America’s Shrinking Food Wraps, by Kate Pickert at Time.com, via Yahoo! News. I read this last week, but Frangela reminded me about this morning on the radio as they were filling in for Stephanie Miller.
. . . 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.”. . .
I’m very sensitive to tiny boxes, Professor Gourville.
Once they’re asked about the changes, food manufacturers are quick to explain their own increasing overhead costs – a Kellogg’s spokeswoman said reducing the amount of cereal per box was “to offset rising commodity costs for ingredients and energy used to manufacture and distribute these products” – but most are not exactly going out of their way to let consumers know they’re getting less for their money. Some claim newly shrunk products are responses to consumers’ needs. Tropicana told the New York Daily News earlier this month that its orange juice containers, which also include a newly designed cap and retail for the same price as the previous larger size, were the result of customer complaints. Said spokeswoman Jamie Stein, “We had a lot of spillage with our old products. It’s a value-added redesign.”
Value-added redesign? Don’t pee-pee on me and tell me it’s raining, Ms. Stein.
I understand that some of us Americans, regardless of our body size, need to exercise some portion control. However, this is not the way to do it.
Have you readers noticed any other cost-cutting measures enacted by major corporations, or by small businesses, in reaction to our struggling economy?