Grocery Shrink Ray

I am a Professor of Marketing and Strategic Communication, yet I don't often agree with the ethics of the industry.  I feel that in teaching Marketing, I may be helping prepare the professionals of tomorrow with an eye for justice and humanity.  I am also helping to equip tomorrows consumers with more awareness of the crafty world around them.

Over the last several years I have noticed that our grocery bills keep going up and our food seems to be used up faster.  Some of this can be attributed to my two growing boys at home.  However, a good portion of this is in the hands of the manufacturers.   

A few years back when gas prices hit $4 a gallon, we saw price increases across the board.  We understood that the transportation costs were going up and needed to be passed on to the consumer.  Yet, the price of gas has gone up and down, and now sits lower than it has been in years. Where is our drop in price to be passed on to the consumer?  The prices of goods continue to increase even as the Feds say the inflation rate does not show this growth.  

Now, the part that gets my goat, is that if you look at your favorite products, from laundry detergent to toilet paper, you will see that the quantities in the containers are going down.  So a bag of chips is now 9 or 10 oz instead of 12 to 14.  A can of soup is now 10 3/4 oz instead of 12 or 14.  Everything seems to be shrinking.  A bag of Oreos has shrunk, spinning off a new size called "Family Size" that audaciously looks like our old packages. The new smaller packages are the same prices as the old bigger packages and the new family packages are selling at a premium.  I even noticed Guinness draft beers are now 11/ 1/2 oz instead of 12 oz.  If domestic beer did this we might actually have a revolution on our hands.   

If this was happening on the up and up that would be one thing. To keep us consumers happily going about our day, the crafty world of package design has attempted to keep us in the dark by altering the packaging contours.  If you lift up your jars of peanut butter or mayo you will notice a concave base that is deeper and deeper with each purchase.  This package alteration takes a few grams of substance out of every jar.   This small savings leaves less food in my kitchen.  

As consumers we must take a stand.  Next time you see a product and lift it up and notice, 'ooooh that is a little lighter than last time', look at how many grams or oz or product you are really getting.  Post it on your social media.  Let others know.  What we are experiencing is called the Grocery Shrink Ray.  There are websites out there such as http://consumerist.com/tag/grocery-shrink-ray-2/ that have several good articles about this situation.   Share this info with your friends.  The only way to stop the Grocery Shrink Ray is to make sure the consumer knows what is happening.

Check out an old recipe book and it will say to add a can of this or a bag of that.  Look at the quantity they expected to be in a container.  Make sure you are making your family recipes correctly and look at the oz or grams needed.  

Another thing to look out for, is situations such as Walmart. Manufactures make specific products exclusively for distribution to Walmart stores.  These products can be altered in size and quality and sold under the same labels.  Look at the quantity before you decided if the price is right in Wally World. The Walmart owners have not become four of the 10 riches people in our country by giving their maximum value to the consumer. 

So the next time you feel like your buying power is shrinking, it probably is.  #groceryshrinkray