The Honeybee will tell you that this guy and I have at least one thing in common.
After looking in the pantry, I was happy to see that I had exactly two cans of tuna — until I remembered that tuna was one of the many products affected by shrinking package sizes, thanks to manufacturers trying to maintain market share by keeping their product prices stable.
Sure enough, my tuna cans held just five ounces each. So, unwilling to make my casserole with 29% less tuna than the recipe called for, I reluctantly hauled myself off to the supermarket for an additional can. I know.
This isn’t the first time I’ve run into trouble when an old recipe called for an ingredient based upon an older product size standard. Awhile back I was preparing a cookbook recipe that called for 28 ounces of spaghetti sauce, but the jar I had only contained 24 ounces.
(And, folks, please save your admonishments regarding spaghetti sauce in a jar. Yes, I understand it’s culinary sacrilege — especially for a proud American of Italian heritage such as myself — but sometimes I get caught without any leftover sauce in the freezer, and no time to whip up a fresh batch. But I digress.)
As long as food and other commodity prices are rising faster than consumer wages, manufacturers will continue to be faced with the dilemma of either raising prices and losing customers, or shrinking their package sizes and hoping nobody notices. Of course, more often than not, the manufacturers will choose the latter option.
Sneaky buggers.
Unfortunately for the manufacturers, the longer this practice goes on, more and more people will eventually discover they’re being deceived — especially the ones who enjoy using old cookbooks.
How small have packages become over the years? Quite a bit. Here are more than two dozen examples of shrinking product sizes — both specific and general — to prove my point. Items in bold are changes that occurred after January 2020:
- Ragu spaghetti sauce (Was: 28 oz.; Now: 24 oz.)
- Powerade (Was: 32 oz.; Now: 28 oz.)
- StarKist tuna (Was: 6 oz.; Now: 5 oz.)
- Anthony egg noodles (Was: 16 oz.; Now: 12 oz.)
- Lay’s Potato Chips, party bag (Was: 15.25 oz.; Now: 13 oz.)
- Scott toilet paper (Was: 115.2 sq. ft.; Now: 104.8 sq. ft.)
- Nutella (Was: 14.1 oz.; Now: 12.3 oz.)
- Haagen Dazs ice cream (Was: 16 oz.; Now: 14 oz.)
- Puffs tissue (Was: 56 count; Now: 48 count)
- Skippy peanut butter (Was: 18 oz.; Now 16.3 oz.)
- Kirkland Signature paper towels (Was: 96.2 sq. ft.; Now: 85 sq. ft.)
- Dawn dish soap, small (Was: 8 oz.; Now: 7 oz.)
- Ivory dish soap (Was: 30 oz.; Now: 24 oz.)
- Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa (Was: 16 oz.; Then: 15 oz.; Now: 14 oz.)
- Nathan’s Hot Dogs, skinless: (Was: 16 count; Now: 14 count)
- Country Crock margarine (Was: 48 oz.; Now: 45 oz.)
- Keebler Club Crackers (Was: 13.7 oz.; Now: 12.5 oz.)
- Breyer’s ice cream (Was: 64 oz.; Then: 56 oz.; Now: 48 oz.)
- Charmin Ultra Strong toilet paper (Was 286 sheets; Now: 264 sheets)
- Bounty 2-ply paper towels (Was: 138 half-sheets; Then: 128 half-sheets; Now: 110 half-sheets)
- Hershey’s kisses, family size (Was: 18 oz.; Now: 16 oz.)
- Canned vegetables (Was: 16 oz.; Now: 14.5 oz.)
- Yogurt (Was: 8 oz.; Now: 6 oz.)
- Mayonnaise (Was: 32 oz.; Now: 30 oz.)
- Coffee (Was: 16 oz.; Then: 15 oz.; Then: 13 oz.; Now: 10 oz.)
How You Can Fight Back
Pay attention to those labels! Instead of focusing on the item price listed on the supermarket shelves, look at the unit price. Comparing unit prices is the easiest way to figure out the best deal when evaluating different package sizes.
Don’t be afraid to try the store brand. Buying store-brand products can save you as much as 60%. And as many of my blind taste test experiments have shown, it’s often hard to discern taste and quality differences between name- and store-brand products — especially when you’re using those products in recipes.
Buy more fresh food. You can reduce your risk of becoming a victim of stealth inflation by eating more fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, and even eggs. After all, the only way the shrinking-package phenomenon could ever affect the price of eggs or, say, a bunch of bananas, is if the powers that be redefine a dozen to be equal to 11, or decide to reduce the number of ounces in a pound from 16 to 15.
Then again, at the rate we’re going, that day may actually be closer than you think.
Photo Credit: jcoterhals
I write about this all the time on my blog. It’s one of my pet peeves but there’s really no way to stop it. Ice cream is the one that pops into my head as the biggest change. Used to be a typical size was half gallons (2 quarts), then they cut it to 1.75 quarts, and then 1.5 quarts. Pretty much everyone has followed suit.
I was very disappointed on my last Costco trip to see that they even fall into the trap with their Kirkland products. I bought a 12 pack of paper towel, saw that they changed the labeling, and was immediately suspicious. Compared the rolls to some that we still had, and sure enough, the old rolls had 90 sheets and the new rolls had 80 sheets. They effectively cut a roll and a half out of what you get.
I’m happy to say that one ice cream company that still sells their product in full pints (16 oz.) is Ben & Jerry’s.
Now pass me the Chunky Monkey! 😉
It’s ridiculous really. It makes you think back of the old days when everything’s so big and so cheap. But now, you get half the size for the same price. Ridiculous! But I guess we need to accept that change. Prices of commodities will rise.
It is ridiculous, KC! I realize prices will rise, but I’d prefer they simply raise the price and drop the deception.
Yes. I would agree with that. They are not fooling anyone.
It’s not just canned veggies. I’ve noticed frozen veggie package sizes being reduced too!
I thought so, but I couldn’t confirm that, Kerri. For what it’s worth, the store-brand frozen green beans in my freezer are in a 16 oz package — so those haven’t been bitten by the shrinking package bug. Yet.
I do mental Math. When I am at the grocery store, I look for comparable things that give me a bang for my buck. But like you pointed out, there are many items that you just have to follow the manufacturer weight. When one starts reducing size, everyone else follows. And that’s the problem for consumers.
I hate it from the value point of view, but I actually like the smaller packages. We don’t have a lot of space at home and smaller packages take up less space. We don’t buy much processed food either so it’s not a big deal.
I hear you about the recipe though.
Well on the eggs front, we have even seen the continental disease of selling them in 10’s creeping across the Channel!
I haven’t noticed the changes so much over here – I think it may have something to do with legislation although equally I haven’t checked out our tuna stocks recently!
But you make a good point over manufacturers trying to get one over everyone. That is their purpose after all – to make a profit. If some poor sucker buys a smaller tin without realising it, they are the eponymous sucker!
The best solution is of course fresh food every time!
Eggs being sold in bunches of 10. Say it ain’t so, John! Then again … I said it wouldn’t be too long before that day got here.
(I’d ask you whether a pound still 16 ounces in the UK, but you folks went to the metric system a long time ago.)
Living on the continent, I noticed an opposite trend: in addition to traditional 10-packs of eggs, and sometimes instead of them, many stores started carrying 6-packs, and even 18-packs. They probably bought some British egg-packaging machines cheap, or something. It’s driving me bonkers. I use five eggs a day, so I need my eggs divisible by five. With this new packaging, I always end up missing two eggs, or having one extra!
And even worse… some pubs started using 0.4 litre glasses instead of 0.5 litre! I mean, what sort of nonsense is that? It’s too big for a small beer (0.3 litre) and too small for a normal one. To further add to the confusion, they serve some beers in 0.5 litre glasses and other beers in 0.4 litre glasses. Is there any method to this madness? 😀
Interesting. Here in the US, eggs are sold by the dozen — but they also offer them in 18 packs. I’ve never see a 10-pack here.
I live by price per unit at the grocery store unless it is completely ridiculous to do so. I don’t need 5 gallons of ranch dressing even if it is 5 cents cheaper an ounce
Agree! I look at unit prices regularly but since it’s only my hubby and me, buying large containers just to save a bit doesn’t make sense for us.
At first I thought, I was not affected since there was no price increase. Eventually, I realized that the price did not move up because they made the packaging smaller and reduced the content. So, that’s the catch! Now, I do the some mental math before purchasing an item to see which product will gives better quality at lower price per gram or ounce.
It’s terrible just how many items this happens on. What really annoys me is when they reduce something to about 1/3 of the size and then come out with a new product that was the same size as the original item, but now double the cost.
I see it all the time with chips, drinks and pizza.
Pizza, huh? Glen, you aren’t suggesting the pizzerias in your neck of the woods are going from eight slices in a pie to six, are you? 😉
Recently, there were reports that Subway — a sandwich shop here in the States — selling “footlong” subs that were actually only 11 inches long.
I haven’t been able to confirm that though, and Subway denies it is being done purposely.
Speaking of candy bars, Larry …
Did you know that the price of a Hershey bar was five cents from 1921 until 1969, when the price doubled to 10 cents? It’s true. During that 48-year period, the price didn’t change, but the weight of the bar did many times — and in both directions! — fluctuating between a low-point of 0.75 ounces (in 1968) and 2.0 ounces (in 1930).
You can see all the dirty details about the fluctuating prices and package sizes of selected products like Hershey bars, Kellogg’s corn flakes and other stuff at The Food Timeline. Here is the link for those who are interested:
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq5.html
There used to not be sales tax on snack food in Texas. When I was a kid, if you found a quarter, WOOOO! You were set for a while. lol
I worked part-time in a grocery store and you can bet a lot of times when the packaging changes, so does the size. I also look at the price per unit for regular sizes and usually buy the better value.
in the same vein, i used to buy 6 cans of the small 5 oz v-8 juice packs for my elderly mother. used to buy it for $2.89 per 6 pack.. then all of a sudden the next week, it went up to $3.35 per 6 pack and they slapped a big yellow and black sign under it saying NEW LOW PRICE!!! .. after i got thru laughing, i got mad and went to buying the generic 48 ounce cans.. arg…
Actually, Costco still sells the 7-oz. cans of tuna. I have a couple in my pantry right now.
And I read mouseprint.org every Monday to see the latest shrinking packages and tiny print exclusions.
Thanks for the tip, Lizbeth. I just visited mouseprint.org and I love it!
I was just complaining about this to my husband, boxed cake mixes have been cut to 15.25 oz instead of 18.25 oz. So it now takes 6 boxes to make 5 cakes. I have a lot of recipes that call for cake mixes. Also want to thank you for your website,I enjoy it very much
I remember awhile back when an executive of a food company was asked about the smaller packaging, and his response was that they were making these changes due to the desires of their consumers. I don’t think the interviewer bought it.
As others have already mentioned, using unit price can help deal with size changes.
The package size may shrink, but the unit ounce prices go the other direction. That you can’t fudge.
(Spaghetti sauce out of a jar?)
I was wondering how long it would take someone to ignore my admonishment about admonishing me.
Besides eggs being 10 to the dozen in Europe, all the food packages are smaller and the prices higher. Cook more from scratch, plant that vegetable garden, can the extra tomatoes for winter use, coupon, watch the unit prices, use the leftovers, compost the rest or get a few chickens. America STILL has much cheaper food prices than Europe, but with the current Socialst direction of our government, the prices will continue to rise until we too spend a larger portion of our income on food, as large as the Europeans, who marvel at the selection and low prices of the “average” American grocery store.
Len, I love the pic! That’s hilarious! You point out something that is so annoying in todays world. The 12 oz “pound” of coffee, the bag of chips that is 80% air. How about the “Makers Mark” bourbon that is getting watered down to 70 proof (I think)? I’d rather pay the full price and get the full amount!
Yes, Jose, I should have included the Makers Mark bourbon. That one totally slipped my mind! I’m with you, I’d prefer the full price / full strength whiskey, than the watered down stuff too. I still can’t get my head around the decision they made.
Maker’s Mark reversed their proposed change to their signature proof.
Garden – Food Co-op – Purchase and prepare in bulk, then freeze or package for the week – Purchase by clear Unit Prices or I will not purchase at all.
Sometimes I believe that I am avoiding much of the “gouging” if not all of the “inflation”.
* * *
Inflation is not inevitable, folks, continue to promote your local purchasing with those businesses with whom you retain a “voice” and some “influence”.
Look for ‘B’ Corporations, too as alternative economies and valuing human labor and natural resources are essentially to a healthy economy and our current capitalism doesn’t.
I realize this article is 3 years old, but I wanted to post somewhere relevant regarding the New! (uh-hem) Homestyle Ragu sauce.
I noticed the change in jars a few months ago, and checked the size and yep, that was the reason for the “new” look – a smaller size. From 24 oz to 23 oz.
There is not much difference in the ingredients, but another marketing ploy to get people to try it, making them think its just like made from scratch, and in the end they get LESS product.
Now (2020-2021) there’s a “new-old” way of ever more intensively decreasing actual meat product without decreasing apparent size and weight: Pump more and more water in.
When I add frozen sliced franks to canned brown beans to make “beanie-weenie”, I microwave the franks to thaw them for slicing. It used to be that they “bled ” just a little oil in the process and ended up the same size. Not anymore: they shrink a good 40% in diameter as the water gets boiled out of them!
Mr. Dave,
They pump some poultry full of a 15% liquid solution. They list it on the label.
The only thing I have noticed not decreasing in size is my waist.
LOL! I’m laughing because it’s so true … and I don’t want to cry.
We make homemade jelly and preserves and can them for the winter. Using a family recipe and the boxes of pectin have changed. We.live 20 miles from town and just said a prayer that the pear honey would still thicken sufficiently. Nothing quite like the fury of working up 2 bushels of pears and canning 30+ pints for it not to come out right due to down sizing. The looser product did not a pretty good ice cream or pancake topping.
Cranberries used to come in a one pound (16 ounce) clear plastic bag which then was switched to a 12 ounce bag at a higher price. Summer’s coming with relief from shrinkflation! I bought a bunch of vegetable seeds on ebay for extremely low prices, including postage. The variety and good value of seeds available on ebay is extraordinary. Starting with radishes, lettuce (WONDERFUL LETTUCE including that super pricey “mesclun”), spring onions, cabbages, 3 kinds of regular onions and then on to tomatoes, sweet peppers, potatoes, rhubarb, okra we eat out of our organic garden for pennies a meal for months. Because of working a bit in the garden no expensive gym membership is necessary. The garden is mostly fertilized with compost and tilled with hand tools from yard sales. We mulch heavily to keep weeding to a minimum using all the free bales of straw we could want. Neighbors put decorative straw bales on the curb after Halloween and Thanksgiving. I pick the straw bales up and bring them home at no cost. Vegetable gardening is a cheap, productive hobby. Every spring there are those odd stories about how some clueless wonder has spent a staggering amount which results in $4. each for some tomatoes raised. We always end up with more produce than we can use. The extra goes out on a small table in the front yard with a cardboard sign and neighbors eagerly buy the excess organic produce. Their contribution covers cost of the seeds, the rare water charge (Heavy mulch negates the need to do much watering.) and anything we might want to buy for the garden. When some bunnies ate the first planting of zucchini one year I picked up a huge roll of garden mesh on the curb on trash day and we’ve been using that mesh fencing with wood stakes made from curbside scrounged boards to keep out the critters ever since, cost $0. The tomato stakes are also made from curbside found lumber. If you watch the curb on trash collection days you will end up with so many tomato cages that you can select the really good, heavy duty ones to keep and sell off the extras on Facebook marketplace for a dollar a piece. It’s kind of a game to see how much beautiful, organic food you can produce for almost no money. Pumpkins take up too much room to raise. After Halloween I pick up “used” Jack O’ Lanterns put out for recycling and toss them on our compost heap (no seeds, thank you carvers!) and a couple of perfectly sound whole pumpkins which I cut up and use for cooking. I can some of this free pumpkin for making pies all winter. FIGHT SHRINKFLATION, RAISE SOME FOOD!
This was a great read! I’m never afraid to try the store brand… in fact, I get much satisfaction from trying the store brand and saving money. Most of the time, I find that the store brand actually tastes the same, if not better. Thanks for sharing!
Yep. There are quite a few store brand products out there that are better than the name brands. People have to take a chance and see for themselves!
News coverage has increased! Yes fight back against shrinkflation. My poor wife has to rewrite all her recipes noting the exact ounces she needs.
Laundry detergent was once sold in 64 oz bottles & now some contain as little as 31 oz
Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that the “cost of living adjustment” in Social Security based on the “Consumer Market Basket” does not take into account smaller package sizes. I know that my grocery bill, in spite of buying less to reduce calories, has gone up far more than the adjustment.
You got that right, Harry. And that’s the way the government likes it; it keeps the SS payouts artificially low.
Oh I’m so glad that others are noticing. If only our voice mattered. I get so angry when I go shopping because I’ve been seeing it for a while and they are so extreme about it. The big dent in the bottom of drink bottles, reducing the amount of product, not even filling drink and detergent bottles to even the neck of the container. Just getting jipped! It’s in almost everything and not just food and drink, or actual product, but also product containers. Water bottles use such thin plastic, you have to handle them like fine China not to squirt it all out over yourself just grabbing the bottle. I was very furious with some Home Depot moving boxes that were made so thin and crappy the boxes were falling apart. They couldn’t even hold paper. Just ridiculous!
We’re paying more and getting less. I do my own silent protest as best I can and have just stopped buying some things. But with it being darn near everything, we still have to eat. I have stopped eatting out a lot too because of the shrinking food and raised prices and crappy service. BJ’s restaurant used to have 6-8 asparagus on my plate. The last time I went it was 3. T-H-R-E-E asparagus as a side item. I was done! (extreme eye roll)
I read an article the other day about another form of shrinkflation. Service industries are either upping prices with cuts to services or just flat cutting services, and charging the same price. Hotels aren’t giving daily maid service. You aren’t getting customer care at the stores. People are less willing to give you full service.
I vote with my money, and will walk.
I noticed today for the first time at Dollar General that Gatorade Zero was downsized to 28 oz bottles from 32 oz. I knew it was coming, but was hoping it would be a while longer before they did that. Because Powerade downsized their bottles from 32oz to 28 oz a while back so I don’t buy Powerade as much anymore. Now I will not be buying Gatorade anymore. I do not need it that bad! I will just drink more cold water & iced tea! 4 oz less and the price has gone up! Doesn’t sound good to me. I can even make lemonade very cheaply!
Just raise the damn price – you’re not fooling anybody.
Oh yeah, I forgot, check out Taco Bell now!
Their hard-shell taco shells are “paper thin, really paper thin!” and prices also went up significantly.
Looks like the day of a quick and inexpensive bite, has one away! I’m just sayin’.
Yes; but I still love Taco Bell. On the other hand, the Honeybee began boycotting them the day they discontinued their green sauce.
Just opened a box of State Fair brand beef corn dogs. The price had gone up and the dogs shrunk in size by about 25%.
Have to add my two cents!
Someone in above string said, “they’re not fooling anyone”, yes, they are. Lots of oblivious people out there. Gatorade, cool new bottle look but same great product, just 4 oz less and no price change? I’ll guess an increase. Pepsodent tooth paste spurts air at a certain point demonstrating their strategy (and guess what, doesn’t cost a buck any more). Suave Essentials shampoo/conditioner, changed to an oval bottle to fake you out that there’s less product. Now come on, these last two item were already the cheapest around! I’ve worked in and been part of the budget meetings where the CEO/President pounds on Marketing/Sales and Operations to decrease expenses, increase profits, etc. In the end, some little wiener/exec. pushes out these deceptions and get his bonus/promotion. It’s not only very insulting that they think we’re stupid but I say they lack good character and morals in general. They certainly have no problem telling us about “20% more”, how about telling us about the “20% less” too.