You're Not Imagining It - Consumer Package Sizes Are Shrinking. Shrinkflation: AP News

[appalachiablue]

- Bottles of Gatorade. Left, a 32 fluid ounce, and Right, a 28 fluid ounce. In Glenside, Pa., Monday., June 6, 2022.



- Difference in Gatorade bottle ounces: L, 32 fluid oz. R, 28 fluid oz.
___________

- AP News, June 8, 2021. - Ed.

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 U.S., 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 U.K., Nestle 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. 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 & 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, & 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.). - Dworsky said shrinkflation appeals to manufacturers because they know customers will notice price increases but won’t keep track of net weights or small details, like the number of sheets on a roll of toilet paper. -

Companies can also use tricks to draw attention away from downsizing- marking smaller packages with bright new labels that draw shoppers’ eyes. Fritos Scoops bags marked “Party Size” used to be 18 oz; some are still on sale at a grocery chain in Texas. But almost every other big chain is now advertising “Party Size” Scoops that are 15.5 oz. - & more expensive. Pepsi didn't respond about Fritos, but it did acknowledge the shrinking of Gatorade bottles. They recently began phasing out 32-oz bottles for 28-oz ones, tapered in the middle to make it easier to hold. The change has been in the works for years & isn’t related to the current economic climate, the Co. said. But it didn’t respond when asked why the 28-oz version is more expensive...
- More, https://apnews.com/article/india-prices-business-d2c8279d39e1304f5623b3a99b56b8cc



- 2 boxes of Kleenex tissues are displayed in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

- Kleenex boxes. Left, 65 tissues, 3-ply. Right, 60 tissues, 3-ply.

[aeromanKC]

1. Large Pizza now 14 inches

[appalachiablue]

2. Big ripoff, more to come. Just filled up my car w gas, shockeroo.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. Yeah, but this has been going on for many years.

It's only news now because it is combined with greatly escalated pricing.

[LenaBaby61]

5. "Yeah, but this has been going on for many years."

True.

I've been fully vegan for 3 plus decades, and I noticed how small packages of items I used to cook with have gotten so small it's not funny. Also, back in the 1990's bags of chips and Ice Cream were getting smaller then too when I used to buy these items for my 2 adult nieces who used to visit their Old Auntie in the 1990's as kids. I'm HAPPY to say that as adults my nieces are starting to trend into veganism and more healthy eating habits

[Ferrets are Cool]

9. I don't know if you saw my post from Saturday

but I've been vegetarian on and off for the last 6 years. For two years prior to dec 2021, i had been on Keto, but my lab numbers were not looking good on that plan. I went back to being vegetarian at that time. My numbers are now fantastic with my Cholesterol being fantastic at 162 and my triglycerides going down dramatically. I will be staying on this diet for the rest of my life.

Cholesterol 162 mg/dL 3 - 200 mg/dL
Triglycerides 113 mg/dL 0 - 150 mg/dL
HDL 48 mg/dl >=40 mg/dl
LDL Calculated 91 mg/dl

My numbers from December 2021

Cholesterol 226 mg/dL 3 - 200 mg/dL
Triglycerides 358 mg/dL 0 - 150 mg/dL
HDL 59 mg/dl >=40 mg/dl
LDL Calculated 95 mg/dl

[SheltieLover]

4. While prices rise drastically!

Less for more $!

[lastlib]

6. Not seeing it....I mean, I bought a bag of air last week......

and the generous company threw in a few potato chips!

.

.

.

[appalachiablue]

10. ++ truly!

[yonder]

7. At our local Fred Meyers (Kroger):

Quaker Instant Oatmeal
10 1.51oz packages @ $3.99/box

Quaker Instant Oatmeal (low sugar)
8 1.19oz packages @ $3.99/box

Why does less sugar and smaller package size cost a LOT more? Trying to force more sugar into people or market more sugar from companies they're likely invested in?

And what's up with the weird package sizing? Why not 1.5 oz or 1.2 oz? That doesn't make sense even if converted to metric.

Because they can?

[Binkie The Clown]

8. A good argument for buying bulk. My 5-pound bag of pinto beans still weighs 5 pounds. nnt

[appalachiablue]

11. Good suggestion

[CentralMass]

12. I hate it when my package shrinks.

[pfitz59]

14. was the pool water cold?

[CentralMass]

15. :-)

[hatrack]

19. It shrinks?

[BillyBobBrilliant]

13. I've been noticing that

My gas mileage on my well maintained Prius has been less than average over the last three months (2 tanks of gas). I find that suspicious since the tanks cost $30, and $40 respectively.

[Rebl2]

16. Seems like

this happens every few years, especially when there is economic problems.

[LogicFirst]

17. With the exception of Blue Bell, a half gallon of ice cream started shrinking around 2010.

Why is the media just catching on?

[hatrack]

18. Pay More!! Get Less!! 'Murca!!

.