Written by: Katie Wood
There
is the famous saying that “all good things come in small packages.” In many
cases that may be true, but when it comes to consumers and food that is not
always be the case. Over time, food companies have been decreasing the
packaging sizes of their products while maintaining the same price for the
product. Each year the size of packages continues to decrease ounce by ounce
and many consumers are failing to notice this change. The certain people that
do notice this change are not very pleased about it. An article from Student
News Daily talks about how companies manage to do this. The article states,
“More companies are downsizing their packages – but many consumers don’t
realize it is happening because price and size changes are carefully
camouflaged.” Not everyone notices such a change because they don’t pay
attention to size. They assume that if the product is the same price, then
they’re getting what they’ve always paid for. Another article from the New York
Times states something very similar. It says, “With unemployment still high,
companies in recent months have tried to camouflage price increases by selling
their products in tiny and tinier packages. So far, the changes are most visible
at the grocery store, where shoppers are paying the same amount, but getting
less.”
The
cause of these increasing prices is food inflation.
The price of food items continues to increase over time so to make up for this
companies are decreasing the amount of food they put in the packaging. An
article from Newsweek.com states “There's increasing manufacturing prices
across the board, with oil, which goes into all the plastic packaging, as well
as transportation prices skyrocketing, as well as the increasing prices of milk
and grain, which go into the production of other foodstuff. It's an economic reality
that I don't think anyone is naïve about. Times are tough. The problem is that
this is tantamount to a secret inflation. It's a hidden price increase.” The
same article also states, “whether or not shoppers realize or care that they're
getting less, examples of shrinking products are scattered throughout the
grocery store, proving that it's harder than ever to shop on a budget.” Sure
people may be getting upset about getting less for their money, but they just
have to deal with it. The pricing of food and packaging is increasing and it
will continue to increase. There is nothing the consumer or the company can
technically do about it. So, if someone is looking to get more food, they have
to be willing to pay the extra price. With the pricing of goods increasing, the
consumer just has to deal with the fact that they need to pay more for what
they want. If a person is looking more for the amount of food they are going to
get rather than just the price, the same article from Newsweek.com gave some
good advice saying, “Look at unit costs, instead of just the price tag.” Sure
this may be annoying, but people are just going to have to deal with it.
"Food
Packaging Shrinks, Prices Stay the Same." Newsweek. IBT MEDIA INC, 10 July 2001. Web. 5 Feb. 2014. <http://www.newsweek.com/food-packaging-shrinks-prices-stay-same-88345>.
Clifford
, Stephanie , and Catherine Rampell . "Food Inflation Hidden in Tinier
Bags." The New York Times . The New York Times , 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 5 Feb.
2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29shrink.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1391457609-hsjTsa81bZjMzTAsS0h8Bg>.
Your post brings up a subject applicable to nearly everyone's lives, and I have certainly been oblivious to companies sneaky inflation more than once. Another way hidden inflation may occur is when manufactures increase the packaging of their product, charge a higher price, but include the same amount of goods. It is an interesting phenomena that proves nothing is resistant to the inflation of time.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I was almost completely unaware to the change in package size. That was pretty clever of the food packaging companies, but very deceitful for consumers. At the same time, I could see some definite issues with this sort of thing, as suddenly recipes that call for an entire bag of something don't turn out right, as the bag is now smaller than ever before.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this it shocks me at how companies can be so cheap and what they're doing to their buyers. I've noticed in recent months that my bagged food has been a little low and made comments about it but didn't really think to much about it. This article really shows how companies are taking our money from us and it upsets me that we can't do anything about it. We should be able too, it's our money and we should be getting the amount of food that we pay for. As this relates to me greatly, I don't want to be spending money on something that I'm not going to get a lot out of, that isn't fair and companies shouldn't be doing that. Something needs to happen, and hopefully it the next couple years it does.
ReplyDeleteEven granola bars are shrinking - same price (maybe a bit higher) and same size packaging but the granola bar inside is significantly smaller.
ReplyDeleteI found this article vary fascinating the fact that people are paying more for less and they don’t even notice it. It shocks me that the company would take a risk like that because when people realize that there product is shrinking but the price is staying the same they will stop buying them. How small are the company’s willing to go before they lower the price of the food?
ReplyDeleteI have noticed over the years that many companies disguise size shrinks as "New looks" that actually just lower the amount of product you are receiving, while keeping your business, because the package looks cooler. There is one way to combat this, though, not for all things. Buying in bulk is usually a great way to save a few bucks when doing your shopping, although it is really only advisable for perishables (foods that don't spoil), or foods with a very long shelf life.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting articular presented here. I have noticed over the cores of my life that companies have been making food packaging smaller, just the other day I had bought a bag of chips and they were really low (not even half full) yes chips may be a dollar but I still believe that I should be getting the quantity that i am paying for because I know for a fact that when companies are making the food their products are not that expensive so why should they give the right for us to pay more. I get that they want to make money but at least they can make it fair by having us get what we would be satisfied with. A half a bag of chips I wasn't really satisfied at all they were good but I feel as though that it wasn't enough. Eventually it will come to a point when people will protest about the low food quantity, It's just when and where. People think that we can't do much about it but if we don't start now then it will keep decreasing.
ReplyDelete