#but shrinkflation feels like it's everywhere

[jadegr8]

Shrinkflation is too real

This was taken on December 20th

And this was yesterday

25g difference but no indication aside from the number on the packaging. I didn't have my phone on me a few days earlier when I found both of them together but I can assure you that they are the exact same size for the exact same price at the exact same supermarket.

This is not to call out a specific brand for doing this, it's just the one where I happened to notice.

(Besides Haribo made the 4th place for "Mogelpackung des Jahres"* here in Germany last year)

*Mogelpackung is a word consisting of the verb "mogeln", which means something like "to cheat", and "Packung" - "packaging" so it's a word for products where the company cheats on the customer by for example putting less product at the same price or using lower quality ingredients, also at the same price and I think it's beautiful.

[beesmygod]

I don’t think people will be happy about it. A lot of people aren’t happy about the general downgrade in quality everywhere. Not to over-rely on buzzwords, but it just reminds me of enshittification, shrinkflation, and the general price-gauging going on right now. I don’t think everyone at large is so stupid that they’ll act like AI is just as good as handcrafted images, but I do feel increasingly hopeless in a world where it feels like everything is now tilting towards wild exploitation by short-sighted assholes.

but the bottom has to fall out. like people have to realize that. infinite, exponential growth is not a thing and we're hurtling toward a bubble popping rather than any kind of shift in the paradigm.

e: im trying to think of how to explain this better give me a sec

[nickgerlich]

Blame It On The Salt

As much as consumers may feel powerless in the marketplace, ultimately, though, they always have the final word. Unless a purchase is mandated, like auto and home insurance, pretty much everything else we do is optional and volitional. That’s another way of saying we vote with our pocketbooks, and we may just vote for the other brand.

Or not at all.

Thus far this semester we have talked about shrinkflation. We recently explored skimpflation, its first cousin. Now we have the Revenge of the Consumers, and one company in particular has been forced to respond.

Salty snacks are an American favorite. Restaurants and bars also know how to use them to suck people into buying more drinks. We are hooked on chips and popcorn, but prices on these guilty pleasures have shot up far more than the overall rate of inflation. The result has been a combination of shrinkflation and price increases, leaving customers furious to the point of opting for cheaper store brands, or none at all.

Wow. There might be health benefits to all this inflation, something no one had on their BINGO card.

All the pushback has caused PepsiCo, which owns Lay’s, Dorito’s, Tostito’s, Ruffles, and other brands, will now start putting more chips in those bags that we have long felt had more air than food in the first place. In true marketing style, they will be touted as bonus bags with 20% more chips for the same price. Why miss an opportunity to put a positive spin on your products?

But this is not a nationwide rollout. It is more like a market test, because PepsiCo is only selling them initially in selected locations. I suppose if it works and customers return, then we can expect to see this everywhere.

Of course, shrinkflation is nothing new, and has been around far longer than the latest round of inflation. I am sure most of my students are too young to remember when you bought coffee in one-pound bags and three-pound canisters. Those packages shrunk long ago to 12 ounces and 36 ounces, although in recent months, I have seen some coffee bags at only 10 or 11 ounces. As for the price? Surely you jest, DrG.

I can tell those differences quite easily. I grind my own coffee beans, and then pack my own reusable K-cup. I know that I can get precisely 27 cups of coffee from a 12-ounce bag of beans. Yup. I am a total nerd. I counted it once over the span of a couple of weeks.

Not long ago I also mentioned how the 50-pound bag of dog food I buy for Huck had shrunk to 46 pounds, all the while the price rising from $24 to $28. But you know what? The most recent bag I bought was back down to $24, although the size remained stuck at 46 pounds. I’m not sure how Walmart was able to get their costs of production down, but good on them. I’m happy. Huck is happy.

Things have not been so hunky dory over on the snack aisle, though, and PepsiCo has been forced to respond. The question is whether the company can find a way to reduce its costs of manufacturing, otherwise a 20% bump in content will eat—bad pun—into their profits. This is the kind of thing that makes for a good short-term promotion. It is only a good long-term tactic if you can maintain margins.

All the while during this inflationary run, PepsiCo and other snack manufacturers have tried to promote themselves back into positive sales trends, but customers have apparently reached their maximum frustration level. They fought back, and now PepsiCo has blinked.

What does it all mean? See above. Customers ultimately determine the success and failure of products and businesses. We are the jury of public opinion. We can be heartless and cruel, because if we don’t look out for own interests, no one else will.

Now somebody please pass the chips.

Dr “Don’t Forget The Salsa!” Gerlich

Audio Blog