China Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 America's Shrinking Groceries By KATE PICKERT Mon Jun 30 American supermarkets are epics of excess: it often seems like every item in the store comes in a "Jumbo" size or has "Bonus!" splashed across the label. But is it possible that the amount of food Americans are buying is, in fact... shrinking? Well, yes. Soaring commodity and fuel prices are driving up costs for manufacturers; faced with a choice between raising prices (which consumers would surely notice) or quietly putting fewer ounces in the bag, carton or cup (which they generally don't) manufacturers are choosing the latter. This month, Kellogg's started shipping Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks containing an average of 2.4 fewer ounces per box. Similar reductions have recently happened or are on the horizon for many other products: Tropicana orange juice containers are shrinking from 96 ounces to 89; Wrigley's is dropping its the 17-stick PlenTPak in favor of the 15-stick Slim Pack; Dial soap bars now weigh half an ounce less, and that's even before they melt in the shower. Containers of Country Crock spread, Hellmann's mayonnaise and Edy's and Breyer's ice cream have all slimmed down as well (although that may not necessarily be a bad thing). "People are just more sensitive to changes in price than changes in quantity," says Harvard Business School Professor John Gourville, who studies consumer decision-making. "Most people can tell you how much a box of cereal costs, but they have no clue how much is actually in it." Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsOrlando Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Cereal boxes have been shrinking for years, the family size boxes are the size of what the normal boxes were 15 years ago. I remember back in the pot smoking days blowing through 3 boxes of apple jacks a week, I'd probably need 5-6 now if I was still smoking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Yeah, more waste, more clean up, more product, more fuel, more purchases. Fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 This is hardly new. Hersheys charged 5 cents for a candy bar for years. They would decrease or increase the size depending on the cost for them, but the bar was always a nickle. They prided themselves on that idea and marketed it that way for the first half of the century. Another BS item for consumers to get up in arms about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Ya know... the one thing I hate about grocery stores is that they are not geared towards single people. You always have to buy things in large quantities. Meats is always pre-wrapped and pre-measured. blah, blah, blah, you get the point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Meats is always pre-wrapped and pre-measured. I should hope so. I wouldn't want raw meat just sitting out unwrapped, with customers handling it. And pre-measured; yeah, I want to know how much meat I'm buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLockesGhost Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 More like America's Shrinking Dollar. Does anybody really buy the federal government's number on inflation? I think they reported 2% annualized inflation in the first quarter. Um, that's BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 This is unacceptable. Vote for blriesenbeck07 and I will take care of this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I should hope so. I wouldn't want raw meat just sitting out unwrapped, with customers handling it. And pre-measured; yeah, I want to know how much meat I'm buying. Let me do the math for you... Let's say I only want a certain amount of any one thing... At a butcher shop, I can ask for that and get it. At a grocery store, I can't. I must take what they present. My point is... "it would be nice" if things were in smaller quantities for people who don't need to feed a small nation. It would be tedious to have to go to multiple locations for all that I need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Maybe this will contribute to shrinking America's fat asses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Maybe this will contribute to shrinking America's fat asses.I doubt it, most likely just contribute to our fat waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Clark Fan Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Maybe this will contribute to shrinking America's fat asses. Agree. less food for the fat folkes....Now if they could spend more time in the gym... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redd Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Let me do the math for you...Let's say I only want a certain amount of any one thing... At a butcher shop, I can ask for that and get it. At a grocery store, I can't. I must take what they present. My point is... "it would be nice" if things were in smaller quantities for people who don't need to feed a small nation. It would be tedious to have to go to multiple locations for all that I need. Ellis hmmmmmm you don't have a freezer? I couldn't picture myself going to the grocery store every day for my meats. That's why I buy in bulk and freeze them individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 More like America's Shrinking Dollar.Does anybody really buy the federal government's number on inflation? I think they reported 2% annualized inflation in the first quarter. Um, that's BS. I buy it, for two reasons. 1) While I do not doubt that the federal government would, indeed, "cook the books" on inflation if they could, I don't think it's possible for them to do so. The "basket of goods" they use for determining prices, as well as the prices of each item, are a matter of public record. 2)As of 6/27, the 10 year TIPS yield was 1.48. The 10 Year Treasury yield was 3.99. The difference between the two is 2.51. That means that the Bond Markets expect inflation over the next ten years to be right around 2.5% (or a little less, actually, since there is an uncertainty risk premium built into the treasury yields), which is well in line with the government numbers, and there's no chance of conflict of interest like there is with the government, because private bond traders have no incentive to make the government look good, and every incentive not to (if they're wrong, they lose money). Remember, not all aspects of the economy are inflationary. Certainly commodities are placing inflationary pressures on our economy in certain areas. The Fed's recent monetary policy could also be said to do so. On the other hand, though, there are deflationary pressures in the market, too. Consider Is The Inflation Scare Over Yet?. An excerpt: The recent downtrend line has been broken. Is the inflation scare over? That is hard to say. It's much easier to say is that it should be. Destruction of credit via massive writedowns in banks and financials, accompanied by sharply rising unemployment rates, falling wages, and curtailment in credit lines everywhere is simply not an inflationary environment. Of course, this all starts with a proper definition of inflation. In Austrian economic terms, inflation is an expansion of money and credit. Money is not expanding and neither is credit. There is an illusion that they are as discussed in Bank Credit Is Contracting. We have reached Peak Credit, a once in a lifetime event. Those focused on the CPI, M3, and other such measures are completely missing the boat. Yes, the CPI is understated (at least on the surface). However those using CPI data to short treasuries over the past few years have had their heads handed to them. OK there was a selloff from March to June, but seasonally this is an expected event. April and May are typically the worst months (tax season). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Ellis hmmmmmm you don't have a freezer? I couldn't picture myself going to the grocery store every day for my meats. That's why I buy in bulk and freeze them individually. Well, I simply say I'm probably being too ****y about it. I just wish there were smaller sizes for products, not just in the meat section. I don't cook for 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I've said it 100 times, invest in meat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 How about the laundry detergent containers that have been shrunk and the formula concentrated? I thought that was a great idea to save a little water and a lot of plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 How about the laundry detergent containers that have been shrunk and the formula concentrated? I thought that was a great idea to save a little water and a lot of plastic. That's a good point. I was thinking more of food stuffs. If you shrink the size of a can of chef boy am I hungry, I'll just eat three instead of two, like I do now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I've said it 100 times, invest in meat. I'm invested in a garden and a rifle. Does that count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I've said it 100 times, invest in meat. No way! Forever Stamps are the way to go! Do you know how often the Post Office raises their rates? It's a guaranteed winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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