Have groceries gone up? Backed up with 4 years worth of data
- Thread starter numenorian
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numenorian
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@tirynn Yeah that’s probably true, although getting that data is quite a bit more involved.
The receipts also have the item code, which means you can make web lookups and attempt to grab sizes out of that.
The risky thing is there’s no guarantee you’d get a historical size out of that, only what it is now.
CBC Marketplace did a blurb on this topic if I recall correctly. It’s not rare but it’s also not as common.
Certainly hasn’t affected my purchases to the point where I feel like I have to buy more to offset the package shrinkage
The receipts also have the item code, which means you can make web lookups and attempt to grab sizes out of that.
The risky thing is there’s no guarantee you’d get a historical size out of that, only what it is now.
CBC Marketplace did a blurb on this topic if I recall correctly. It’s not rare but it’s also not as common.
Certainly hasn’t affected my purchases to the point where I feel like I have to buy more to offset the package shrinkage
@numenorian In addition to costing more, shrinkflation also creates more packaging waste too. As if there wasn't enough of that already...
@numenorian Over say a year the affect on an individual is pretty minor the company is making millions off of it. But it seems to be that many companies rather than raising prices just make the size a bit smaller.
@tirynn It happens because the manufacturers are dealing with rising costs themselves. The price of everything going into the food goes up, so manufacturers do this not to necessarily make more money, but stop making less. Or, the real killer cost can be transportation and storage, and as fuel and real estate prices go up, so will the costs of goods.
So, cost/weight will increase in two ways. One year, they will just raise the sticker price on the shelf. Sometimes the store does this themselves, sometimes it's because the manufacturer raised the price that the store bought the product for.
The other way is to "down-count" the product, getting less for the same cost. It's entirely reliant on human psychology of people knowing a container of product X should cost $Y. They'll notice if it starts costing $Y.50, but just take longer to catch on.
The whole process still costs the manufacturer money. Developing new packaging - even if it's the same size, you need graphic artists to develop a new design with the new quantities. Then, you need to create a new UPC code, and that whole process is stupid expensive.
But, here's a fun fact. Anything that says "double" or "25% more" or whatever is an actual legal obligation by the manufacturer. Meaning they have to actual produce a version of the "regular" size. Doesn't mean it's for sale at the same store, but they have to sell it. If you can find these regular sizes, they will sometimes have more product in them then what is declared on the package.
Why? Because as manufacturers down-count/shrink how much goes into a package, they sometimes eventually hit limitations on their equipment and it could be too small to package efficiently. So, there's no law against over-filling the package. So, and a very small segmentation of their offerings, it's possible that even though that roll of toilet paper might say it has only 120 sheets on it, but it may have 150. Doesn't matter, because more profit is made selling the 240 "doubles".
So, cost/weight will increase in two ways. One year, they will just raise the sticker price on the shelf. Sometimes the store does this themselves, sometimes it's because the manufacturer raised the price that the store bought the product for.
The other way is to "down-count" the product, getting less for the same cost. It's entirely reliant on human psychology of people knowing a container of product X should cost $Y. They'll notice if it starts costing $Y.50, but just take longer to catch on.
The whole process still costs the manufacturer money. Developing new packaging - even if it's the same size, you need graphic artists to develop a new design with the new quantities. Then, you need to create a new UPC code, and that whole process is stupid expensive.
But, here's a fun fact. Anything that says "double" or "25% more" or whatever is an actual legal obligation by the manufacturer. Meaning they have to actual produce a version of the "regular" size. Doesn't mean it's for sale at the same store, but they have to sell it. If you can find these regular sizes, they will sometimes have more product in them then what is declared on the package.
Why? Because as manufacturers down-count/shrink how much goes into a package, they sometimes eventually hit limitations on their equipment and it could be too small to package efficiently. So, there's no law against over-filling the package. So, and a very small segmentation of their offerings, it's possible that even though that roll of toilet paper might say it has only 120 sheets on it, but it may have 150. Doesn't matter, because more profit is made selling the 240 "doubles".
@tirynn At a society level, I'd argue this is a good thing for quite a few products?
Many people consider 'done' when the plate/container/bottle is empty.
But reducing the size of the alcohol bottle/microwavable meal container, we're slowly reducing the amount of these negative products consumed.
This is SUPER superficial reasoning obviously and not the intention of the company. Don't take me to seriously here, just casual food for thought.
Many people consider 'done' when the plate/container/bottle is empty.
But reducing the size of the alcohol bottle/microwavable meal container, we're slowly reducing the amount of these negative products consumed.
This is SUPER superficial reasoning obviously and not the intention of the company. Don't take me to seriously here, just casual food for thought.
resjudicata
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@numenorian I wonder if you could look at the industry’s financials historically. The input costs and perhaps their margins. I’m talking out of my ass so this may be stupid
resjudicata
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@numenorian yeah so @numenorian should look at if the rate of his buying specific products has increased over time
numenorian
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@resjudicata that's a good point. I can check that out.
maryandjesus
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saintvincent
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@maryandjesus It feels like Annie's cut theirs in half. 
maryandjesus
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@saintvincent Had Annie's for the first time last month so can't say but tasted better than Kraft dinner
resjudicata
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@maryandjesus Kraft dinner also used to taste good. Now you have add smoked cheddar to make it taste like it used to
maryandjesus
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@resjudicata Smoked chedder ay
resjudicata
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christianguy2121
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@resjudicata The bag looks smaller especially compared to the No Name potato chips.
resjudicata
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@christianguy2121 That's good. It would be extra shady if they left the bag the same size and just filled it with more air 