Consumerist reader Mike has been noshing on Oscar Mayer Lunchables — you know, the pre-packed meat/cheese/cracker things — for years. To him, they were a dependable way to have a quick and cheap bite to eat for lunch in the office. That is, until they felt the ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAPPPP! of the patented Grocery Shrink Ray. [More]
grocery shrink ray
Safeway's New 'Easy Scoop' Ice Cream Easier To Scoop Because There's Less Of It
By 5.14.12
Safeway’s Lucerne house brand ice creams have been repackaged, and now come in a round container branded the “Easy-Scoop Package.” That’s a nice redesign, and round containers are easier to scoop from. Only, as reader Ryan points out, maybe the ice cream is easier to scoop now because there’s now a half-quart less of it. [More]
Round Saltines Disguise Stealth Shrink Ray
By 5.7.12
As we reported on Friday, in parts of the Northeast, Nabisco’s traditional Premium brand saltine crackers have abruptly disappeared from the shelves. Unless they want to switch to one of the several other brands of saltines, their only choices are mini crackers or the new round ones. The change also disguises a stealth Grocery Shrink Ray that reduces the total mass of crackers in a box. [More]
Nabisco Zaps Triscuits With Grocery Shrink Ray
By 4.24.12
It’s time to play Spot the Difference! Between the older Triscuit box on the left and the one on the right, Nabisco made at least four changes. It doesn’t really matter if you can find them all, since only one change matters. [More]
Blue Plate Mayo Proudly Says "No Shrink Ray Here"
By 8.30.11
Blue Plate Mayo wants everyone to know that it’s still rocking the 32 oz. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Removes Granola Bars From Quaker Boxes
By 8.29.11
Consumerist reader Brad went shopping for some Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip granola bars the other day, only to find that the Grocery Shrink Ray had zapped away 20% of the bars but left the price the same. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Zaps Nate's Meatless Balls
By 8.18.11
I always found Nate’s brand of meatless meatballs (or: balls) to be the best-tasting vegetarian substitute around, and better than most frozen meatballs on the market. Michael is a fan, too. At Whole Foods recently, he noticed that the package had changed, and the amount inside. But not the price. [More]
Extra Sneaky Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Sun Detergent
By 8.17.11
It looks like our good old friend the Grocery Shrink Ray has zapped bottles of Sun detergent. The after effect is a little extra trickier than usual, though. The new smaller size screams, “50% MORE LOADS!” while in tiny print underneath that it says “vs. 29 load size.” In reality, it has three few ounces than the older version. Sly! [More]
Price Chopper's Ice Cream Is Always A Full Half-Gallon, Except When It Isn't
By 8.12.11
Northeastern grocery chain Price Chopper is one of the few companies around that still sells a full half-gallon of ice cream. None of this 1.75 or 1.5 quart shrink-rayed nonsense that you find at their competition, but a proper half gallon. You can’t blame them for bragging about this in stores and in their advertising materials. But Scott discovered where all of this bragging falls apart: Extreme Moose Tracks, which has a slightly smaller container than other flavors. Harbinger of shrinkage to come? Not quite. When he contacted Price Chopper, they explained that there’s a little less ice cream in that flavor’s container because of the amount of candy included. Guess it’s too extreme. [More]
Ken's Steak House Increases Salad Dressing Bottle Size, Doesn't Charge More Or Brag
By 8.11.11
Sometimes, companies reverse the famed Grocery Shrink Ray, and actually increase the quantity of their product without also hiking the price. Ken’s Steak House recently increased the amount in a bottle from eight ounces to nine. Even more astonishingly, they didn’t feel the need to brag about this on the bottle. [More]
Not Even Warm And Fuzzy Cereals Immune From Grocery Shrink Ray
By 8.10.11
As an avid Consumerist reader, Drew knows to watch out when the boxes on the supermarket shelves get a makeover. Oftentimes these are tell-tale signs that the grocery shrink ray has been at it, reducing the amount of content you get and charging you more. His favorite cereal, Kashi Honey Sunshine, was a recent victim, dropping from 12 oz to 10.5 oz and getting a “New Look!” in the process. [More]
Orville Redenbacher Uses New Fancy Bowl To Disguise Shrink Ray Effects
By 8.9.11
Looks like old Orville Redenbacher has been working on his sleight of hand technique. He wants you to focus on how his kettle corn popcorn is in a new easier to use “pop up bowl,” and ignore how it’s been downsized to 2.9 oz per bag from 3.3 oz. Worse, writers tipster Derek, the popcorn doesn’t pop as well. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Zaps Pop Secret Popcorn
By 7.25.11
Consumerist reader Bryan says he tends to buy a new box of Pop Secret microwave popcorn every month or so. But while he was putting away his groceries the other day he noticed that the new box seemed a bit thinner than he’d become accustomed to. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Odwalla, Reducing From 15 To 12 oz
By 5.20.11
Myron Reducto is at it again, turning his Grocery Shrink Ray Gun on Odwalla juice, zapping it down to 12 oz from 15. The price is the same Odwalla has lowered the suggested retail price for the bottles, but some retailers have opted to keep the price the same. Like other food packagers, Odwalla is combining the shrinkage with a packaging redesign that it hopes will get more press. In this case, they are simultaneously rolling out bottles that are made from 100% plant based HDPE plastic. [More]
Lil' Drums Ice Cream Cone Packages Now Even More Lil'
By 5.12.11
Fans of Nestle’s perfectly dessert-sized mini Drumsticks will be disappointed this summer. While the individual cones have stayed the same size, there are now only ten to a box instead of the former twelve. Update: Nestle let us know that the change is actually the other way around: the package is becoming less lil’, not more. [More]
Shrink Rayed Noxzema Jar Has 2 Fewer Ounces, Bonus False Bottom
By 4.20.11
Last year, Noxzema scooped two ounces out of their signature blue jars after a minor redesign. Mike noticed that the jar still appeared to be the same size as the previous 14-ounce incarnation, so he did the only logical thing one can do in this situation: he attacked the jar with a saw to confirm that it did indeed have a false bottom. [More]
Ben Popken On NPR Talking About Shrinking Food, Higher Prices
By 3.31.11
I got to verbally joust with the wielders of the Grocery Shrink Ray yesterday on NPR on the Diane Rehm show. Scott Faber vice president, the Grocery Manufacturers Association talked about how food makers have to pass on their rising costs somehow and I agreed, but took issue with deceptively designed packages and the misleading marketing practices. Just be upfront about it! [More]
Comic Strip Ponders Horrible Future Of The Grocery Shrink Ray
By 11.3.10
Team Consumerist aren’t the only ones with a watchful eye out for the Grocery Shrink Ray. Cartoonist Jen Sorensen of Slowpoke Comics recently noticed the phenomenon, and illustrates a bleak future for beloved products as the shrinkage continues. The fate awaiting the iconic plastic honey bear is too horrible to imagine. [More]
