So I went down to the local Safeway...

[RAMd®d]

...to get my fair share of ice cream.

I noticed the price had dropped over $1, but there was no 2-for-1 required, no sale indicated, so I was wondering why it was cheaper.

Then I looked at the cartons and they looked smaller than the two I got just a week ago. Sure enough:

2qts > i.75qts > 1.5qts.

Bastards!

[rgG]

Yeah, a lot of products have been going on a diet lately. My personal favorite is when different flavors of something like an instant cappuccino is a different number of ounces, but the same price. Same exact package, but one has more product in it than the other. Very deceptive. Now I check the ounces on just about everything, but you shouldn't have to.

[cbelt3]

or it gets labelled in litres and grams to confuse the UhMericans.

Wow ! 3 Liters ! That's a bit more money than 1 gallon, but what a deal !!!

[pinion]

rgG wrote:
Yeah, a lot of products have been going on a diet lately. My personal favorite is when different flavors of something like an instant cappuccino is a different number of ounces, but the same price. Same exact package, but one has more product in it than the other. Very deceptive. Now I check the ounces on just about everything, but you shouldn't have to.

Kroger doesn't think so either. That's why they put the price per ounce on their price labels. Shop smart, shop S-Mart!

[mattkime]

I hear this is part of the heathcare bill, under paragraph "Stop Eating so Goddamn Much!"

[Grateful11]

>"2qts > i.75qts > 1.5qts."

Sons of Bitches! I hate that crap, I'd rather they go up on the price.

How much did it drop and/or increase size when milk dropped to $11/100lbs bulk, none.

How much time did they waste raising the price and/or cutting size now that it's up $17/100lbs, none.

[vision63]

Safeway's brand? Dryers (edys for easterners) has already downsized.

[M A V I C]

Yep, this is more and more common. One soup we used to get had 16oz cans and now they're more expensive and only 12oz.

I saw one example of J&J baby shampoo. They made the hole in the top larger. Apparently that results in more usage which in turn results in more frequent repurchasing.

But does anyone expect anything different from such huge brands and chains? They're trying to make every dollar they can. I know KKR is the private equity firm that owns Safeway, but I wonder who owns the equity.

[H1N1]

been happening for years

[Winston]

It's all based on consumer behavior. People tend to stop buying (or change brands) when the price goes up, but they don't when the size goes down. I don't like it either, but that's what most people do.

I tend to compare those price per ounce numbers pinion mentioned. Harder to do with ice cream, because they can also reduce the density by pumping up the air added to the mix (called "overrun" ).

I heard a talk last summer by the head of Park Dairy, the largest private label ice cream maker in the US. He said the main difference between Haagen Daaz or Ben and Jerry's and the store brand was the amount of added air.

They should be forced to sell ice cream by density, not by volume.


Good luck.

- Winston