34 Victims Of The Grocery Shrink Ray
The story may be well and established already, but that hasn't stopped manufacturers from their food product and package shrink-a-dink rampage. Here's 34 more victims of The Grocery Shrink Ray spotted by the all-volunteer Consumerist tipster army, 25 of which are viewable using advanced pop-up slideshow technology...
Note: The photo gallery was malfunctioning yesterday, so now that everything is fixed, I'm moving the post back up the page.
Click on a picture below to see it larger and read the tipster's dispatch.
Rich writes: "Boo-hoo. Noticed in my office snack shop today: My favorite pack, 17-sticks, of Big Red chewing gum is now only 15-sticks. Same price. Found this press item: "This cool new pack will make these brands more contemporary and give them a better presence on the shelf," President and Chief Executive Bill Perez said. Should also improve their profits!!!
Michael writes: "We normally buy 40 lb bags of Canidae brand dog food for our dogs. This week the 40 lb bag has now mysteriously transformed into a 35 lb bag, and of course the price is the same. Maybe it's for our convenience that the bags are lighter."
Dale writes: "The shrink ray has hit Burger King waffle cone. On Wed & Sun, they are only $1.29 (used to be $0.99) I noticed that not only has it shrunk in size, but the waffle cone taste terrible. Seems like they switched manufactures to make the waffle cone part. Maybe they only use the cheep cones on Wed & Sun."
Rich writes: "You might want to investigate so called "solid pack" White Albacore Tuna, most notably Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee. They now contain an inordinate amount of water in their packaging...After draining the can there is far less tuna and far less "solid" chuncks, about one third of the product looks like counter-scrapings. "
Lee writes: "I have noticed in the local Wal Mart (Washington Square Shopping Center, near Ferry Farm, in Fredericksburg, Virginia) that they rolled back the price on the large bags of Meow Mix cat chow from $10.26 down to $10 even. What they did not tell you was that the bags have shrunk from 18 lbs down to 16 lbs. I wish I had photos of this but they tend to frown on people taking pictures inside of the store."
Jonas writes: "Dreyers Ice Cream has also gone to !.5 Quarts = 48 oz.
Dreyers is Nestle
1/2 Gallon = 64 oz
1,75 Quarts = 56 oz
1.50 Quarts = 48 oz"
Anda writes: "Great, I thought. I'll finally be able to get that last little bit I lose to the rim of the can. Nice, square plastic pop-top canister, but a little more compact. I was completely suspicious. I work in graphic design and packaging, so I know what a redesign means for the consumer. I decided to check out the bottle ratio on the back. Lo and behold, Similac is trying to pull one over on the poor consumer. The large canister now only makes 27 6oz bottles at the same price of $22.99."
Raymond writes: "Folgers coffee (100 Colombian) just got attacked by the mighty Grocery Shrink Ray. Can't get a pic because of quality, but it had 988 grams and now as 798; a fifth of the original amount gone."
Chris writes: "My name is Chris and I work at Safeway/Vons. The product in question is Tuna Helper. Today in checkout someone bought about eight boxes of it, and six failed to scan (item not found). Me and the other checker turned them over to find that the last 5 digits of the UPC were different. I began looking over the boxes...until I looked at the weight. The boxes that wouldn't scan (I'm guessing because they haven't been put in our system yet) are 7.1 Ounces, while the older boxes were 8 ounces. Side-by-side, you can't tell the difference between the two boxes, as the cardboard part of the box is the same exact size. Only the contents inside have changed in quantity. This is the first instance I've ever seen of this happening, and I'm not sure of it spreading anywhere outside of California. I'm also unsure of if it affects Hamburger Helper as well."
BettiePageMommie writes: "I had been buying my son Nutripals fruit bars for snacks since he is a very picky eater and I thought it would be a nutritious snack he could have and enjoy.
The bars in the first few boxes I purchased were of decent size, length and width- wise. Length- wise, I would say they are about 5- 6 inches and I'd say width- wise, about the size of two pinky fingers beside each other. Then more recently I bought a box and the bars are HALF the size width- wise than what I had been receiving. SAME PRICE, less product. These things can go for as much as $3.50- 5 for a box of 6, depending on where you shop. I feel jipped.
I don't have any pictures to upload because my son has already eaten the bigger bars, and we only have the small crappy sized bars left. I doubt I'll be buying them again. They do have drinks you can buy, and my son loves those. I haven't seen a size reduction in those. YET."
Tropicana writes:
"We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns about our new 89 oz SNAP Cap bottle.
Our decision to improve our bottle was not recent. Based upon feedback from families where children pour their own juice, we began working on this new package concept more than two years ago. The idea was to have an innovative cap that easily and securely sealed just by pressing on it, and one that easily poured without "glugging," the primary reason for spilling.The downsizing from 96 to 89 ounces wasn't a decision we took lightly. As you are aware, oil costs have skyrocketed. Oil is used to make plastic bottles, fuel our factories, and ship our juice across the country in refrigerated trains and trucks. We had the choice to either increase prices or to downsize the bottle. We chose to downsize the bottle but add value through the innovation of the SNAP cap and new bottle, which consumers were seeking.
Although you may not agree with our decisions, we hope you can appreciate that they were made in the best interest of our consumers and shareholders. Please be assured that feedback from consumers, such as yourself, does influence decisions, and your comments have been shared with our marketing group.
We value your business, Glen, and have mailed coupons to use toward a future purchase. Again, thanks for your input and sharing your concerns.
Theresa
Tropicana Consumer Response"
ELSEWHERE:
- Even comic strip Baldo has noticed the grocery shrink ray trend.
- Burger King is testing a smaller Whopper. [Restaurant News]
- QFT, now that's a headline! WSJ: Food Makers Scrimp on Ingredients In an Effort to Fatten Their Profits
- The New York Times chimes in."Ate a Whole Pint? Check Again"
For ideas on defeating the shrinking-product-same-price phenom, read 3 Ways To Beat The Grocery Shrink Ray.
Got a hot grocery-shrink-ray tip? Send your pictures and stories to tips@consumerist.com
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Comments:
In reference to the Evian bottle. "Still" probably refers to the fact that it is not carbonated. It is sometimes referred to as "still water" in Europe and Latin/S. America
Ouch! Testing is a good thing! Item descriptions are mismatched with the photo, and that comment at the bottom just resized the horizontal aspect to "infinity and beyond!"
Still, The Consumerist is still valuable at double the price.
oh crap, like as if the economy, ecology and fundamentalist religions aren't bad enough to deal with. I want to live in space, get me off this planet!!
Nilla Wafers is another one! I was going to take a picture, but the prices weren't listed at Safeway. Regular Nilla Wafers- 12 oz. Reduced Fat Nilla Wafers- 11 oz. Same size box.
Dear manufacturer, I know you are very concerned about consumer acceptance of your products. Since improvements often mean shrinking the package to smaller and smaller sizes due to your "market" research. Why not make them contain no product at all. This seems to be the ultimate outcome of the package shrinkage.
Hasn't Stash's organic tea always been sold in that size? Your correspondent seems more pissed off that the organic tea costs more than normal tea, rather than any actual shrink ray action.
To take advantage of the situation, peruse your local Grocery Outlet.
Stores that have been directed by corporate to "clear the shelves" of the older, larger sizes, are dumping them or refusing shipments, which means that Grocery Outlet has been getting the "no longer available" sizes and at a lower price than normal retail.
Granted, it's been driving up the prices at GO, but it's still 25% or more less than the smaller sizes of the same product at VONS/Safeway or Ralph's.
And, of course, there is that same lovely assortment of Canadian foods with 15% more sodium than their American counterparts...
"Burger King is testing a smaller Whopper."
What! When did Satan take over as CEO of Burger King?
I don't know about other places, but at our local Walmart the price of the Similac container went down about $3. My wife and I have a 15 month old and a two week old and we noticed the differant cans and the smaller size when we started buying it again but I was shocked to see the priced had also dropped.
Triscuits have been hit with the shrink ray, too! Now the regular sized boxes are teeny tiny, and the "family size" boxes are under a pound! Ridiculous!
I've cut out ice cream because of the high sodium (ergo salt) content. But once a year, I will treat some friends and myself to a 1/2 Gallon of Edy's (Dryer's) ice cream.
Guess its been sometime since I bought it as I'm looking in the freezer section and 1.5qt? Shrinkage!!! And same price that a 1/2gallon was last time I recall buying one.
So I decided to check out some Drumsticks (cones) and I think either my hands just increased in size (Hey ladies!) or shrinkray hit the Drumsticks too! Man, Nestle Drumsticks are BIG in saturated fat, smaller in size! That means, Less Fat!
I just checked Nilla Wafers online, they are the same price for 12 oz or 11 oz.
I buy pre-shredded cheese (I know, I know) and Kraft's bags have gone from 400g to 380g but with a new fancy ziplock close! I buy store brand now - same stuff, 400g, cheaper price.
I haven't noticed a price drop on the Similac formula to go along with the new, more "convenient" package. As soon as I saw a "coming soon - a new design" flyer taped on the old round canister of formula, I just knew they would shrink it. Baby formula is already expensive enough. The puported reason for the new package design is more convenience - supposedly, the feeder of the baby can open and scoop formula with one hand while holding the baby and the scoop now has a place in the lid to store it. I find the new package harder to open, the foil is harder to peel off before using it for the first time, and I usually just toss the scoop back in without bothering to store it in the lid. I'm sure the company is saving shipping costs due to the square design and charging the same for less, so good for them!...I guess.
I noticed the same thing with the MAC pigments. It's really annoying, considering that the pigments are one of their more pricey items. In general, I only have good things to say about that company, but that really irked me!
@mbz32190: At least if the price of an item goes up, it's a noticeable difference. These companies are trying to fool the consumer. It's not kind of sneaky, it's REALLY REALLY sneaky... untrustworthy kind of sneaky.
Another commenter noted in a previous shrink ray thread - a lot of these items are on food stamp lists. These lists only allow 1 box of cereal, 1 jar of peanut butter, etc. These companies are taking food away from those families.
Also, the old lady video from last week who mentioned older recipes being off b/c they call for a jar of this, or a box of that are now all thrown off because they are no longer the same size.
The popup for the burrito and the ice cream are mixed up; the ice cream bit is showing for the burrito image, which was slightly confusing.
@howie_in_az: @pegr: Yeah, it has to do with how our servers crawl them, we have a tech working on it.
Anyone notice how small in diameter Egg McMuffins are? Not like it has happened recently, it was just something I noticed after eating one for the first time in years and years. It felt like an Oreo cookie.
I can't believe no one else has commented on this...the text doesn't match up with the pictures at all, which makes it really confusing to read when they're talking about propane tanks and you see bite-sized wheaties.
@plasticbiker: considering i bought the water here in Oshawa Ontario i don't think that's the case (i may be wrong) i just thought it was funny...
Hey, look on the bright side. It can't go on forever. Eventually they'll run out of room to shrink. Instead of 2 bucks per 0 ounces of peanut butter, they'll have to start charging you 2.10.
I was going to send in a picture of the El Monterey burritos, too. They went from saying "10 Pack" to "Family Pack", then dropped 2 burritos from every package.
We got some Chips Ahoy not long ago, adn not only has the price gone up, but the cookies themselves have gotten smaller.
MaxCat cat food. Used to be 20 pound bags. Last time: 16 pounds, same price.
Just charge me more and stop this.
@Starfury: Butterscotch the Devil Cat will not like that. (She eats Max Cat Light.)
I also got hit by the propane shrink ray - the worst part is that the tanks themselves haven't shrunk, and they have the capacity stamped on them!
Exactly how does Blue Rhino shrink a 20 lb. tank of propane?
The tanks have been a standard size for decades.
All they can do is not fill it as much, but you could get the same result yourself if you go to Strickland Propane & propane accessories. Hank Hill will be glad to hep you out.
One of my friends recently noticed that the Queen Cut Prime Rib at a favorite steakhouse has become a victim of the shrink ray as well. Same price, smaller amount of meat. I think I may need to consider a new menu item to enjoy.
The Whopper jr. is nothing new here in Germany. We've had it on the menu for years.
Gallery and descriptions are all fixed now. Sorry for the frustration.
Hot Pockets have a larger box, same weight.
Lipton 24 count family sized tea bags used to weigh 6.0 oz. but now weigh in at 5.4 oz., a 10% reduction. I think the brewing instructions continue to use the same volume of water. In the thousands of years since tea has been in use, Lipton just now has found a way to increase yield? Looking at the ingredients, the only item listed is ... tea. I guess our tea was being brewed to strong, and they are helping out.
I love that the Consumerist is supersizing the Grocery Shrink Ray news. As the products get smaller, the articles deliver more!
Fry's store brand potato chips (all flavors) used to be 11.5 Oz., now they're 11 Oz. and the price stayed the same.
Even when you switch loyalties away from the expensive, well known brands to the generic/store brands, you still get shafted.
I was making a toasted cheese the other night and noticed the package said "approximately 10 slices". Seriously? Someone can count 10 little slices of cheese and make sure there are actually 10. I have the feeling it's so the company can occasionally skimp me on a slice as in 9 is approximately 10. Somehow I doubt they err on too many slices.
Canidae dog food is not only 5 pounds lighter, the formula has changed and not for the better in the experience of a lot of formerly happy customers.
Aww, man! I almost submitted the cat litter one. I happened to see it at my local Target. Even though we didn't technically need litter, I bought the last "35 pounds for the price of 30" box because I saw the new boxes were 28 pounds for the price of 30. I also had a coupon. CAN YOU HANDLE THE SAVINGS?* No, no I don't think you can.
* My husband has gotten so used to me saying "oh hey, I think I have a coupon for xyz" that he'll tell me he's "not sure he can handle the savings." Freak.
Hershey's Kisses are now smaller then before and with prices much much more higher than before. I used to buy the bigger bag but now its half the size with only about 30 pieces in it for $4.99 a package at cvs in Bedford Ohio. I guess times have changed and we can all thank President Bush for putting us into this mess.
@Juliekins: I've told my husband I want 'Wait, wait -- I think I have a coupon!' on my headstone after I die because I say it so often it's become a joke between us and with our friends. And you know what? I usually have one, too!
Event the dollar store is in the act now.
cheese snack crackers-was 11 oz now 8 oz
potato chips-was 11 oz,then 8 oz,now 4.75 oz
pop corn-was a 4 pack 13 oz now a 4 pack 11 oz
pretzels-was 18 oz,then 16 oz,now 15 oz
cereals-were 11-13 oz now 8 oz
cookies-14-16 oz now 8-11 oz
taxes built into price in many stores,NOW taxed seperately.Worst dollar store now seems to be family dollar-supermarkets and other dollar stores beating them.
Thanks for all the photos in one picture
I for one am looking forward to the new smaller sizes for these products. For far too long North American consumers have been eating portions that were far too large.
I think YoGos fruit snacks have drastically decreased the amount per package! It's been a few months since we bought some and I bought a package the other day. When I opened the box up I pulled out this dinky little package and even my toddler who loves them looked at me like, "What happened?"
@fisherstudios:
I do not understand where you are coming from.
Are you trying to say I eat the whole bag of cereal at once? Is this because I am in North America? =0/
I should be allowed to buy in large portions.
I can figure out how much to eat on my own and I am sure those in North America as well as everywhere else can too.
The shrink ray isnt about consumable portions. Its about product to price ratio.
If I am going to end up having to buy less, I should get charged less.
This is for the ladies - I don't have any before & after evidence, just a hunch ... has anyone else noticed that Tampax tampons (since they 'redesigned' their packaging) aren't as absorbent as they used to be? Where did all the cottony goodness go? I am going through twice as many as before.
"As you are aware, oil costs have skyrocketed. Oil is used to make plastic bottles, fuel our factories, and ship our juice across the country in refrigerated trains and trucks. "
I don't understand something. They say smaller packaging saves them money on oil, etc. But if packaging is smaller, don't they have to make and ship MORE of it to market the same amount of food?
@Birki: At our local Target the price of Similac actually went down by about $3 as well when they introduced the new, smaller package design. The good news was that the reduced the prices for both products and considering that they still have a bunch of the old, larger product around, Similac has been a relatively good deal lately. Add that to the seemingly endless supply of $5-off coupons (aren't these proof they're overcharging?) and I've been a pretty happy Similac purchaser lately.
I noticed the other day at the store the Folgers Coffee went down from 34.something ounces to 27.something. Still the same price though. =\
Michael (Canidae purchaser quoted), not only has the size of the bag gone down, but the quality of the ingredients has decreased remarkably. Canidae used to be a high quality food, but now that they have added 5 additional grains to their food formula we have switched our dogs to a higher quality food.
I emailed Canidae to tell them we were unhappy with the formula change, and the response I got? Nothing. It's very disheartening because Canidae always had great customer service in the past. It's sad that the grocery shrink ray had to work its magic on what had once been a wonderful company.
Tropicana, I stopped buying your OJ because apparently I'm too stupid to open your new packaging without getting cut. Thanks for that, and thanks for the free OJ coupons you sent when I complained, but no more. Maybe the kids at the food bank will have better luck with your stupid smaller packaging.
Good stuff to look out for, but either the price of an item is gonna go up, or the amount will go down. You can't have it both ways when a company is simply trying to protect its bottom line. It is kind of sneaky, but package sizes are clearly printed on the containers for all to see.