We continue our never-ending series of stories spotlighting some of the various products that were reduced in size recently, otherwise known as shrinkflation.
| Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Assortment |
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Keri M. who works in a retail store discovered that Hershey’s removed over five ounces of candy from the party size bag of dark chocolate snacks. The bags went from 29 ounces to just 23.9 ounces, but they both were priced at $19.99.
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Quilted Northern Toilet Paper |
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Toilet paper is one of the most frequently downsized product categories. Tom G. discovered that Quilted Northern lopped off 40 sheets from each mega roll, going from 295 to just 255 sheets. In a six-pack, that removes almost a full roll of the newly downsized product.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Three years ago, the mega size went from 328 sheets on a roll to 295.
| Iams Dog Food |
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Dry dog food is another category where the bags keep getting smaller and smaller. Brendan B. recently brought to our attention that Iams reduced their XL bags from 44 pounds to 38.5 — a five-and-a-half-pound reduction. (Some stores have a 40 oz. version.)
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Thomas’ Bagels |
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Bagels keep getting smaller. Factory-produced ones were once 24 ounces in a six-pack. Then they went to 22 ounces, and some reduced to 20 ounces, like Thomas’. Now those are down to 18 ounces with 30 fewer calories. Thanks to Richard G. for this submission.
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Oscar Mayer Beef Franks |
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It seems like frankfurters are getting smaller and smaller too. The latest brand to do that is Oscar Mayer which went from being a pound to 15 ounces.
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Great Value Ground Coffee |
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Even Walmart gets into the downsizing act on their store brands. Here, the old 11.3 ounce cans of ground coffee became just 9.6 ounces. You probably lost about five cups of coffee in the process. Remember when ground coffee used to come in one-pound cans?
If you find a popular product that has been downsized recently, please send a picture of the old and the new version to Edgar(at symbol)MousePrint.org . Thanks
I remember in college in the late 90s when the toilet paper shrinking had started. Some brands were 280 sheets and a few had dropped to 200 sheets. How is it realistic that 45 sheets on a roll is realistic?
Jason… Manufacturers refer to single rolls on the front of their packages with language like “12 mega rolls equals 48 regular rolls.” Single rolls don’t exist anymore, however. If they did, they would have 52 sheets each, and families would have to change them daily!
When was the last time you saw Double Rolls?
I was in my supermarket the other night and I was thinking about that in the aisle. I looked at almost every package, and only one product, a Vons Store Brand “Soft and Strong” had double rolls. The lowest variation for almost everything else was a Mega Roll.
Soon though, these “Mega” Rolls will all resemble what a double roll was, and they’ll have to come out with a new metric.
I’m also somewhat aggravated by the price point. Almost every brand is about a $1 a roll. I remember when you could get four rolls for $1, and they were the size of these Mega Rolls now.
So disappointing.
Well Jeff back in 2017:
Here We Downsize Again – 2017 (Part 2)
August 7, 2017 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)
A double roll did go down to 142 sheets a roll.
It’s not just that we are getting fewer sheets. The bigger problem is that those sheets keep getting smaller. You know all that extra space on the roller of your tp dispenser. At one time a regular roll of toilet paper was wide enough to cover the entire roller. I would gladly sacrifice a few sheets if the sheets I do get were big enough to actually do the job. In fact, if the sheets were bigger maybe it wouldn’t be necessary to use so many of them.
The only good news here is that Oscar Mayer “beef franks” are shrinking. Hopefully they’ll shrink down to zero oz. They’re inedible. (They need to answer to a higher authority.)
It is a very safe bet anything that is 15 ounces used to be 16.
Yes, and likewise other volume measures that are in the vicinity but shy of what had been customary benchmarks (e.g., gallon, half-gallon, quart, liter).
Shrinkflation needs to stop. Just increase the price!!!!
I am not opposed to shrinkflation per se. I would like the companies to be more upfront about it though. For example, state “smaller size, same price.” The optics of companies that do otherwise appear to be trying to sneak something past consumers. I would be more likely to continue buying products from companies who do the former rather than the latter.
Bidet for the win! That’s how we “shrank” our usage
Northern reduces the number of sheets by about 13%. And yet they are still MEGA rolls. They are magicians.
I’m always a per item or per oz shopper. The thing that annoys me the most about shirnkflation is that there is no alternative. I can’t just go back and buy the 16oz version for the 16oz. Bagels are a great example, there’s no option to just get 5 of the bigger bagels, your only option is to continue to buy 6 now smaller bagels and either eat multiple bagels or have a smaller breakfast.
Credit to Giant supermarket. Their store made bagels are and have been very large.
Northern Tissue how can one decipher a so called 4X thicker? I call BS on that, no difference. Also they are cheaping out on the perforations
Sometimes I cannot even tear it where I want to!
We started using washcloths for a lot of things we used to use paper towels for. And buying Aldi/Lidl brand version of things is so much more affordable, you get more in the package and generally tastes much better too. Screw these major brands! They’re just fleecing people.
Every time I see a product that says “New and Improved” or “New Look” I double check to see if shrinkflation is the culprit.