this year.
Tomorrow, she is planning to go with me to our local grocery store.
Also, we buy a 2 hour home delivery once a month from Costco, and the receipts from month to month are running 8-10% higher than the previous month.
Monthly and auto orders from Amazon are showing increases each month. You need to calculate the real cost per oz or per lb for each offer. For example, I take one Advil tablet and hour before bedtime. Amazon has a ton of offers, and only on page 2 did I find real world prices. My per capsule price is 7 cents versus the same product up to 39 Cents per tablet or capsule. We are talking about brand name comparisons not brand versus generic.
Meanwhile, Oregone and other states are eliminating the need to be able to do basic math and read. That is $crewing every so called graduate.
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