When Size Does Matter

A few years ago, I became aware of an ingenious, but somewhat sneaky, strategy adopted by food manufacturers and retailers. It was to keep prices low, but offer a smaller quantity of the item. While this, in itself, is not sneaky, the way they packaged the size-reduced product, was. I first noticed it with potato chips. The price was the same, the size of the packaging was the same, but a bag of chips didn't seem to go very far at parties or when watching a movie. That's when I noticed that the average weight had gone from 190g to 170g, a reduction of over 10%. Now aware of this, I began to notice that packages of spaghetti and other pastas had been reduced from 900g (or 2 pounds) to 750g (a reduction of 17%). Again, it was difficult to discern by merely looking at the packaging, many of the changes being very subtle and at times, hardly noticeable to the harried shopper. And these changes started happening way before the recent spikes in the price of gasoline. Before long, I began to notice smaller yogurt containers, 18-unit soda packages instead of the usual 24-unit ones. Now, everything from chewing gum to laundry detergent is being re-packaged or as the industry would like to refer as 'right sizing'.

Given all the economic turmoil, tight budgets, rising commodity and fuel prices, I can understand how food and consumer products manufacturers do not want to raise prices and the consequent ire of their customers, and I do believe this is a smart and legitimate practice. Where I think they are disingenuous, is that they benefit financially off of the ambivalence of their customers. Most people grocery shopping reach for staple products that they are familiar with, and if the packaging is visually identical, they merely grab it and throw it in the cart. They are quite aware of how much their favourite item will cost, but very few will know how much it weighs. In my days n the financial world, there was a saying that "People know the price of everything, and the value of nothing". That is, they'll tell you that the price of a bag of potato chips is $2.00, but can't tell you whether it's a good deal or not, based on quality, weight etc.

These days, if any reading of food packaging is done, the majority of shoppers will be looking at the nutritional information rather than the weight. What about grocery stores that offer the comparative tags on their shelves alerting consumers as to the price per weight or unit? These are only helpful in comparing one brand against another, but if all of the pasta packages are the same size, it doesn't really alert you to the fact that you're getting 17% less pasta than you thought (or were used to getting).

In this case, I put the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the consumer. An astute shopper knows what he/she should be paying for an item and the cost per unit. Unfortunately, most people shop blindly (and without a list which research has shown, results in a larger grocery bill than originally budgeted). If I told a shopper they were getting 10%-15% less food than they were accustomed to, I'm sure they would be shocked and angered. Being cognizant of this change in food and consumer products retailing practice is important to be aware of, as it can either save you or cost you. The choice is yours.