We told you that freezing in Florida was going to take a toll on OJ starting in May and according to MousePrint.org, the shrink ray is on. Edgar got a hold of some before and after examples and did the usual postmortem.

The results? The cartons look pretty much the same on the shelf — so if you didn’t notice the fine print — you probably didn’t realize you were paying more for OJ.

Mouse Print asked for comment about the reduced contents of the carton and got this response:

“Reducing our 64 ounce carton to a 59 ounce carton wasn’t a decision we took lightly. As you probably have heard, the Florida citrus industry has suffered the most devastating winter freeze and one of the smallest orange crops in 20 years. When the supply of oranges goes down the price goes up which impacts our costs. Instead of raising prices, we chose to slightly reduce the amount of juice and maintain the price. Our consumer research shows that most shoppers, when given a choice between a price increase or slightly less contents, prefer to hold the line on prices.”

Maybe the fact that they didn’t seem to actually change the package much is a good sign… it’s probably easier to simply start filling it up again when prices drop. But will they?

Can you tell the difference between these two cartons of Tropicana orange juice? [Mouse Print]

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