Posted by Emily Koh, July 1, 2008 at 10:45 AM
At the grocery store, the purchasing power of our dollars isn't the only thing that's shrinking. Manufacturers are quietly downsizing the quantities in packaged food, often while holding prices steady, all in response to the rise in commodity and fuel costs. A few examples:
- Kellogg's cereals have an average of 2.4 fewer ounces per box
- Tropicana orange juice containers decreased from 96 ounces to 89 ounces
- Wrigley's 17-stick PlenTPak has been replaced by the 15-stick Slim Pack
- Spreads (butter, mayo) and ice cream containers have decreased in size overall
The story, in Time magazine, says that people are more sensitive to price than they are quantity, which explains why manufacturers are trying to slip the changes by us.
"Most people can tell you how much a box of cereal costs, but they have no clue how much is actually in it," says Harvard Business School professor John Gourville, who studies consumer decision-making.
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Posted by Lia Bulaong, April 26, 2007 at 4:45 PM
If I didn't tell you these colorful, beautiful bags were meant to carry your groceries, would you ever think it? Designed in Australia (and made in China), the Envirosax are meant to replace the 500 or so plastic bags that each one of us uses once and then throws away every year. $33 for a set of five bags, each of which is lightweight but strong enough to carry the contents of two supermarket shopping bags, and they roll up into a pouch you can keep in your glove compartment. I buy groceries in small amounts but frequently, like a good New Yorker, so maybe I'll buy a set, keep two bags rolled up in the bottom of my bag and make presents of the three left. They're awfully pretty and I can't imagine my friends wouldn't appreciate them.
They're currently on pre-order at Delight.com, as their first shipment sold out in under two hours, but they expect to have them back in stock at the end of May; use the code "Shelterrific" at check-out and you get 20% off. Alternately you can buy the bags straight from Envirosax, they've got a lovely black-and-white set that I really like too, but shipping from Australia can be pricey and takes two weeks to get to you; they do list brick and mortar retailers of their products in the States. [via not martha]
