Brawny’s not the only product skimping on size to sneakily increase profits. Here are two more items readers have noticed recently.
Henry writes:
Our house uses Skippy Peanut Butter, but i just found out they changed their jars from 18 ounces to 16.2 ounces for the same price. I know 2 ounces is not a huge amount of peanut better, but still.
And Matt writes:
I have noticed this same thing with Quilted Northern. I don’t know what the price used to be but i noticed while shopping at sams club now you get less quilted northern than you used to.
If you know of another company that’s downsized a product without passing along the savings, let us know. Maybe we can put together a single reference post so shoppers will see which products are the worst offenders.
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@Salveway: Tyson Frozen Chicken tenders are the same way; smaller bag. I agree that the consumer should be aware but it just seems a little deceptive to reduce the quantity, keep the price the same. They don’t have a problem telling us when something is bigger “NEW LARGER SIZE” “6OZ FREE”…too bad we don’t see ‘SAME PRICE, LESS PRODUCT!”
I used to *love* Pepperidge Farm Sausalito cookies. I hadn’t had them in many years but I recently bought a pack last week and I was shocked to find just 8 little cookies in the bag. They were nowhere near as large as I remember them. The trays the cookies sit inside within the bad were like half full. Maybe I’m misremembering but it seems like there’s been some serious shrinkage going on here. The bag lists 7.2 oz. Anyone know if it used to be bigger?
Sadly . . . I still loved the cookies but I doubt now I’ll ever buy them again. $3.19 for 8 cookies seems pretty steep to me.
How about the products that are marked as having a certain amount of ounces, and if you measure it out, its substancially less. To me that is more deceptive.
The yogurt downsizing to a measley 6oz. seems to be across all brands that were previously 8oz. I purchase the Giant store brand, and they shrunk from 8 to 6oz. earlier this year. Damn it, 6oz. of yogurt is not enough for lunch! That’s why I never used to buy Yoplait, which were always 6oz.
I have no problems with companies who reduce or change their products & charge the same prices, BUT I want them to bring attention to their change in an obvious way. No BS subterfuge of saying it’s “new & improved!!!!” just to cover up the fact that they are charging more for less product.
IMO I think its deceptive advertising & should be punished. Trying to mislead or trick your customers is wrong & should be punished.
ANY time a company changes its product size, but still charges the same price….they should be made to shamefully admit it on their packaging for at least 5 months.
So, I used to be a Quilted Northern fanatic. I’d buy it on sale, stock up, if I somehow ran out I would do anything to get more, including paying non-sale paper goods prices. In short, I loved the stuff and nothing lese felt the same on my ass.
Switch to a few months ago when I broke up with my girlfriend who owned the hosue we lived in. Moved in with a friend who always bought the Kirkland Premium Toilet Paper from CostCo.
It’s actually better then the Quilted Northern. I’ve never found a generic, cheaper toilet paper I’d put near my ass. Drop the exspensive stuff, go buy Kirkland. Now, if you’re the type who likes the almost clothlike feel of Charmin, you’re not gonna like Kirkland. It’s very much more a softer, thin version of buttwiping. I got nothing for you if you like to wipe a maxipad across your bum
Also a lot of pasta now comes in 13.25 oz instead of 16 oz packages.
I used to work the New England’s largest supermarket chain in the quality control laboratory.
Many people here are confusing inflationary drop downs with simple fill rate variables.
In 1992, cat food cans were 6oz. In 1993, manufacturers downsized 5.5oz. This is how manufacturers not retailers keep their price down. Retailers have nothing to do with products sizes unless they working with their own private label products.
You best bet is to:
1) Pay attention to the metrics on the package.
2) Unit price of product.
3) Try using private products, they are somewhat more resistant to these issues. But look at their labels too.
4) If you are measuring products and they seem shorted. make sure you have an accurate scale and graduated cylinders. All products have fill deviations that are considered acceptable. usually these lie around 5% to perhaps 10%. This for under and over-fill.
5) If you are dealing with products, especially private label write the retailer/vendor. You will get a response. Consumer affairs or quality control departments do initiate investigations on products as they seem credible.
Coming soon — size decreases labeled as “Earth-friendly packaging”.
I have to jump on the Breyers bandwagon too. The package looks smaller and sure enough, it’s 1.75 quarts instead of 1/2 gallon. Same high price, though. I noticed the store brand ice cream is still 1/2 gallon and is still loads cheaper. Pissed me off when I first noticed this.
@puka_pai: Whoa dude (dudette ?) a little Too Much Information
@sicknick: Do you have a blog? I’d like to read more of this analysis.
@Buran: The labels still have to indicate the size.
Starbursts are smaller than they used to be.
@socalrob: Guinness… but I thought that was just their weird black bottle, or some strange metric issue.
Actually, I think this is just the metric system being sneaked in on us. Everything is smaller in metric.
@radio1: “This is how manufacturers not retailers keep their price down.”
I won’t claim that I’ve read all comments carefully but I don’t think that anyone here attributed the downsizing to retailers.
@edicius: I noticed that one a year or two ago. They are tiny now.
Quilted Northern and Brawny are both Georgia Pacific products.
I know someone who works for them, and I believe they might be having some issues because of inflation. I’ll still be buying their products – at least I know they’re made in the US.
@Git Em SteveDave:
Worse than that is Yoplait. Years ago they took the ubiquous 8oz. package and made it 6oz. They they introduced their “Whipped” product which puts just 4oz. in the 6oz. package. Consumers get 33% air for the same price! What a bargain!!!
@lockdog:
I noticed the packaging of Girl Scout Cookies as well, plus the price/package price is now very high.
GS districts can set their price anywhere from $3.25 to $3.75/box, but in each of the three places I’ve lived in the last few years prices them at the top price.
I only buy them out of guilt as I can get Thin Mints equivalents from Keebler for half the price of the GSs.
@razremytuxbuddy:
Yep, I grew-up with 50# bags of dry dog food. They dropped to 40#, then to 32#, 30, or even 28#.
@RandomHookup:
One great exception is that some laudry detergent companies are now moving to a “2X concentration”. It does not make sense to transport all that unnecessary water around the country.
Surprise, surprise, I believe it was Walmart who is pushing this changeover. I just hope it is not being done such that a jug of 2X does less than @x the loads.
@RandomHookup: As Dacker mentioned, the laundry detergent makers (I’d add dish detergent too) and their new ‘concentrated’ versions.
I honestly haven’t noticed much of a difference when it comes to my laundry, so perhaps it really is on the up and up. Dish detergent, though? It ‘might’ be concentrated, but I’m sure me and the other mindless consumers will still give the bottle the two-handed squeeze play.
That 1-pound can of coffee is sooooooooo not a pound.
@Git Em SteveDave: Giant did that with their generic yoghurt, too. They dropped the price somewhat, but nowhere near the appropriate 25%. Hmmm. I wonder whether Giant’s is just relabeled Bryers’?
The 2x laundry detergent comes with a smaller measuring cup, so hopefully when you fill it to the same height as with the regular strength, you only use half the amount. I don’t know, since I haven’t measured it out.
They aren’t scrimping the sizes by half ounces due to fuel costs – they’ve been doing this since gas was $0.99/gallon. Their excuse when called on it ten years ago was that “It’s what the customer wanted”. Yeah, and whoever it was that first cut the number of tampons got themselves a new a$$ reamed by customers and quickly put the original number back in the box.
Ever notice a gallon of ice cream is not a gallon anymore?
Wait till a gallon of gas is only .75 gallons.
@adam33777: The day that happens is when I call up my local weights and measures office and have them check the pumps.
@edicius: And damn does it make me mad! These things are getting smaller every year. Used to be you couldn’t fit the egg in your mouth, you had to nibble the end and break a piece off. Now the whole thing just pops right in. And this is referring to a time when I was full grown, not 3!
amazing that no one here remembers that Andy Rooney has been doing this story on 60 Minutes for years. He started with coffee and added other products in later years.
[www.cbsnews.com]
2 ounces of peanut butter is not a huge deal until you think about how many millions of containers sold, and how much that saves the manufacturer.
none of this matters, however, if you buy using the UNIT PRICE.
Raising prices due to inflation is being honest about the economy with your consumers.
Decreasing product volume, while trying to maintain the size/look of the package, is being dishonest with your customers. Regardless of the change in price.
Papermate pens.
A pack of pens was 8, not 10.
I didn’t notice it until I got home.