I ask because I passed by the ice cream section in the supermarket today, and Dreyer’s Ice Cream was noticeably smaller — enough that my brain immediately told me something wasn’t the same on just a glance. Of course, it’s still the same price.
I must be the only one who’d prefer they raised the price and kept the amount the same, because this has been standard practice for decades. Does anyone out there agree with me?
what I hate is when they realize your getting a deal and scale it down
like at dollar tree they have the 20oz coke and pepsi products for 99 cents
coke realized it and will only sell them 8 or 12 oz bottles so they go through s middleman to get the 20 oz bottles
but other companies are making specific “dollar store sized” items instead of selling them full sized for clearance (on dish soap they’ll rebottle the stuff normal stores don’t sell into smaller bottles)
Right here.
Only, not in an IMHO way. In a Pit way. The 56-ounce (and in some brands, the 48-ounce) half-gallon of ice cream, the 30-ounce quart of mayonnaise, the 12-ounce pound of bacon; these are abominations unto my sight, and I vow to not rest until they are eliminated from the Earth’s surface.
With cleansing fire, if necessary.
I don’t mind it as much when it is something like peanut butter or ice cream. I am only taking some of the product at a time, and I realize that I’ll just have to buy a new package sooner. When they do it with items that are usually added to recipes as an entire package, then that infuriates me. For years, the recipe calls for 1 can (8 oz) of tuna. Now the can is only 6 oz, how am I supposed to adjust the recipe.
I’ve also noticed that many pint glasses in the bar are only 14 or 12 oz. I was vacationing in Arizona and ordered a bottle of beer. The waitress asked if I’d like a pint glass with that, and I said yes. I poured the 12 oz bottle of beer into the “pint” glass, and the glass was full to the brim.
Six ounces? Nowadays, you’re lucky if it’s five ounces.
I’d rather the price be raised.
Yes, these! Besides the dollar store thing, companies have been making smaller sizes of products for sale at WalMart for a long time - for example, a box of the same brand of dog biscuits at WalMart will be smaller than the one sold at the grocery store since WalMart leans on its suppliers to provide items that come under specific price ceilings. One way to do that is to simply provide a smaller unit of said item.
With things like dog biscuits (or ice cream, etc.) I don’t mind that so much, but I mind the hell out of it when I want to make something that calls for a whole box or can of something, and that box or can is no longer the size mentioned in the recipe.
From the manufacturers’ perspective, they see a bunch of absurdly price-sensitive consumers out there, who are more likely to compare prices by the jar, than by the ounce.
So for them, the smart move is to keep their prices in line by the jar, not by the ounce, and vary the size of the jar to keep that price point the same, in case of cost increases over time, or whatever.
It’s the rare customer that whips out a calculator or does the mental arithmetic to figure out that the 30.5 oz jar is actually more expensive than the competitor’s 32 oz jar. Most just look at the jars and make their decisions at that level.
Yes, just raise the price. Of course, they’re working both ends. Anyone else noticing how much larger the cardboard tube is getting in your basic roll of T-paper? Plus, the price goes up regardless.
Look folks we’re not going to get this changed until the most grievous error is rectified - The 10 hotdogs / 8 Buns abomination.
I agree. And don’t forget the 11 oz. pound of coffee. Or the 59 oz. half gallon of orange juice.
We have a local dairy that makes ice cream and still sells it by the half gallon. The container looks and feels positively massive now that I’ve been snookered into buying 48 oz. “half gallons” of Turkey Hill ice cream.
I agree on the recipe front. 16 oz. cans of vegetables are now usually 14.5 oz. or something like that.
Just raise the prices.
Use the extra buns for banana and peanut butter sandwiches.
Or buy 4 pkgs. of buns and 5 pkgs. of hot dogs. Problem solved. 
I lost it when they shrunk the 3# cans of coffee and that was how long ago? So yeah – I’m on your side.
I agree. I have “regular” recipes which say to add a can of this or a box of that. It totally discombobulates my cooking when they go and shrink food container sizes.
Also I like to stock up on stuff and only go shopping once a month - saves on gas. So I prefer quantity.
I am quite amused by the trickery used with frozen foods to place as little actual food in the package as possible. They take a rectangular box, stick an oval container inside that, slope the sides of that container inwards, make the bottoms bow upwards, and barely fill it so the food covers the bottom. This equals a LOT of air in the package.
Another one is the “Family Dinners” of Salisbury Steaks or whatever. Note the wording is “Gravy with…” because it is mostly water/gravy. Anyway I would like to see a “family” sitting down at the dinner table and one of those being served. They are all going to go hungry because just one of those is a meal for just me!
Some supermarkets include on the shelf tag a price per unit/ounce/pound/whatever, so no calculator needed.
Or the 454g half-kilo of butter*: man, I hate that one.
But as to the OP: Yes. I really, really dislike being manipulated, especially in a clumsy manner. Prices ending in .99 (in a country without pennies), loyalty point schemes, anything to do with the way clothing is priced and sized…
*454 kg is a pound: it’s pseudo-metric, not a reduced size.
Frozen vegetables is the one that’s currently pissing me off. Used to be a pound of whatever. Exactly enough for me to heat and serve to my family of 4 with dinner. Now it’s 12 ounces. So either we eat less veg (which we already don’t eat enough of), or I have to open another bag, use a bag and 1/3, find a twist tie, stick it back in the freezer, try to eyeball it next time to remember if I took out 1/3 or 2/3, use it and 2/3 of another bag, lather, rinse and repeat.
So I went and got the 5 pound bags from Costco. And they’ve been recalled. :smack:
I’d rather the “price per quantity” line on the shelf sticker be MADE BIG ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY READ WITHOUT A MICROSCOPE.
There Oughta Be A Law!
Groceries should have to display a large banner that you have to view before entering the store, with the latest price changes shown, to wit:
Kraft mayonnaise, price per oz raised 27% today! Now’s your chance – Buy it before it goes up again, or we reduce the jar’s size!
This is one of my major HATES!!! So far, I’ve gotten away with making my pumpkin pies with a 14.5 oz vs 16 oz can of pumpkin, but if they reduce it any more, I’ll have to tweak my recipe.
I hate that my rolls of TP are half an inch narrower than they used to be - it looks like I have oversized TP holders.
I hate that the box that used to hold 200 tissues now holds 172 or an equally ridiculous number. I hate that the 3 quart size ice cream cartons have false bottoms so they take up almost as much space as the old half-gallon containers.
I hate losing 2 oz of mayo per jar.
I won’t even buy canned tuna any more - once you drain the water out, you’re lucky to have 3oz of tuna in that 5 oz can!
Yes, it pisses me off mightily!!!
I know you’re speaking tongue in cheek, but hot dogs and buns have both come 8 to a package for years.