Ben & Jerry's Announces Their Grocery Shrink Ray Immunity
1 pint = 16 fluid ounces — at least mathematically. In the ice cream world, however, there seems to be some shrinking going on.
Ben & Jerry's, however, is refusing to slim down. Here's the email that announces their immunity from the dreaded Grocery Shrink Ray:
One of our competitors (think funny sounding European name) recently announced they will be downsizing their pints from 16 to 14 ounces to cover increased ingredient & manufacturing costs and help improve their bottom line. At Ben & Jerry's we think downsizing pints is downright wrong. We understand that in today's hard economic times businesses are feeling the pinch. We also understand that many of you are also feeling the same, & think now more than ever you deserve your full pint of ice cream.
We are even more committed today to lead with our values through the quality of our ingredients & how we source them to make the best ice cream possible. So, while our competitor may be experiencing a bit of shrinkage, rest assured that your Ben & Jerry's will still be standing tall in the freezer. Enjoy!
Ohhh, Häagen-Dazs got called out....
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Comments:
Häagen-Dazs is now Häagen-Was in my book.
I would love to eat some Ben and Jerry's in honor of this proclamation, but I'm currently testing out a new waistline shrink ray project. Maybe I'll get some fro-yo, if I can find it.
niiiice.. take that hagen daz
Can you still call it a pint if it's not exactly a pint?
Thank god for pot smoking hippies, are they the only ones left with any business sense these days?
I think calling out other companies stimulates healthy competition :D. Häagen-Dazs now has to compete with new tactics :]
I'm pleased with this, but as someone who tends to prefer ice cream to be just ice cream and not have a ton of stuff mixed in with it (which is totally personal thing), I'll probably still be buying the smaller containers of H-D. Alas. I should take a stand, but I don't think I have the willpower!
They probably aren't calling it a pint. Its about time a competitor tout their failure to shrink as a benefit! The larger sizes definitely sway me in my purchase decisions.
@Gene Gemperline: Unless it says the word "Pint" on the packaging it won't matter to them, just the retailer.
Yeah for Ben and Jerry's! They are still too expensive for me to justify except as an occaisional treat when I travel for work though. Whay can't companies accept that if I want a half gallon of Ice cream, I want a half gallon of Ice cream? It's not like I am going to serve smaller portions to my family because Breyers or whomever dictates that I must. I either am forced to buy two containers, buuy a storebrand (like safeway) which is still a full half gallon, or, skip ice cream and go for another item, which is what I usually do. I used to eat a lot of ice cream. It was my comfort food of choice. Now I drink a lot of Diet Dr Pepper instead. Oh, and I can get in in 24 ounce bottles instead of smaller ones, which I do.
Don't dictate that I must buy smaller or more items to get the same quantity. I will skip it altogether. Charge me a fair price for the standard amount, and I will buy it.
Maybe "those other guys" hired someone from Best Buy and told them they can get away with advertising the 14 oz package as "pint class".
Don't be fooled by their hippy facade, Ben & Jerry's is owned by the enormous conglomerate Unilever.
Screw the pint. Give me a half-gallon!
@lalaland13: So, are you saying that Häagen-Dazs is actually helping you with your waistline? I can see the marketing now, "We shrink our pints so you can shrink your waist!"
This from the same company that, some years ago, publicly stated that the new CEO would be hired in at no more than 10 times (i think it was 10..? maybe it was only 5!) more salary than the lowest-paid employee. Then, they hired a CEO at about 80 times the lowest salary. I don't really eat that much ice cream, I'm just sayin'...
@lalaland13: Ben and Jerry's has some excellent frozen yogurt, but the calorie savings is negligible in the end....
Cool, someone decided to buck the shrink ray business! I may actually look at buying Ben & Jerry's next time I hit the store. Breyers and Edys have both shrunk their cartons to the point they are just slightly larger than a Ben & Jerry's pint anyways.
@jscott73: Considering the 'pot smoking hippies' is Unilever, the same company that started the shrinkray on regular ice cream through their Breyer's brand, I'm afraid not.
This doesn't address the issue of how much air is in the cream they use. The "better" ice creams have less air so they are more dense/rich. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these companies just started adding more air and continued to call it 16oz.
P.S. We will, however, be raising the price.
Shrinkage?
Häagen-Dazs was in the pool!
Häagen-Dazs was in the pool!
penis reference, ahoy!
Blue Bell. No shrinkage there, either!
I love B&J's...but they're very harsh on my waist.
@Ghede: genius, If I was more motivated I would print that onto stickers using their font and place over all their products at my local grocery
@Ben Duffy: I knew somebody would point out the obvious but at least their spirit appears to live on.
@Canino: Even if they do raise the price that's more honest, in my opinion, than shrinking the package to keep the price the same.
Raising the price brings the cost increase to the customer's immediate attention; while (quietly) shrinking the product size is a sneaky tactic to essentially raise the price w/o the customer noticing.
Well if you dont shrink it to under a pint, how ever can you justify the raise in price in 6 months when they add 20% more, "NOW ITS PINT SIZED!" ? Atleast i'm sure thats how their marketing team pitched it to them.
It's not one pint -- it's pint-class!
@octopede:
Does the unwaranted 20 million "retention" bonus count as pay if they're only making 5x more then Willy the mail boy?
@mgermano: Is ice cream sold by weight-oz or by fluid-oz? One is a measure of weight, the other a measure of volume I believe. Assuming we're not talking fluid-oz here then adding air isn't an option to shrink the product by reducing density as the weight scale will still need to see 16 oz.
The interesting thing is that instead of "One of our competitors (think funny sounding European name)...", Ben & Jerry's should have said "One of our competitors (think funny European sounding name)...": [en.wikipedia.org]
@eightfifteen: Makes sense... "We know you're going to eat the whole thing, so we'll help you lose weight while you do it by taking away 2 ounces..."
Ben and Jerry's went up to $4.50 at a local store, even though it was $3.50. Well... at least they're still using those cartons.
I love Americone Dream.
Of course Ben and Jerry's can do this. Their ice cream has always been ridiculously overpriced.
@Repique: ... actually, B&J's does sell plain flavors without mixed-in bits and it's quite good; I had a pint of plain chocolate the other day.
why do they bother trying to personalize when the company is owned by Unilever?
@Chantillian: They still have better ingredients than Ben and Jerry's. Did you guys know that most of Dreyer's regular "Ice Cream" is no longer legally ice cream? They call it "Frozen Dairy Product". So I don't buy it anymore. Haagen Daz has only a few ingredients and no crap. However I hate downsizing and so I'll have to buy Ice Cream at Trader Joe's now instead.
Sorry to say it but the "quality of our ingredients" that are really in a pint of Ben & Jerry's doesn't quite match Haagen-Dazs. Despite, the exorbitant price I'm willing to pay for Haagen-Dazs, at least they use natural ingredients. Compare the ingredient list of HD to B&J and you'll see the difference. Guar gum and carrageenan don't cut it for me.
Now that Häagen-Dazs is shrinking, it'll no longer be those 800-calorie single-serving packages.
Why not add 2 extra ounces to their Pints to make up for their competitor?
The funny sounding European name is much better ice cream. That said, FINALLY a manufacturer with the guts to raise prices instead of decreasing size.
I might actually have to switch to B&J just because of their marketing efforts.
Nah, the funny sounding European name is still much better ice cream and besides I prefer the Byrs brand anyway.
Wholesale milk prices have fallen to 7-year lows, dairy farmers are begging the government to pay them to slaughter their cows, some farmers are dumping unsalable milk... Thank you Ben & Jerry's/Unilever for not being criminally insane! Maybe their competitors will stop trying to lose customers and destroy farmers.
Oooh, that's cold.