grocery-shrink-ray

Reader Kimaroo noticed that something was amiss with the with the single-serve bottle of maple syrup she receives with her French toast at Cracker Barrel. Not only did it seem smaller, she could have sworn that the bottle used to contain 100% maple syrup instead of "100% Pure Natural Syrup." Fortunately, she had another bottle from a different Cracker Barrel visit stashed at home, and was able to compare the ingredients. Indeed, her maple syrup had been hit by the Grocery Sugar Ray: nearly half of its mapley goodness has been replaced with cane syrup.  More »

Dan sent in this pic from a local pet store. It reads, "After January 1st, bag sizes will be decreased, and these new prices will stay the same. For the rest of 2009 you will save 12.5% on all big bags of Science Diet dog food!!" I like how they're spinning the reduced packaging in a way that benefits them and the customer, while also making sure nobody is fooled come January 1st.  More »

Matt spotted this jar of Jif peanut butter that proudly boasts its eluded the all-seeing scope of the grocery shrink ray and still packs 18 ounces of goodness within its plastic confines.  More »

As part of its ongoing efforts to "help consumers balance calories consumed with calories expended," Coca-Cola plans to roll out a 90-calorie can later this year. The 7.5-ounce can will include about 5 1/2 teaspoons of sugar (or high-fructose corn syrup), and may sell for about 50 cents per can.  More »

Ed wrote to Georgia-Pacific about its grocery shrink ray zapping of Quilted Northern toilet paper. The company consoles Ed and all his fellow wipers by saying the sheet count is only "slightly reduced:"  More »

Many readers have reported the Grocery Shrink Ray strike on Northern toilet paper, but today Jack and Richard sent us photographic evidence, and even calculations of exactly how much paper consumers are losing out on.  More »

The prices of commodities has dropped from their peaks of last year, yet food makers are not reducing consumer prices, reports Marketplace. Now this is rather funny, and familiar.   More »

Banquet Foods wasn't satisfied with reducing the size of their mac & cheese meals by a third, from 12 ounces to 8 ounces. They also increased the price, notes our reader Richard, who confirmed the price hike at both his local Seattle supermarket and at Walmart (although Walmart's prices were lower in both versions). Funny, we thought the whole argument for the shrink ray was that it protected consumers from paying more.  More »

Reader Mike discovered that Private Selection brand chocolate chips were a recent victim of the Grocery Shrink Ray. However, the company forgot to remove a key piece of evidence after the fact. That, or they're just trying to sell more bags.  More »

Putting elegant curves on your packaging doesn't just make a bottle of hand soap look nice on the side of your sink. It also lets you drastically reduce the amount of product that you sell in a container that looks approximately the same size.  More »

Fork over your personal information and the Mars chocolate company will snail mail you a free coupon for one full-sized Mars candy bar in 6 weeks. We mentioned this in Morning Deals in May, it's still going on, and will continue on Fridays through September. They're calling it the "Real Chocolate Relief Act," a tie-in to two different news stories: 1) Economic bailout plans and 2) Some corner-cutting candymakers not using 100% cocoa butter and putting more oil inside - a basterdization known as "mocklate."   More »

CCM just sent us a photo she snapped of these Mission Soft Flour Tortillas. It's kind of cool to see that in this age of the shrink ray, a company is actually giving you more bang for your buck. Except that in this case, the two added tortillas used to be there until a year or so ago.  More »

A little over a week ago, we brought to you a heart-warming tale of good publicity, free stuff, and tasty snacks from PopChips. Lurking in our files, though, was evidence that Popchips have been savagely zapped by the Grocery Shrink Ray.  More »

Pedro discovered that ConAgra Foods focused the Grocery Shrink Ray on Peter Pan peanut butter and came up with an excuse for the downsizing straight out of Never Never Land: It's good for the environment.  More »

Bryan, a longtime Naked Juice customer, noticed that that Strawberry Kiwi Kick brand he always bought had a different colored cap. He writes, "Alas, the 'Kick' is no more. Gone are the supplements, including plain ol' Vitamin C. Strawberry Kiwi Kick is just fruit juice." When he contacted them to complain, they responded that their "devotees" preferred it that way, and they sent him a coupon and a temporary tattoo. Because if there's anything that says "we take your input seriously," it's a temporary tattoo. (Or maybe they're trying to tell him what they expect of real devotees.)  More »

Looks like the power of taurine, caffeine and glucuronolactone is no match for the Grocery Shrink Ray. Alert reader Denis sent us this side-by-side comparison of the new "large" Red Bull (left) and the old one. Original: 16.9 ounces. New, taller, thinner version: 16 ounces. We're not sure when the Bull's wings flew off with the remaining 0.9 ounces, but we already miss them. When it comes to caffeine (and glucuronolactone, of course), that bit can just make the difference between crashing on the couch, or sprinting into the office (or at least that's our excuse, and we're sticking with it).  More »