It's one of the most common complaints we hear : products on the grocery shelf are getting smaller, but the prices stay the same.
You may have noticed gradual reductions by grams, milliliters or volume on everyday products from cereal to ice cream, and even toilet paper. It can be tough to spot decreases -- often the packaging doesn't change other than the fine print.
Inevitably, production costs rise due to inflation, and that increase gets passed on to shoppers. However, consumers are notoriously price conscious, and manufacturers have learned it causes less of a stir to reduce the volume of product rather than raising prices.
It's an old marketing tactic.
Here's another report:
Incredible Shrinking Package: Consumers Paying More for Less
See What Manufacturers Are Doing to Shrink Your Cereal, Juice and Even Toilet Paper
Bacon : in 12-ounce portions instead of 16 ounces.
Toilet paper : a four roll pack has 42 square feet less of paper.
Cereal makers are putting less cereal in boxes.
Another trick to look out for is false bottoms:
Peanut butter jars: the bottom of the jar has been rounded to hide it's holding less.
Frito-Lay has cut the number of chips : 10 ounces instead of the 12-ounce bags.
The carton of Tropicana orange juice is lighter : 54 ounces of liquid instead of 64 ounces.
If you think food is the only thing leaving you short-changed at the store, think again!
Dawn Liquid Soap : 10-ounce containers instead of 11.
Dial Soap has shaved its bar from 4.5 ounces to 4.
Manufacturers know that a price increase in this economy is the kiss of death, they'd rather kind of play a shell game with consumers, a little bit of trickery and, hopefully, the consumer won't notice that the product is, in fact, shrinking.
And, according to a Harvard study, most consumers would rather get less than pay more.
Have noticed this trend in many products?
Update!
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The ABCNews article ends with: There is a bright spot. Those incredible shrinking product may end up shrinking our waist lines.
But, according to a new study: Consumers tend to overeat large sizes of food labeled as small and feel that they have not eaten too much—even if they're aware of the actual portion size and nutrition content, says a University of Michigan researcher.
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