Consumerist
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grocery shrink ray
15 Victims Of The Grocery Shrink Ray
The Grocery Shrink Ray continues its miniature spree across the supermarket aisles of America. Here's 14 more victims that have surfaced in the past week, as spotted by our watchful bands of deputized Consumerist reader-investigators... More »
2:59 PM on Fri Aug 1 2008
By Ben Popken
25,442 views, 57 comments -
grocery shrink ray
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits UK
The Grocery Shrink Ray has expanded its range and is no longer just hitting the US. Pint-sized woe has befallen the the UK snack section. For one, the Dairylea triangle is shrinking from 180 to 160g per cheese wheel. Other shrunken products include Rolo, Palmolive, Olvatine, Dairy Milk, Mars bars, Yorkie chocolate bars, and Pringles.Check out the company double-talk as they tried to explain away the changes, sometimes with verbal softshoe, others with oddly pugilistic rebuttals: More » -
grocery shrink ray
Chicago Tribune Picks Up Grocery Shrink Ray
The Chicago Tribune quoted me in a piece on the Grocery Shrink Ray. Paraphrasing a food science. expert, it says, "Broadly defined, packaging costs often outweigh ingredient costs, Hotchkiss said. And a penny shaved off packaging can translate into millions of dollars in savings for a high-volume consumer product." This is interesting because it means the greatest cost savings come from reducing package costs, rather than ingredient amount. Which means if they're reducing ingredient amounts, they've got to be really hurting. Maybe if I really wanted to do my part to help the economy I should have spent that stimulus check on juice, cereal, paper towels, mayonnaise and ice cream.
Rising costs give groceries nip and tuck [Chicago Tribune]
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grocery shrink ray
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Bausch & Lomb Contact Solution
Joe spotted this box of Bausch & Lomb Boston contact solution at his Target, another victim of the Grocery Shrink Ray. "Someone at Target wasn't smart enough to change the original price label...4oz down to 3.5oz is significant when you are dealing with an everyday item like this at $7-7.99 per bottle," he writes. Full pic inside.
More »
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grocery shrink ray
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Faultless Spray Starch
Mark says he's found fault with Faultless spray starch. The bottle shrunk by two ounces and is being sold for the same price, another victim of the Grocery Shrink Ray. Compare the products here and here. What's interesting is that when he called his mom, she said she had a different brand of starch spray. It too had shrunk by two ounces. Could manufacturers be colluding together to all decrease their products by the same amount at the same time? I've heard of price-fixing, but what about the legality of size-fixing? In any event, Mark emailed customer service about the new package. Their cheery reply, inside... More » -
grocery shrink ray
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Ready Pac Produce?
Andrew writes:
More »I work at a grocery store and am just appalled at how the grocery shrink ray is in full effect. I notice it the most is in the produce department. The company that is shrinking their products most effectively while maintaining the same price is Ready Pac.
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For those of you who wanted a transcript of the NPR interview I did yesterday about the Grocery Shrink Ray, we added one here.
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grocery shrink ray
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Kraft Swiss Cheese Singles?
Bruce sends in what he thinks is another victim of the Grocery Shrink Ray's fell and indiscriminate wrath:I was shopping at my local HyVee here in Iowa the other day and noticed that Kraft Deli Fresh cheese slices have new packaging. Being an avid Consumerist reader I immediately suspected the grocery shrink ray.
The old packet, still visible on the Kraft website, contains 11 slices and weighs 8 oz, compared to 10 slices and 7 oz in the new one. The individual slices a little bit thinner now too, 8/11 > 7/10. Bruce is exactly right, if you see your old favorite now being sold in a new packaging, that's a red flag that you may looking at a slimmed-down package. However, Bruce did not send in shots of the price tags, which is necessary to determine if the item is truly grocery shrink ray shrunk. As such, we can only label this a potential victim for now.
DELI DELUXE - CHEESE - SWISS 2% MILK REDUCED FAT SLICES 11 CT [Kraft]
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grocery shrink ray
Ben Popken On NPR Talkin' 'Bout Grocery Shrink Ray
NPR's Michele Norris on "All Things Considered" did a nice interview with me about that deadly Grocery Shrink Ray sweeping supermarkets across America. It looks like it just aired, you can listen to it online here. If you want to look at previous stories in the Grocery Shrink Ray series, check 'em out here. And if you have a example of a product that is shrinking in terms of volume or net weight and you want to submit it to us for a possible post, just send it on in to tips@consumerist.com.
UPDATE: Transcript added, inside...
Grocery Items: Same Price, Smaller Size [NPR]
(Partial image credit: hellochris) More » -
grocery shrink ray
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Purina Dog Food
Michael sends in this latest Grocery Shrink Ray victim, found at the Petsmart where he works. He writes, "The price is the same, and the 20lb bag is apparently being "upgraded" to an 18lb bag. This was the only 20lb bag left, but consumers who pay attention may be able to still be able to find some of the larger bags in stores."
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