Earlier this year, Tropicana downsized it half gallons of orange juice. They went from 64 ounces to 59 ounces, but the container appeared to remain the same size.
Just last month, Tropicana’s big competitor, Florida’s Natural followed suit:
*MOUSE PRINT:
The package is a barely noticeable 1/4″ shorter, but contains five ounces less than previously.
When asked by Mouse Print* why their product was downsized, the company responded:
“As I hope you are aware, our major competitors had all previously made the switch. Although we had tried to maintain the 64 ounce size, we were at a big cost disadvantage. Consumers still bought the lower ounce cartons of our competitors, so to remain viable in the juice business, we had to follow suit.
As a company owned by farmers, we understand offering value to our customers. We have no control over the retail price supermarkets charge for our product. With that in mind, we will offer our 59 ounce features at a lower promotional cost, compared to the features usually run on the 64 ounce product.”
Another item that was downsized and discovered earlier in the year was Ivory Dishwashing Liquid.
*MOUSE PRINT:
When asked why the change, P&G responded:
” I’m sorry to hear that you have noticed the downsize in our bottles of Ivory Dish Soap. In the Fall of 2009, Ivory downsized our bottles because our raw materials went up and instead of charging more to the stores to handle our products we changed the size of the bottles. “
Thanks to Paul P. for the photo. Incidentally, he says the price stayed the same at about $2.42.
Cheryl from Massachusetts submitted this picture of Pastene Wine Vinegar which was downsized from a full quart to just 25.4 ounces, but the new bottle was taller than the old one. She poured the new contents into the old bottle to demonstrate just how much vinegar was actually removed.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Lastly, Jerri Q. was dismayed to find her Hill Bros. coffee had been substantially downsized, while the price stayed the same.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Thanks to all the contributors who found these examples of downsized products. As we always say, downsizing is a sneaky way to pass on a price increase.
