<![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I complained to them about the package. They sent me two 50 cent coupons in the mail. Wooooh. Now THAT makes me feel better. Also, I got the following email response:

Dear Mr. Hazel,

My name is Tim Kahn and I'm the Chief Executive Officer (translation: head ice cream guy) of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. Thank you for taking the time to contact our company about our new 1.5 quart carton.

I can understand why you may not be pleased with us right now. Our new carton is smaller and no one wants less for the same money.

Since the buck stops with me, let me tell you why we made the difficult decision to change the size of our carton. The cost of all dairy products has increased enormously over the past few years, as have the costs of the sweeteners, nuts, fruits and energy used to make our ice cream. Our ingredient costs have risen by 30 to 60% over this time, but the average price of ice cream has not really changed much.

We looked at raising our prices to cover these costs, but at some point, it just doesn't make sense to raise prices too high. I suspect very few families would want to pay $7 or $8 for a carton of ice cream. So as you know, we opted to drop the size of our carton from 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts.

Dreyer's has been making ice cream since 1928. We hope we've earned your trust over the years. Thank you for being so passionate about our ice cream and for taking the time to contact us. We hope you'll continue to invite our products into your home.

Sincerely,

Tim Kahn
Chief Executive Officer
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream

geoffhazel

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I just returned a carton of Edy's today. It had apparently completely melted and been refrozen. The ice cream took up about 2/3 of the container which means when you buy Edy's, you are paying for about 1/3 of a container of air that gets whipped in there. When I first opened it, I thought someone had had a couple of bowls of it already, but I had just gotten home from the store.

eeebee

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Just got back from my local Target today, and I can confirm that the shrink ray has struck more or less all the flavors. The same has happened to Breyers too. I guess I'm going to start making Ice Cream at home, but lets see if my lethargy wears off.

jrs09

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Does anyone remember the website that specialiezed in finding shrinking portions in the grocery store? I remember looking at the site around 2 years ago when some soap had about an ounce carved out of it to make it "easier to grip" but it was the same price as the one that had more.

Oobrakadoobra

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Not only did they reduce the size, but check out the fine print. Most of the new packaging actually says frozen dessert. Ice cream has to have a certain percentage of milk fat in order to be considered 'ice cream'.

Most other large ice cream chains will no doubt follow suit.

Even though it seems expensive I prefer Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Dazs. You get what you pay for!

xserrax

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Breyer's now costs more at the natural foods store than the local, organic stuff. FAIL.

TWSS

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @adam51172: The "cost per unit" info does not work. One example is Kroger (especially Dillon's and King Sooper's). I originally noticed this with the Lil Smokies but have found that they do it quite often.

These sausages are usually sold in 16oz packages but some are now 14oz packages. The stores list one item with a "price per pound" and the other with a "price per ounce". Some people will take the time to figure this out. However, I think the stores realize that most people won't have time or energy to calculate this and will buy the smaller package for the same price as the larger.

camman68

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> In the future, people will buy their 1.5 quarts of ice cream at Costco and as they walk out of the store, dad will shake his head and mutter "how are we going to eat all of this ice cream, I don't know."

mariospants

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> That price tag says Mint Chocolate Chip, but the tub looks like it's Cappuccino something. Sure, they may be changing their size of packaging, but this particular picture itself is deceptive.

mzhartz

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> years ago in baltimore my ex-boyfriend once bought me some ice cream and it was Edy's, I miss him.

Ariel.Sanders

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> At least the box is smaller. It seems most product shrinks come with a package growth. Now that would be deceitful.

Crovie

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> elislider: You're right, it is Dreyers. They aren't allowed to market it east of the Mississippi under that name though because it's so close to Breyers, so they use Edy's. How do I know? I used to work there.

Everyone who thinks this kind of thing is B.S. should go tell them at the HQ on College Ave, in Oakland, Ca. It's two blocks from the Rockridge BART station. :-)

Anomaly69

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Two different products. Volume means nothing with ice cream, anyways. Some kinds have more air whipped in.... there's probably only as much icecream in a gallon of Hood as is in a pint of B&Js.

HungryGrrl

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]>

I keep waiting for the CT AG's office to crack down on ice cream selling scoff laws but so far no redress is coming

[comedian.blogspot.com]

[216.92.151.22]

comedian

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Prices are going to increase or the volume will decrease.

Fact of life.

StevieD

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I would much rather see increased prices. There is much greater granularity in product pricing, and its easier to adjust as product costs fluctuate. It also immediately alerts the consumer to the change rather than trying to pull one over on the consumer and hope they dont check the unit price closely.

Geekybiker

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> maybe your eyes are too fat. The extra eye weight makes the 5 look like a 7. Drop 10 pounds and it might come back.

What?

TonyTriple

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Edy's is always overpriced anyway. Don't buy it. That'll learn the greedy scumbags

freejazz38

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @rellog: Just because they're not blaring trumpets to announce their shrinking package, it's still no, not deceptive. The packaging is marked with the volume being bought. The only people fooled by product shrink are those that are either not smart enough to read the label, or not smart enough to know what they wanted to buy in the first place.

If I had never bought Edy's ice cream before, and walked into a store and bought a clearly marked 1.5 quart tub of Edy's French Vanilla, in what way have I been deceived?

jswilson64

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @JLP at AllFinancialMatters: Blue Bell is not available for all people. Too bad. I was on their website recently and I noticed that they have a specific page set up to brag about how they're keeping their size at a half gallon.

"Blue Bell has even placed a red banner across its cartons promoting the fact that consumers still get a full half gallon of ice cream with each purchase."

How clever.
[www.bluebell.com]

ecwis

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @jswilson64: It's deceptive, because they are attempting to pass off the new containers as the old ones. If they increase the size, they throw a bold "WITH 20% MORE FREE" on the label. I don't see any mention of "NOW WITH 12.5% LESS" on this container...

rellog

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @AnderBobo: Yeah, but atleast if the price goes up, they aren't trying to scam the consumer. In this case, they are looking to reduce the amount, without notifying the consumer. If we were informed, then it would be less of an issue...

rellog

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I just thought about sending this in as well. My wife and I bought a container of Edy's last night and stuck in the freezer which also contained an almost empty container of Edy's from a few weeks ago. We were like, WTF?!? I can understand having to bump prices up a bit, but thing continual shrinking is getting ridiculous. Especially if your buying it for two or more people. Is it going to eventually reach Ben & Jerry's size and you'll have to buy a container per person?

acasto

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Eep, more shrinkage.

Honestly, I'd rather see the products at their previous sizes at a higher price, than deal with the smaller cartons :|

unravel

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @dreamcatcher2:

I, for one, have never complained about getting more for my money.

alfundo

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> This is why I ONLY buy Blue Bell. It's still 1/2 gallon. Of course it's now over $6 for a freakin' 1/2 gallon but at least I can respect the company.

My solution:

DON'T BUY 1.5 QUARTS!

JLP at AllFinancialMatters

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> The one gallon tub of breyers, is still one gallon!

of the other breyers, seems to be a 50/50 split at the moment between the 1.75 and 1.5 containers.

TheDude06

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> What's "deceptive" about this? Does it say 1.75 but only contain 1.5? If you're deceived by something that tells you how much is in it, you've got a lot more to worry about than how much ice cream is in the bucket...

jswilson64

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> If it is called "Ice Cream" by federal law it can only have 100% overrun or 50% air added. Premium brands have much less, cheap brands have a lot maybe 100% already.

Since the air added changes the consistency and mouth feel I don't think they can just add a lot more without changing their formula but I bet they will try as dairy prices rise. So we really need to start weighing the cartons to see if the manufacturers are reducing the amount of product.

Photogdc

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I discovered this the other night (probably 2am as I apparently sleep eat) that I hit the bottom of my Bryer's mint chocolate chip ice cream a lot faster than normal. I'd say that's a good thing if this sleep eating thing continues to haunt me night after night.

plustax

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Will customers never be happy? We complain when sizes stealthily increase, because larger sizes encourage unhealthy eating, but when sizes decrease, we complain about being swindled. As long as the product is clearly labeled as to its contents and nutritional value, I think Edy's is filling its obligation to us.

dreamcatcher2

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I agree Ann. It's the deceptiveness that I disagree with. If a company has a product thats worth standing behind then it shouldn't be a problem to pass on extra costs to consumers. But then you have companies like Breyers that just put less in the same size container.

alfundo

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @The Bambino: The problem is that shrinking packages is borderline deceptive. They know people will notice a price increase more than a size decrease.

So what if dairy prices are rising? Just increase the price of the end product.

AnnC

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @Chris Walters:

Its not a hidden price increase.
Hell, the packages do not even look to be the same size.

The 1.5 package is smaller than the 1.75 package.

Simply put, buy by weight, not by volume.


AMetamorphosis

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I noticed that a few days ago too, when I bought ice cream. The 1.5 and 1.75 sizes are the exact same price, and it didn't seem to vary by flavor. I was disappointed. Because I love ice cream.

littlemoose

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Artificial sweeteners cost more than sugar. Not sure why the yogurt would be more expensive. Edy's no sugar added coffee ice cream rocks my world and keeps me from having to lay down to zip my jeans. Sadly, I don't think this will stop me from buying it.

opinionismine

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> This all has been going on for quite some time behind the scenes. Trucking companies started adding fuel surcharges years ago. Getting goods to the retailer was more expensive. So logistics folks in food manufacturing devised all sort of ways to create efficiencies throughout. It could only hold out for so long, though, because of the supply chain (every supplier has their own suppliers.)
So when it came down to the end of the chain, grocers didn't want to change their prices, because consumers would likely buy less, buy elsewhere, or do without. Manufacturers have been stymied by this, since their costs have been going up while having to maintain their pricing to the retailer. Their solution? keep the price the same and reduce the amount of product!

Most chain grocers out there now have cost per unit on their shelf tags (cents per ounce, etc.) This is what you should be looking for when shopping, if you don't want to spend your time doing the math for yourself.

AdamG

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @katylostherart: Go grab your free Ben and Jerry's today.

COELACANTH

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> In upstate NY we have a chain called Stewarts. They make their own ice cream and yes, it's still a 1/2 gallon of great tasting reasonably priced ice cream

nem9x

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> With the obese epidemic they report on the news, the health issues our country has with it's obsession with food...

It's nice to see they make healthier alternatives AFFORDABLE.

Somedays, it's cheaper to buy a container of keebler elves fudge cookies than it is to buy a lb. of carrots. pffft.

verucalise

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> OMFG they're "cheating" me out of half a bowl of ice cream!!!

Dairy prices are rising folks...

The Bambino

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Would people be happier if instead of a 15% decrease in product, there was a 15% increase in price ($6.90)?

Let's be clear.
"Slow-churned" is already a product where consumers are "getting less for more" AND WE LIKE IT.

It's in the same line as those 100 calorie packs and 8 oz cans of soda.

If the choice is between higher prices and smaller portions, honestly, most of America could stand to go with smaller portions...

FrankTheTank

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I like Edy's brand and would normally just pick it up by default, without looking at other brands.

Now that I know that Edy's is reducing their content size and keeping the price the same, I'm going to take a minute the next time I shop and compare it to other brands, to see if maybe someone else is doing a better job.

I understand that it's a recession and companies are going to either raise prices or reduce quantity, but I still appreciate being aware that it's time to re-evaluate my default purchasing decisions.

humphrmi

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @AnderBobo & @AMetamorphosis: Posting about this alerts shoppers who might not otherwise notice. Then they can make a better-informed decision about whether or not to accept the hidden price increase or choose an alternative.

I hope we keep posting this story every single time it happens. That's why the site exists, after all. To help consumers.

Chris Walters

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @GStelz:

Yea, that's about what I thought, there's two different products being compared here.

david_consumerist

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> At the grocery yesterday night, I was surprised to find that dairy had gone down in price here--milk was about 15% less than 2 wks ago, and Haagen-Dazs was 10% cheaper. Bread, on the other hand, was about 10% more.

You geeks might want to walk your ice creams over to the produce scales and weigh them. I suspect in addition to the 14% smaller packages, that more air is being added. (This is why Breyer's added gums to its 'natural' formulas, so it could pump more air in.) You might get more sweet creamy goodness for your money buying Haagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's ice cream (more by weight, not volume).

ChuckECheese

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> This is old news as products sizes have been shrinking for years.

Wake up, pay attention to what you buy & buy it by the weight, not package.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

AMetamorphosis

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> We are in a recession! Do you want less product for the same price? Or to pay more for the same amount? This is going to keep happening and I hope Consumerist doesn't post a story everytime Lays removes one chip from their standard bag.

AnderBobo

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> The picture shows two different products, but the end result is the same. I purchased French-Silk slow churned ice cream this week and it is now 1.5 when two weeks ago it was 1.75

cyberkoko

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> Costco still sells Vanilla in 1/2 gallon containers; you do have to buy 2.

It is the BEST ice cream out there.

Starfury

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I was just going to send this in, too. My girlfriend and I encountered this last nite on an ice cream run.

She grabbed the new stubby container and proclaimed "WTF!"

unklegwar

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> These are two different products but I did see last night at the grocery store that they are reducing the size of the "No Sugar Added" or "1/2 Fat" or whatever those special ones are labeled...I picked one up and thought it was kind of ridiculous to have the same price up there for clearly different sizes.

outinthedark

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> We have Edy's in Ohio. I went to buy some yesterday and noticed the smaller containers. All the flavors seem to have 1.5 quarts now, regardless of yogurt, slow-churned, regular, and so forth.

PicketFence

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> man i just want ice cream now.

katylostherart

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I agree, you are comparing apples to oranges here . . .

That-Dude

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I can confirm that this applies to ALL Edy's ice cream. I work in a major grocery store, and these smaller 1.5L containers have trickled in for all of our types of ice cream this past week.

Say goodbye to 1.75L, 1.5L is here to stay. =[

ptcfast2

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @elislider:

Dreyer's and Edy's are the same company, same products but different branding across the U.S. I live up in MA and we have Edy's.

GStelz

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I recently picked up a box of Cheeze-itz Crips which have recently changed over from being packaged in a bag. It seemed like it only had about 1/2 of the amount of crips that the bag used to hold. The bag lists 7.5 oz. Anyone know what the old bag held?

MonkeyMonk

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> I'll second javi - they're two different products: Slow Churned NSA and frozen yogurt.

If they were identical things I'd be concerned.

GStelz

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> looks like Dreyers to me. wtf is Edy's? lol. but yeah this is getting ridiculous

elislider

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> @javi0084: you would think

bsalamon

]]> <![CDATA[Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Edy's Ice Cream]]> The 1.5 has some sort of yogurt flavor while the 1.75 has no sugar. Could that be why you get more ice cream in one and not the other?

javi0084

]]>