Haagen Dazs shrinks size from 16oz to 14oz, but the price stays the same.

[Overmind One]

More money-making shenanigans this time from Haagen Dazs. The favorite of all ice creams, the familiar full pint sized Haagen Dazs is gone, replaced by a new smaller 14oz size, but the price will remain the same. Evidently, this happened some time ago last year. I only found out because I had a friend ask me to pick up a pint of Haagen Dazs from the market along with my other stuff. I was confused because to me the new package is noticeably smaller and I was looking for the full sized one thinking this was the "small". But wait, it was the largest size and was the same price as the pint used to be (about $4.99). I bought it and when I came home I checked up on it. This is a 20% reduction in size, and the price is the same?

Several other brands have done the same thing. But Ben and Jerry's is still a full pint. Seeing them side by side really shows you the difference. I looked it up. A whole lot of brands have shrunk in size due to rising grain prices and other factors, but these product manufacturers did not tell consumers about the changes. Here is a short list:

http://pressroom.consumerreports.or...-finds-more-products-are-getting-smaller.html

Product	Old size	New size	Difference
Tropicana orange juice	64 oz.	59 oz.	-7.8%
Ivory dish detergent	30 oz.	24 oz.	-20%
Kraft American cheese	24 slices	22 slices	-8.3%
Kirkland Signature (Costco) paper towels	96.2 sq. ft.	85 sq. ft.	-11.6%
Haagen-Dazs ice cream	16 oz.	14 oz.	-12.5%
Scott toilet tissue	115.2 sq. ft.	104.8 sq. ft.	-9%
Lanacane first aid spray	113 grams	99 grams	-12.4%
Chicken of the Sea salmon	3 oz.	2.6 oz.	13.3%
Classico pesto	10 oz.	8.1 oz.	-19%
Hebrew National franks	12 oz.	11 oz.	-8.3%

You know, it isn't disappearing food that is causing these food price problems. It is the food distributors who are the problem. It does not cost more to grow a banana or water wheat plants or pick apples. It is only costing the huge greedy food distributors more in the form of gas prices, consumer awareness (and buying fewer grain based products and sugars), and wanting to maintain healthy profit margins. I hate it that western civilization has monetized food distribution. Why do we have it set up where out food comes from hundreds of miles away from where we live? Why cant we have our own fruit trees and filter and bottle our own water? Why have cities intentionally eliminated local growers? Why has convenience replaced common sense? All because some big ass company needs to make their money.

Im pissed a bit. You can see the downsizing of products everywhere if you look. But no similar downsizing in price.

 

[SciphonicStranger]

I read about this phenomenon a few years ago. Apparently shoppers are more sensitive to price changes than they are to changes in the size of the package. So the food companies find that they can keep their sales stable by selling you a little less at the same price instead of raising the price for the same quantity.

 

[Gatefan1976]

"fat tax" at work

 

[shavedape]

More money-making shenanigans this time from Haagen Dazs. The favorite of all ice creams, the familiar full pint sized Haagen Dazs is gone, replaced by a new smaller 14oz size, but the price will remain the same. Evidently, this happened some time ago last year. I only found out because I had a friend ask me to pick up a pint of Haagen Dazs from the market along with my other stuff. I was confused because to me the new package is noticeably smaller and I was looking for the full sized one thinking this was the "small". But wait, it was the largest size and was the same price as the pint used to be (about $4.99). I bought it and when I came home I checked up on it. This is a 20% reduction in size, and the price is the same?

Several other brands have done the same thing. But Ben and Jerry's is still a full pint. Seeing them side by side really shows you the difference. I looked it up. A whole lot of brands have shrunk in size due to rising grain prices and other factors, but these product manufacturers did not tell consumers about the changes. Here is a short list:

http://pressroom.consumerreports.or...-finds-more-products-are-getting-smaller.html

Product	Old size	New size	Difference
Tropicana orange juice	64 oz.	59 oz.	-7.8%
Ivory dish detergent	30 oz.	24 oz.	-20%
Kraft American cheese	24 slices	22 slices	-8.3%
Kirkland Signature (Costco) paper towels	96.2 sq. ft.	85 sq. ft.	-11.6%
Haagen-Dazs ice cream	16 oz.	14 oz.	-12.5%
Scott toilet tissue	115.2 sq. ft.	104.8 sq. ft.	-9%
Lanacane first aid spray	113 grams	99 grams	-12.4%
Chicken of the Sea salmon	3 oz.	2.6 oz.	13.3%
Classico pesto	10 oz.	8.1 oz.	-19%
Hebrew National franks	12 oz.	11 oz.	-8.3%

Where's Tropi??? :mad:

 

[Rac80]

they are picking my pocket and I don't like it!

yep this is one reason I often buy the store brands (if the quality is good) there is much less "shrinkage" with them. then there is always Sam's or Costco...those giant boxes of cereal are still a steal there.

@OM1- it's also because the US dollar is worth much less than it was a few years ago...thus our buying power is less.

 

[Gatefan1976]

yep this is one reason I often buy the store brands (if the quality is good) there is much less "shrinkage" with them. then there is always Sam's or Costco...those giant boxes of cereal are still a steal there.

@OM1- it's also because the US dollar is worth much less than it was a few years ago...thus our buying power is less.

Hmm, can't agree with that, Our dollar has gone up in value and our product sizes have shrunk as well, so not sure if thats something to "hang your hat" on.

 

[Bluce Ree]

yep this is one reason I often buy the store brands (if the quality is good) there is much less "shrinkage" with them. then there is always Sam's or Costco...those giant boxes of cereal are still a steal there.

@OM1- it's also because the US dollar is worth much less than it was a few years ago...thus our buying power is less.

[/B]Hmm, can't agree with that, Our dollar has gone up in value and our product sizes have shrunk as well, so not sure if thats something to "hang your hat" on.

Same shit up in Canada. It's done because they can, not because they have to.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Same shit up in Canada. It's done because they can, not because they have to.

I tend to find that if a product is "successful" it has something to do with the recipie, and over time they change "a little X" and a "little Y" to make it still be "good", but not as good as it used to be. Then they shrink the pack size, restore the original contents and call it "new and improved", then just repeat the cycle for as long as they feel they can.

 

[Overmind One]

yep this is one reason I often buy the store brands (if the quality is good) there is much less "shrinkage" with them. then there is always Sam's or Costco...those giant boxes of cereal are still a steal there.

@OM1- it's also because the US dollar is worth much less than it was a few years ago...thus our buying power is less.

I am more inclined to believe that the shrinkage is designed to maintain the healthy profit margins being exacted by the huge food companies who are making these changes. The smaller manufacturers are not making them. Cereal manufacturers are seeing a HUGE drop in profits because less people are buying them. Same with milk. The milk companies are charging the same for almond milk as they were for dairy milk and it costs a fraction to make a quart or gallon of almond milk. We are seeing reductions in quality for foods being manufactured by the large manufacturers (Kellogg, General Mills, Nabisco, Pepsico foods, CocaCola foods, etc). Not so much for the smaller companies. The restaurant CHAINS are cutting costs, but not the one-off standalone restaurants so much.

 

[shavedape]

I am more inclined to believe that the shrinkage is designed to maintain the healthy profit margins being exacted by the huge food companies who are making these changes. The smaller manufacturers are not making them. Cereal manufacturers are seeing a HUGE drop in profits because less people are buying them. Same with milk. The milk companies are charging the same for almond milk as they were for dairy milk and it costs a fraction to make a quart or gallon of almond milk. We are seeing reductions in quality for foods being manufactured by the large manufacturers (Kellogg, General Mills, Nabisco, Pepsico foods, CocaCola foods, etc). Not so much for the smaller companies. The restaurant CHAINS are cutting costs, but not the one-off standalone restaurants so much.

Don't get me going about restaurant chains. The practical part of me understands the need to be careful with ingredients but how they have cut back is just pathetic. A friend recently went to Buca and got some chicken pasta dish -- there were 3 small pieces of chicken in the whole thing. When he complained they gave him a coupon for more food there in the future. Gee thanks.

Contrast this to a stand alone supper club I go to regularly and they haven't raised their prices or skimped on ingredients or offerings at all. Even their drink prices are laughably low. I can get a bottle of 14 Hands merlot for $19. Call brand cocktails are $5 at most. They still give every table a relish tray and tons of other things like bread and unlimited salad dressings. And entree portions are huge. The place is always packed, go figure.

 

[Overmind One]

Don't get me going about restaurant chains. The practical part of me understands the need to be careful with ingredients but how they have cut back is just pathetic. A friend recently went to Buca and got some chicken pasta dish -- there were 3 small pieces of chicken in the whole thing. When he complained they gave him a coupon for more food there in the future. Gee thanks.

Contrast this to a stand alone supper club I go to regularly and they haven't raised their prices or skimped on ingredients or offerings at all. Even their drink prices are laughably low. I can get a bottle of 14 Hands merlot for $19. Call brand cocktails are $5 at most. They still give every table a relish tray and tons of other things like bread and unlimited salad dressings. And entree portions are huge. The place is always packed, go figure.

LOL, you guys have Buca de Beppo too? the one in Redondo Beach has shrunk their once famously huge portions, and the price went UP. Not only that, the chorus of waiters and waitresses there who used to sing happy birthday are down to a trio. The Italian chef in the kitchen there has been replaced by a cook of Mexican descent. There are seasonings missing from the lasagna dish, which I would not know if I did not love it so much. But Mamma Mia pizza who changed their name to Eddie's (local) has the same prices, same ingredients, same great service.

I do not feel sorry for the chains. I see chain establishments as somebody's money-making hydra. I watched as Chipoltle drove out the tiny (but delicious) Mexican restaurants. Denny's? LOL. Marie Callender has become a trollip sitting in the window of a brothel holding a (substandard) pie hoping to snare those who are unfamiliar with her former glory.

 

[Overmind One]

I tend to find that if a product is "successful" it has something to do with the recipie, and over time they change "a little X" and a "little Y" to make it still be "good", but not as good as it used to be. Then they shrink the pack size, restore the original contents and call it "new and improved", then just repeat the cycle for as long as they feel they can.

Buying time, as it were. People are not stupid. They will notice if their portions are smaller, they will notice the smaller boxes and packages, and there will be backlash. I am cooking more and more because I can already see the food companies using unhealthy fillers and lower quality ingredients to keep their profit margins. I can make it better at home. Now that almond milk is being sold by dairy manufacturers at the SAME PRICE as milk, I may start making my own. It is easy and cheap and I can make two or three gallons from a $4.00 bag of raw almonds.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Buying time, as it were. People are not stupid. They will notice if their portions are smaller, they will notice the smaller boxes and packages, and there will be backlash. I am cooking more and more because I can already see the food companies using unhealthy fillers and lower quality ingredients to keep their profit margins.

Tis why I cook nearly every night bro
I can cook a 2 1/2 pound roast leg of lamb or pork with all the trimmings for less than what it costs to buy Mickey D's for the family, in fact most meals I make generally come in at under what it would cost to buy Mickey D's now I think of it, and I don't skimp on the ingrediants either.

I can make it better at home. Now that almond milk is being sold by dairy manufacturers at the SAME PRICE as milk, I may start making my own. It is easy and cheap and I can make two or three gallons from a $4.00 bag of raw almonds.

Do it, my brother in law does it and thats exactly why.

 

[Rac80]

Tis why I cook nearly every night bro
I can cook a 2 1/2 pound roast leg of lamb or pork with all the trimmings for less than what it costs to buy Mickey D's for the family, in fact most meals I make generally come in at under what it would cost to buy Mickey D's now I think of it, and I don't skimp on the ingrediants either.


Do it, my brother in law does it and thats exactly why.

yep homecooking is the rule here...thank the monkey gods for slow cookers! I like high quality fresh ingrediants -- home garden here too. nothing beats a fresh tomato off the plant in your backyard.

I have a chinese friend who makes her own soymilk. she has a special machine that does it. it tastes much better than what you buy in stores. she uses the leftover bean shells in making mulch for her garden.

 

[Graybrew1]

Don't get me going about restaurant chains. The practical part of me understands the need to be careful with ingredients but how they have cut back is just pathetic. A friend recently went to Buca and got some chicken pasta dish -- there were 3 small pieces of chicken in the whole thing. When he complained they gave him a coupon for more food there in the future. Gee thanks.

Contrast this to a stand alone supper club I go to regularly and they haven't raised their prices or skimped on ingredients or offerings at all. Even their drink prices are laughably low. I can get a bottle of 14 Hands merlot for $19. Call brand cocktails are $5 at most. They still give every table a relish tray and tons of other things like bread and unlimited salad dressings. And entree portions are huge. The place is always packed, go figure.

This sounds a lot like a place called "The Border Cafe" in Delaware. It is not a chain but it is a franchise of 2-3. It is dirt cheap Tex Mex fusion place. The drinks and food are all top notch. The service is as well. The portions are huge, thank goodness for doggy bags. One free basket of homemade salsa and homemade chips to start and all the free salsa you want. Free soda and coffee refills. Margaritas are HUGE and very reasonably priced.

They are packed for dinner usually 7 days a week. They do a quite healthy lunch business and also kick ass happy hours. Just as you said...........packed when the others are all dead as a door nail. They claim to use more local farmers to keep prices down. Lower Delaware is mostly farmland but amazingly none of the chains do that!!! LOL.