Comments on: Watch Out for Reduced Product Sizes

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:15:21 +0000

I have noticed that Kraft Macaroni and cheese just dont taste the same as it used to…. and that one box used to be enough for 2 people now not only does it taste really starchy and is really chewy, unlike before, it now only fills one standard size bowl!!

By: Ginny

Ginny — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 03:08:50 +0000

I remember the last time that ice cream got smaller, it did use to be 2 quarts. That stinks that they are making products smaller for same price. It is worse though to change ingredients, will have to pay more attention.

By: Routing By Rumor

Routing By Rumor — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:09:57 +0000

No, Karen, the Thrifty Mommy is not mistaken. This is one case where the cool mom who enjoys “finding more for less” has instead found less for more.

Yes, manufacturers have conspired to shrink ice cream containers yet again, and yes, the half-gallon container was the industry standard until recently. The next stop on this trip is the 1.25 quart container of ice cream.

One off the Edy’s cartons you have in your photo is their “LOADED” Cookies ‘N Cream variety. Maybe that should really say “LOADED WITH 25% LESS”.

See our post about shrinking ice cream containers at
http://routingbyrumor.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/unilever-shrinks-its-products-again-breyers-ice-cream-now-25-smaller/

And yes, manufacturers are cheapening their recipes, adding more water to many products, and adding things like vegetable gum (or other thickeners) to thicken their watered-down products in the hope that the consumer won’t notice. They are also trying to camouflage their smaller packages with deceptive labels and/or container designs. We’ve documented a few examples of this in our other posts.

If you can find another brand of ice cream (or any product) that hasn’t shrunk. consider buying that item instead, and supporting manufacturers that provide better value to consumers.

- Routing By Rumor

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:35:08 +0000

Kaye: lol Very sneaky of the other companies to advertise that they are still 1/2 gallon. Very true though.

By: Kaye

Kaye — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:22:50 +0000

I noticed the ice cream change not on my own, but when one particular brand advertised on their cartons “STILL 1/2 GALLON.” My thoughts were “aren’t they all?” Then I discovered that alas, they were not. Thank you not-to-be-mentioned-here-brand for your alert as well as your sense of tradition! =)

By: Jeniffer Scheiderer

Jeniffer Scheiderer — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:36:50 +0000

I work at a major retailer as a 3rd shift stocker and food is not the only thing thats getting smaller I have noticed several beauty aides changing packaging and going to smaller amounts for the same price so look the next time you buy your shampoo you still might find the bigger package

By: Kristina Cant

Kristina Cant — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:49:44 +0000

My husband also love his ice cream and he also works in a grocery store. We were just talking about this the other day, while we were doing our shopping. The prices are going up and the sizes are going down.

By: Musicguy

Musicguy — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:31:29 +0000

We noticed this yesterday, as we had two different sized Edy’s containers in our freezer. You can mess with gas prices, but don’t mess with my Ice Cream!!!

By: Top 15 ways restaurants are sneaking in cost savings

Top 15 ways restaurants are sneaking in cost savings — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:21:48 +0000

[...] restaurants are cutting food costs this week. Great minds think alike, because Karen noticed her grocery store doing the same thing. So I did a little research and here is what I found. There are lots of [...]

By: JayMonster

JayMonster — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:23:09 +0000

This is a frequent game they play, with lots of things. But none quite so sneakily as the food manufacturers. I am surprised they left it quite so obvious in the case of the ice cream. Things like candy bars have gotten smaller, but the wrappers often remain the same size and are just puffed out with air (a trick they obviously learned from the Potato Chip people).

A “pound” of coffee, hasn’t been a pound in quite some time, and the actual amount varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

One of the nastiest ones I read about is how the candy industry is trying to get the law changed so they don’t have to put cocoa butter back into the chocolate (cocoa butter is what gives it the texture), and instead replace with with Vegetable Shortening instead (If they did that now, they have to call it “chocolate flavored” and not chocolate.)

Coke tried (and quietly failed) to turn the 2 Liter Bottle of Soda into a 1.5 Liter and leave the price the same. But it was too dramatic and the backlash forced them to “add” the size rather than phase out the 2 liter as originally intended.