Products shrink as costs rise

[dalton99a]

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2021/jun/02/products-shrink-as-costs-rise/

Products shrink as costs rise
Tactic disguises rising inflation
by The Associated Press | June 2, 2021 at 2:16 a.m.

Consumers are paying more for a growing range of household staples in ways that don't show up on receipts -- thinner rolls, lighter bags, smaller cans -- as companies look to offset rising labor and materials costs without scaring off customers.

It's a form of retail camouflage known as "shrinkflation," and economists and consumer advocates who track packaging expect it to become more pronounced as inflation ratchets up, taking hold of such everyday items such as paper towels, potato chips and diapers.

"Consumers check the price every time they buy, but they don't check the net weight," said Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, who has been tracking product sizes for more than 30 years. "When the price of raw materials, like coffee beans or paper pulp goes up, manufacturers are faced with a choice: Do we raise the price knowing consumers will see it and grumble about it? Or do we give them a little bit less and accomplish the same thing? Often it's easier to do the latter."

Such cutbacks, economists say, typically coincide with economic downturns, when shoppers tend to be more mindful of cost. There was similar product shrinkage during the 2008 recession, according to John Gourville, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School.

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[I_UndergroundPanther]

1. Businesses

Could make less profits instead of cheating customers.

Funny how making a little less profit never occurs to these greedy businesses.

[Pobeka]

2. Don't get in the way of senior mgmt's compensation!

Nobody could possible manage a company the way they do at fraction of their salaries.

[pidge]

3. This has been going om for years,started with coffee IIRC.

[MiniMe]

4. This is nothing new

It's been going on for years. When was the last time you saw a real half gallon of ice cream?

[exboyfil]

5. Tuna

It has gotten so bad that recipes have had to be reset.

7 oz to 5 oz.

[stillcool]

6. the stimulus seemed to coincide

with the rise in prices around here. I'm sure they have legitimate reasons for the spike in prices, other than making hay while the sun shines.

[dalton99a]

7. +1. "They got extra money - they can afford it"

[Harker]

8. Stephen J. Gould wrote an essay on the evolutionary shrinking of

the Hershey bar in the early 80s.