I work in different grocery stores all around the Triangle in NC and I'm seeing this a lot. Packaging is shrinking and the price is still raising on them at the same time. Check out Breton Crackers as one example, they shrunk 20% and raised by 1$. They hide the price raise by putting them on sale right after, then after the sale you are left with the higher price and smaller packaging.
Ah, I was wondering how that switch took place, because I thought that stocking the new stuff next to the old stuff would very obviously show the size change. But of course they thought of that. Really sad honestly.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️..
@@osmosisjones4912 inflation has been going on for a really long time and wages didn't start going up until the last 10 years or so. Some states are still paying people minimum wage of something like $7.25hr..
In Germany, the consumer protection agency gives out a yearly award for the "Mogelpackung", which is a figurative word for a sham, but literally translates as deceptive packaging. Here, the worst offenders of shrinking packages and most air in packages are publically shamed.
Oh no they are shamed... Yet Germans still buy them. The German media loves to shame companies because it shifts the blame from their mindless government spending and puts it into companies. Hey didn't a certain Austrian born leader in the 1930s do that. Yeah, he learned it from all of the other socialists that did the same thing to spread socialism and communism. Eventually they all took over those industries and fed off the misery of their own people making themselves more rich and powerful. They also ended up murdering about 120 million people in the last half of the 20th century.
@@Acaykath Deceptive packaging is. There’s nothing deceptive about putting the ounce mass of the item contained within and the price. Y’all need to stop whining.
Food products aren't only getting smaller, they're also getting less nutritious and less healthy due to using lower-quality ingredients to save production costs
@@WolfieDawn I hate that so much becuse it basically forces me to be paranoid about all of those things simply becuse i dont want to deal with some chemicals that only got put into something for the reason of "Oh its cheaper for us" becuse chances are its also less healthy for me so no thanks
big problem is that price is easiest to objectively compare before and after....to follow all the ingredients and pack sizes vs weight per kg sizes ( or equivelant ) ..I mean...we'd need some serious amazingly done app for that kind of sh*t so you could just scan and know in 2 secs if they are screwing you up or not . but that's be too much work to make smooth , easy to use and perfect. so ye we are basically screwed. coz how are you gonna compare different price of same type of food but with different ingredients and different prices and servings..how much is poor ingredient worth compared to good ingredient. How are you gonna factor that in into simple number to compare ? it's just ONE BIG MESS...and sadly price is the easiest to track. To track bigger picture now that's almost impossible for average person even me. You'd have to check ingredient list every single time you pick up product, we would seriously need like insanely over engineered simple to use app for that. That's only way. Some crazy good app designers would have to come together to make it happen.
@@matrixfull I wouldn't say some super-advanced app is the only way to fix this problem. If we stopped valuing companies based on their profits and started basing it on how beneficial to society they are, that would be a good start.
Seeing the words “Share Size” also makes me laugh. Every instance of shrinkflation gives me another reason to completely abandon a product I shouldn’t be eating anyway.
im seeing 'share size ' on most candies now or M&M's. thats code word for ' you're getting about 20% less and paying more ' for the same thing you bought 5 years ago
Can't they just keep that "transition batch" in the warehouse and ship out any subsequent batches (maybe also rework the "transition batch" later in new new packaging) 😁
@@mxm_prime2191 yes, just one though.. hacking people with machete's is still very legal there. Also, there's no such thing as police on duty.. just off duty.
I went through a number of years where I was extremely tight on cash. Part of how I managed my money was tracking cost to weight of all the food and drink I bought. Because this went on for years, I do this by default now, and shrinkflation has VASTLY escalated recently. This is a very timely video, thank you for it.
Never had a big problem with money but I ALWAYS do this, instead of meat I mostly eat eggs. They are better for you can cost less ethically and price wise. Beware though, for some unfortunate few, eggs can raise their cholesterol
I do something similar where I plan everything by meal, so for example I'll see a pack of 4 battered fish for 2.50, and a bag of chips of 1.50, one fish fillet and some chips for each meal with some chips left over for another small meal, that's 5 meals for £4, I can eat for the whole month for less than a £100
@@tominieminen66 Actually dietary cholesterol raising LDL cholesterol levels is a myth. Cholesterol that is eaten is broken into it's constituent parts by your digestive system. The thing that actually increases cholesterol levels is sugar and high glycemic carbs. Sugar raises insulin and as a byproduct of elevated insulin levels for extended periods, your body is unable to regulate LDL levels due to hormone interaction. So eat all the eggs you want, they will not end you. However, skip the toast and the juice they will.
@@tominieminen66 Well, the eggs are getting smaller too, so no worries! (The eggs we bought at the store used to be the same size as the ones we get from our chickens. Not anymore.)
"Sizes never really go back up." Actually, they do go back up. When they say, "Now 20% more!" on the packaging, they mean both the amount of food AND the price. So they shrink, shrink, shrink until enough people complain and then they increase both the size and the price at the same time and simultaneously spin in it in a way that most people won't notice.
That's not going back to normal. The price would have to remain the same for that to be true. So even if the size increases, we're still paying those inflated prices despite the fact that the reasons for inflation may not exist.
The issue isn't that they're trying to make up costs. These companies are shrinking products, increasing cost and cheaping out on ingredients all despite posting record profits.
This is something that has been going on for decades. I remember hearing about it when I was a kid. They do go back up though. They eventually release a "new bigger size" product that is the same size as it used to be or a little bigger, but costs more. Ever wonder why there are several sizes of cereal boxes? That is why
Yup! And cooking is such a pain because of it. “The recipe says I need a 30 oz can. My options are 24 or 60. How much will the recipe suffer with less liquid? Should I buy the bigger one and try to find a use for the other half??”
@@Anti-Taxxer yeah, thats what I want to do more research on, inflation is about 2.5% per year on average. So if the TP example shrunk 20% in a little over a decade, wouldnt it b3 basically matching inflation?
As a child of the 70's (Yes I'm Old AF), I started to notice "Shrinkflation" in the 90's. Some people even tried telling me "You just got bigger" So thanks Mat Pat, this topic needs more exposure.
One of the first I remember was ice cream shrinking from 2 quart containers to 1.5 qts. Some store brands (and Blue Bell) still package in 1/2 gallon containers, but I'm pretty sure Breyers started it and everyone else followed.
What annoys me is when the chocolate bars get smaller and they say it's because it's better for you or only so many calories per bar. It's got nothing to do with less calories but they try to make us think that. They still made Toblerone smaller. It use to be 400g now it's less.
"Someone is stealing from you" Me, looking at the several other Food Theory episodes that have taught me as much - "I'm aware. But I'll happily listen to you explain again."
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money. You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
9:21 the only thing wrong about this is that products eventually do go back to "Normal size" but they are advertised as "Mega size", the small product we know gets discontinued and companies then use shrinkflation on the "mega size" product until it becomes small then repeat the process.
Came here to say something similar! I’ve noticed that grocery shopping at a “bulk food” store like Costco is the only way my family can wait a couple of weeks before shopping again. The brand-name products that I have to buy at a normal grocery store, like my jars of jelly, last *maybe* a week if I really stretch it. My 4 year old daughter snuck and ate a whole, new jar of jelly last night, with no stomach ache. That should be alarming, right??
Wow, good point! While I still wont tag their statement as wrong, those "mega" sizes do bring back their previous versions only now selling them for what they're worth after accounting for inflation. As another commenter said, that isn't the "same" product. I would only call that returning to normal if they stuck with the same pricing while reverting to the original product volume.
Wrong! You don't pay the old price for the "new normal" when the come out with Mega Size. They mark the price up from the shrinkflated product while offering you no more than they used to before shrinkflation.
Was so happy you started with calling it stealing. These vendors are making enemies out of the general public. It should be easy enough to figure out who they are and make them pay.
I've been taught about calculating price per ounce since I was little, and been shown and told about the shrinkflation as well. The watering down thing is one I didn't know though.
The watering down thing is just downright evil. The weight and size are things you can somewhat pick up on if you're looking for them, or at least notice "something is not right about it". But having to check the proportions of ingredients and such in a product you're already used to buy is just unthinkably evil.
I have been teaching my daughter how to look for deals and scams by looking at price per weight. Just because it is a bigger package or on sale does not mean it is a better deal.
Literally yesterday I was thinking, hey this Big Mac looks way smaller. I don't go to Macdonalds often so if they did change it gradually I feel like I'd notice.
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money. You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
Our family always gets suspicious and disappointed when a food product has "NEW LOOK! SAME GREAT TASTE!". We go "oh great, how are they ripping us off this time"
Doritos has been playing this game before I started eating them as a teenager back in the 1980's. Not only do they shrink the sizes, they get customers used to it, and then they introduce larger grab bags at a higher price, and then slowly reduce the size over time. There are other strategies like reducing the seasoning on each chip. Notice new flavors are bursting with flavor but over time slowly become more tame in flavor, and that is because they reduce the seasoning. Also, they will change the packaging sizes, introducing more air in the larger bag, but package the same amount of chips, or slightly more chips, but at a price increase. There are other strategies, but those are the few I can think of off the top of my head.
The corn part of the chip is dirt cheap. Cheese is expensive. I stopped buying doritos with no flavor. In all honesty walmarts variety is the best out there. I've tried quite a few.
@DavidC. Don't you mean the chip manufacturers systematically displace the chip product with more packaged AIR (over time)? Thereby giving you less chips per bag?
@@davidc5027. Yes, any covert & slick strategies they can create to ultimately give us less product for the same price (or maybe even ↑ Higher $prices). 🤷🏾♂️
When my sister and I were younger, my dad actually taught us about checking the price per unit, now I am saving lot of money because of that; so I’m glad to see that you guys are covering it as well.
Honestly, so many of my highschool peers and now co-workers think I'm incredibly stingy because I shop almost exclusively by the gram or millilitre price etc or only buy certain things when on sale. Yet all I'm doing is saving money for a home deposit whilst they're stuggling to pay rent in a sharehouse or apartment (me and my mates are all around 20yrs now)
I gotta say, while Food Theory seemed like an odd concept at first, it might legitimately have become my favourite of the three! While there might be some movies/ games I'm not really interested in, food is just such an all-encompassing feature of our lives that practically every theory has been interesting, at least, not to mention real-life applicable or pure educational. Thanks for popping out a banger after a banger, Theorist Family
yeah, this channel is the only one that I'm actually suscribed (and gt live) because this channel has a lot of useful information, unexpected conspirations, healthy data and thinks that even I thought like "licks to a tootsie pop"
I absolutely feel you on that, when I first heard if it I thought it would be absolutely silly but then it randomly played on auto play and now I'm hooked
Same. I got a bit burnt out on the others, but the topics in food theory are just diverse and relevant. I still WATCH all the theories across the channels, but food theory is always the one I watch first.
Shrinkflation is the longest running game of observation duty ever, trying to remember if the cereal box has always been that small and/or gaslighting yourself into believing it has
It’s funny how companies are saying you’re hands are just getting bigger because last time I checked once you’re an adult you’re hands don’t grow anymore lmao
Cereal is one of the most noticeable of this. I've worked in 4 grocery stores in the last 10 years, and when you work around it you notice it all the time.
When I was a teenager, I remember they had these Giant Snickers. They were actually huge, not like the "king size" we have today. The chocolate was three times as thick, so it took a good cracking to get through. They were the BEST! I've missed them ever since. Never seen them anywhere. Not even in America. Some things were better in the 90s.
Everything gets worse as you start making money, it's not even inflation. Look at McDonald's, KFC, Domino, or any other franchise. The reason why they were so popular is because they were good, at a good value. You get what you paid for. However, ever since they started expanding, the size changed; the taste changed; their ethics changed.
Yesterday in my college stats my professor gave us m&ms so we could count the colors and do some distribution stuff with it. He said he had been doing It for years and the amount you get has slowly going down.
I think they may have also decreased the amount of chocolate to sugar, when I was younger they tasted like chocolate. I hadn't had them in a while so I decided to try them again, and they basically taste more like chocolate favored sugar pills. Also the texture is noticeablely more crystalline than I remembered.
I thought that candy bars were getting smaller, specifically M&Ms, Peanut Butter Cups, and Snickers, than when I was a kid. But, I wasn't sure that it wasn't just me getting bigger. Thanks for confirming what I had felt.
You too? I was starting to think I couldn’t stand milk chocolate anymore after joining the dark side, Eeh, then again, is it a bad thing for M&Ms to be the only piece of milk chocolate I had in over 7 year?
@@catherinebaldwin6580 You actually blew my mind. There are quite a few things I used to enjoy but no longer do as much. And now I can't tell if it's because I'm older and my tastes have changed or because the products are getting lower in quality. It could be either or it could be both.
Years ago, there were mandatory packaging sizes in Germany. That helped avoid that but now you get lots of crooked package sizes. Milka went from 100g to some new bars 90g or 87 g etc
I work in a grocery store getting peoples groceries when they do curbside pickup, and this becomes super obvious when you do that. Sometimes I will have what is supposedly the item the customer wants right in front of me, but it won’t scan into our system, so I have to put it as a substitution, and what shows is two items with the exact same name but one has a smaller weight/volume. The one thing I will say is don’t get mad at grocery store employees for this, we have literally no control over that and if we shop at our own store it affects us too.
"Shrinkflation" was evident to me during my first job in a corner convenience store. Seeing packages drop from 18oz to 12oz with the big text "Now 20% Bigger! *than our 10oz box" was almost a monthly routine. Candy was the most common thing I saw pull this off. Boxes would be the same size, the fill or content would be reduced, and the text always had some legal loophole to say things were bigger and better. Advertising needs extremely strict control that just doesn't exist (USA experience)
its almost like there should be some "rules" or something to stop these murky practices instead of relying on the customers to somehow gain enough traction to publicly shame these companies... like "consumer protection laws" or something...
Or…we could take actions that don’t result in high inflation. Both of those work, but I feel like companies are going to be able to last longer and produce more for the economy if they don’t get short-changed by those kinds of regulations
There's a really nasty practice I've noticed with cookie packaging, where they first made an indent to the interior plastic packaging, so that there are less cookies in a pile, but the plastic is heavier, so it actually feels like, ou have more than before..
Sizes are going down but prices are not staying the same. Pasta in SW Ontario, Canada last year was 900g for $1.75 and now it's 750g for $2.25. The same goes with Doritos the weight has stayed the same but the price is up nearly $1.25 per big bag and when they go on sale they're usually around $3.25 where they used to go on sale for $2 last year for the bigger bag.
"Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. Let us falsify the scales by deceit, That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes-Even sell the chaff with the wheat..."Amos 8:5-7
Shrinking products is such a rip-off: we end up buying more packaging per unit of food, adding more to the volume of garbage we have to dispose of. Thanks, food sellers!
I love how Theorist team is being the town crier for things that I gripe about to myself at the groceries, hah I guess it's up to us, the consumer to be vocal & act by our dollar spending. Thanks BJ Novak for the call out, & also for the Office
Ive been a meat cutter for almost 7 years now. Something thats always bothered me is head office telling saying we need to put less and less ground beef in the family packs.
Dove Hand soap literally JUST did this in the past month. I realized by reading the label that they put less hand soap in the bottle, and it even seems to be diluted. They also changed the look of their bottle.
@@raysprad404 the state devaluing the currency is not the businesses fault, and their responses are understandable. That being said this is not capitalism, the state has forced the businesses to make one of two changes, and they selected the one that maintains their profits which they owe their shareholders.
@@name3236 Nope economic intervention done by governments is not capitalism and no we don't have capitalism today. I strongly encourage you to read some Mises( the guy who predicted the great depression) and Rothbard, mainstream economics is a joke.
Yeah it sucks that this is a thing we have to deal with. The small and subtle changes in store shelves are the worst! One of my favorite examples is from the company Bolthouse. They used to sell 14oz bottles of dressing but they subtly shifted them down to 12oz.
There is nothing that we can do. Prices are increasing because the lockdowns weakened the worlds economy, almost all small bussiness suffered, the only ones that got richers where amazon and wall mart. As the money is more concentrated on those two companies, all other business have less money, so they hire less, which means less customers and so on. The world also stopped being supplied with Russian's cheap oil, cooking oil, fertilizer and wheat. For those who do not know, the oil is used in trucks and other vehicles that transport goods. There is also some shutting down of nuclear power plants in europe, which make energy more expensive there. And the fact that usa not building more pipelines, which prevent the country from being oil indepedent. Of course, there is also the fact that governs are printing money everywhere which decrease the power of the coins of their countries. To get things back to normal we need to find a way to reduce the price of the oil in first place and increase the production in second. Following the laws of supply and demand, but that easier said than done.
@@SadBoysCollectiveCirca96 It's only counterintuitive if the your only reason for eating a salad was to maintain/lose weight as a healthier alternative to other, more calorie dense and less nutritious, foods. Some people eat salads due to dietary restrictions or simply, in my case, because they have a preference for eating salads.
I recall a lecture during my first year of college where my professor was talking about shrinkflation in regards to coffee containers about how they introduced the 'handle' indentation in the plastic and how consumers didn't make any complaints about how they were getting less coffee instead they praised the company for adding the handle
You know I noticed this too, because I remember that there was a time that a bag of regular Lay's potato chips used to be full to the very top. Nowadays the bag of Lay's potato chips are half full, to where there's nothing but air at the top of an unopened bag of chips.
I have a spread sheet with toilet paper costs that I started in college. It calculates TP cost for 100 sheets and then combines that with the Ply count. It was always interesting to see where the best value was. (It was usually angel soft)
The worst thing is when you're making recipes that call for a can of this or a box of that, but when those sizes change and you don't realize it, it throws the entire thing off. Personally, I'd rather pay the little bit more and keep getting the same standardized sizes. But that's just me.
That's why I try to make sure the recipe specifies the mass needed for the recipe. Cause not only do I need to know the amount needed. I need to know the size of the can needed. A jar of mayo is good and all, but the industrial Jug is a tad bit more excessive than the personal bottle I needed.
@@shavagreycastle that's all well and good till you end up having to buy a 2nd box of cake mix or another can of beans or something because you need that extra 15-20% of product they cut. Then you're left with wasting the rest of that 2nd container because it likely doesn't neatly fit into any other recipes and probably won't keep long enough for you to make the same dish again.
At the end of the day the manufacturer does what it thinks will be better for them, raise prices even higher, shrink the package more, absorb the cost increase, or do a combination of the above. Now that you know what's happening you can choose to not buy that product again until the manufacturer fixes the pain that they're causing.
@@nafspark they don't give f*ck about food waste either. They figured out how to make tons of corn supposedly cuz the abundance means less hungry people but I don't see them actually giving any food away to those who need it. They instead opted to use it in chips and high fructose corn syrups so the foods us fatties eat is even more addictive.
Yes exactly! you get meee!!! I was so confused once, cause I was doing exactly as I noted down and was not getting the same results! Now I'm making the effort to note down the exact quantity (volume?), but it's such a hassle to use one can and a half and that unused part will either be rotting away in the fridge or force me to find another way to use it up (and I'm reaaally bad at improvising. I need recipies to everything)
Teabags with less tea in them are also a thing. It's just everywhere and they always have some BS excuse. I always look at the price per kilo for this reason. I had no idea about products being watered down though! That's a new one to look out for.
I first noticed this in the mid-90s as I bought 99 cents bag of doritos chips almost every day after school when I noticed the amount in the bags was decreasing. The bags went from 3.5 ounce the 3.2 to 3.0 to 2.8 to 2.5 to 2.2 to 2.0 to 1.8 ounces.
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money. You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
It's a good way for companies to not cause a panic. By decreasing Oz of products while keeping prices the same. All to reduce the appearance of inflation. If we weren't dealing with record inflation. Shrinkflation wouldn't be needed.
If mat tried to convince me I was actually a teleporting cat who escaped a government lab and my entire life was a hallucination caused by drinking too much caprisun, honestly I'd buy it.
Not a good thing, I think it's good to take these videos with a grain of salt to practice your own critical thinking skills so you're no easily influenced
I remember when they slowly introduced yogurt in smaller amounts, from 8oz to 6oz. During that transition, they introduced Greek style yogurts and some other fancy doodads. These newer versions of yogurt were being sold in the 6oz sizes. Most people didn't recognize these changes because they were too busy with the new types. Yoplait whips was one that gave you less as you paid the same for the same size container. Stir a Yoplait whip, you get about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount vs the original. Anyhow, it really took off in the 1970's when it was stated, 'If we took one olive out of every jar, would the people notice?' - "I miss that olive!"
I noticed this the MOMENT they started doing this !!! Their " family sized " bag of chips is the same size that the " normal " ones used to be and the " normal " size is insanely smaller than they used to be. It's absolutely insane !!
Truly. Last time I had a Pringles was years ago so when I had a craving for them one day, I was very surprised and disappointed to see what happened to them now...
I've noticed this with the Costco brand, Kirkland signature, and their waters, before the water bottle used to be filled to the brim but now it's a couple ounces less
Huh I always though it was a lot thing. Its more noticeable with the bottles themselves compared to the amount of water. I think there are three separate variants of the bottle: rigid plastic with thick cap, rigid plastic with thin cap, and flimsy plastic with thin cap. At first I thought Costco was cheaping out on the bottles, but a few months later, the bottles went back to the more rigid plastic design. Ever since, its been more or less a tossup every time we buy water.
But it's still 500ml though at least from what I can tell it still says 500ml on the bottle so in that case it might just be a bottle redesign. Though I think I will see if their 500ml bottles really are 500ml it's easy enough to measure water.
I've noticed this for years. When I go to a restaurant today or order fast food, the portions get smaller and they tend to give you more lettuce or celery with your food.
I've noticed it as well. To-go containers have gotten 10 to 15% smaller from places that I always order from, and they aren't filled up all the way to the top like they used to be. Prices have slightly increased.
As someone who works in a store and stocks food every single day, I noticed how a lot more of our products looked different and didn't fit on the shelf correctly like before. Now I know why. Its unfortunate really.
Yeah this has been going on for decades. Literally everything is smaller now than it was when I was a kid. McDonalds burgers, ice creams, sweets (candy and chocolate bars), carbonated drinks etc. I feel like its common knowledge, though.
As a packaging scientist, can confirm, this is a very real thing! Whether it’s the packaging material or product, a lot of companies do this for cutting cost and corners, but don’t adjust initial product prices most of the time with it, which stinks! Also, hope you are still planning on doing the left and right Twix facility episode, would love to see the packaging research on that topic!
Here in Brazil there's a law that obliges the manufacturers to put on their packaging for a certain ammount of time how much their reducing from it. Its usually on the weight, "Before x g, now y g" While that doesn't solve the problem, it usually makes the consumer aware that the products are getting smaller
I mean, I saw this happening over 5 years ago. I saw that my shampoo/conditioner was getting smaller per bottle, plus getting more expensive, so I went to Big Lots where they had the old bottle with more product in it still, and bought ALL of them. Took years to get through all that but it was worth it with the price of shampoo/conditioner now!
I buy all of my cleaning products online, got enough for 12 months and paid like $80 Australian. Things are always cheaper looking online and shopping around, supermarkets charge more for convenience
Funnily enough, my family and I noticed this happening with boxed cakes from Betty Crocker of all things a few years ago before Covid. It put us off from buying them for a LONG time since it screwed with the volume in the cake pans we preferred using so the cake would have been as thick as a standard wafer bar when done, and if I’m recalling correctly they didn’t even bother to change the recommended pan sizes and types they would give you on the back of the box to help clarify which would be best based on what you want, which just ticked us off even more. Went to scratch cake baking more after that. Same with their brownies. You want the thick boys you have to use two boxes to make them feel like a proper brownie thickness.
As someone who works at a supermarket, I can confirm that the Bolthouse Farms salad dressing has shrunk from 14 oz. to 12 oz. Coworker had to change the tags because of the price per ounce increase.
I remember when I bought a product, saw the employee change the tags. so before he could change the tag of the product, I needed snapped a pic of the price, and gotten it for that price, because I grabbed it before the price increased.
At 5:15, your orange juice example, if you take that further back in time, all orange juice came in half gallons and gallons. But now it comes in 52 oz bottles. But, the generic and store brands still come in half gallons and gallons. So you can compare the size right in the store. To my knowledge there's no such thing as a half gallon carton or bottle of Tropicana Pure Premium any more. The other item I can think of right now is ice cream. in the 70s and 80s, and maybe later, ice cream came in half gallon containers (the typical size we bought). But now the half gallon size has been replaced with 48 oz, or something close to that.
Ohh I know, as a retail worker I've noticed many sizes have shrunk months ago, family size Kellogg's frosted flakes look like the normal size I would get just a year ago, and while normal sizes have shrunk a small but noticable amount Edit: this is just me looking at box size. Thought I was going crazy but never bothered to look, thanks Matt
ive always known about this. my mom keeps pointing out as well. but every time im ike... what can we do? as normal people, idont think theres much we CAN do
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
I’m the same! I’ve also noticed that “Party Size” Oreos now are the same size as the regular size Oreos from just a couple years back. The regular size Oreos of now are like a small pack that you would’ve found in a gas station just a couple years ago probably. Never noticed all the drink differences though!
An example: In Sweden we have a soda drink called Julmust and Påskmust (the are literally the same but re branded for Christmas and Easter) that is deeply rooted in tradition. The brand Apotekarnes has a monopoly on the market and they went from 1,5L to 1,4L bottles which is a very obvious change since it deviates from the standard size of all bottles.
They do not have a monopoly everywhere, that is for sure! In my area of Sweden where I grew up mostly everyone drinks Zeunerts. It is the superior Julmust and I don't know how you can have a julbord without it. After moving abroad it is one of the things I miss the most.
@@moaandersson5223 Try it out! Although the area where it is the most popular is around the middle of Sweden (Ångermanland), so it might be a bit harder to find in the southern parts.
Favorite example of this that I did notice over the years: Ghirardelli bitter sweet chocolate chips. Years back, a bag was 12oz and all of my recipes were based on that (two batches of my cookies). Every couple of years they would take off 0.5oz, until they now sit at 10oz. And you would notice the weight change each time!
@@pearlsswine OK. So you're willing to pay $5 for a few crumbs of cake just because there's an obesity problem in the First World? Who said anything about 10 lbs. of Hershey's? That kind of accusation out of nowhere is usually projection. Do you have a chocolate addiction, chunky?
@@pearlsswine thats a poor arguement for those of us who are not like 1/3 of the nation and obese and can maintain a diet and exercise, im not spending 5 bucks on the 8 ounce bag of Doritos that just cost me 2.50 literally 5 years ago, but im sure those on eBT dont mind as they aren't paying for it at all
I’ve seen shrinkflation firsthand at the movie theater I work at and it’s drove me INSANE. We get a new shipment of our candies and when we restock, sure enough, at least one of the boxes/bags is slightly smaller yet the prices slowly increase. It’s frustrating because I know there’s nothing I can do about it
Anybody who buys candy from the movie theater is nuts lol. I was shocked that a large popcorn was $12+ last time I went…and this was like..10 years ago. So I can only imagine what it is now.
I was surprised recently when I was able to find an actual half-gallon of ice cream at Safeway, where most all manufacturers have switched to a 1.5 quarts. But there’s a gotcha: It’s Häagen-Dazs Vanilla. $14.99 per half gallon.
Haggen Dazs ice cream tubs have changed in size, I’ve noticed. The 16 oz tubs changed to 14 oz. I hate how they are sneaking in smaller sizes and getting rid of the original size.
@@strawberrykitty9 On top of that, the serving size of ice cream (and some other foods) has gone up as well. It used to be 1/2 cup and is now 2/3 cup, I think.
This has been happening for years and it is about time people started talking about it. The other problem that some people don't think about is it is screwing up recipes - sometimes you need one package of cake mix for example, well that package is smaller now so the amounts are wrong for everything else now, but how much do you need to adjust. So in addition to the financial scam there is a secondary problem too. And it isn't just food - it is everything. I would rather they raise prices and keep the original sizes so I can make better decisions - it is very frustrating. Also I love that this posted today right as I am about to head over to the grocery store.
Yeeeesss. I noticed this with Certo , which we use to make jelly. The recipe in the canning book and package say to use one per cooking. When we used to make jelly it was fine. Now, 1 package won't set the jelly, but the instructions on the new box say 1 package. It now takes 2, and there are added instructions on what to do if it doesn't set that weren't on the old box. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID.
The latest one I noticed was Welch's fruit snacks. I eat them all the time so I know how many are usually in a little bag. I looked at the nutrition info and the calories changed from 80 to 70 per serving and carbs changed from 19 to 17. They are also tasting weird 🤔.
@@NeroKnight666 They probably use syntetic sugar instead, thats the wierd taste, and since syntetic sugar is a lot more sweet than normal sugar, they dont need as much and can save money. In some countries like Sweden where I live there is talk about a sugar-tax, so maybe thats why Pepsi started using syntetic sugar in normal Pepsi here.. taste like crap.
I noticed it happen to a bag of chips, noticed the package get smaller and the price per OZ jump way up. And I was like, "yeah, I ain't gonna buy that again."
this is a huge deal and people should talk about it more. I always use this method while I'm buying in grocery stores. Unless I want a certain name brand, I pay attention to the euro per kg of that product. it is so useful! great work once again
I caught on to this practice years ago during the 2008 recession. A lot of the food I bought back then suddenly came in much smaller packages. Years later, when the economy was doing much better, the food remained smaller. Because why go back to normal when you can make that much more money instead?
That's why a lot of people are worried about what's going on with petrol prices right now, when they raise prices when times are bad, that doesn't mean they'll lower prices when the times are good.
very informative food theory, it kinda sucks that not only chips have been suffering from shrinkflation, but even bars of soap and toilet paper are getting smaller. It’s just less value for your buck now
I've noticed this ALL the time!! The 99 cent store is FAMOUS for it. I first noticed this with the TACO BELL burrito for $1 getting smaller and the owner 10 years ago agreed and gave me a $10 gift card as an apology. Now? Good luck. 2.19 and it's STILL Tiny!! Better yet, they SAY they're being healthier for you, I want a cheap meal with big burritoes!!! Do Taco Bell's Burritoes next!!!
I never knew the “new look” thing was just to hide that there was less food in the package. That’s really interesting. Definitely something I’ll look out for lol
In the last month i’ve stocked some hand dish soap. It had ghe same packaging ,same design, Same size bottle. Only differnce was that it contained less ounces and had a different barcode.
One of the things I actually like about shopping at Wal-Mart is that they actually list the price-per-ounce on the shelf. So they let you compare this sort of data between brands as well.
When they actually update the shelf price though. They're so behind on it it's ridiculous. Get the app and make sure to check cuz some things are up even as much as a whole dollar.
In my country there is no "per ounce" on supermarket price tags (and I often find myself pulling out the calculator on my phone to do the math). I was once in another country where such lebelling does exist, but once I noticed in the yogurt section, some price tags read "per unit", some "per 100ml", some "per 100g", making them basically unable to compare against each other.
I have always notice the shrinkflation, but this is the first time I have seen the ingredients also have been changed by adding water or less costly ingredients. Thanks for pointing out the calorie change per serving.
The other problem we’re facing now is that the prices ARE going up as well. The exact same Costco shopping trip is higher this year than last year for the same items.
Ahh, the it hasn't gotten smaller, you've gotten taller play. I remember the first time McDonald's used that line with the Big Mac years back, well before the pandemic, and thinking what a bunch of hokey that was. Great job highlighting why one should always read the fine print and focus on the cost per unit. I've tried to preach this for years to everyone I know, and I'm glad that message is now reaching the masses through you. Because hey, shrinkflation isn't just a theory... it's a huge issue, and we all need to work to stop it.
Especially with inflation and stagnant wages. Not only less and less product but they're more expensive for less and less with more chemicals and cheese-like product rather than just cheese...
The first instance of this I noticed in the late '70s, when coffee prices began soaring. The one pound can became 14 oz, then 11 oz. with the two and three-pound cans showing similar shrinkage.
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money. You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️..
1:45 Kids who are as young as MatPat here may be too young to know that these practices have been going on for decades. Back in the 1970s when Canada started to go metric there were huge changes in package sizes for every product. Many companies hoped that customers would be too busy adjusting to the new system of measurement to notice that a 400 gram package is 12% smaller than a pound (454 g) especially since it was priced the same.
That's never been something I've been affected by. Instead of paying attention to the price per unit, I always look at the price per weight ratio. I started doing that to compare products of different size, but now it's become an ingrained habit. OR SO I THOUGHT! Now I gotta watch out for watered down products. Yeeesh.
Several years ago, McDonalds did something like this. They changed their McDouble from two patties and two pieces of cheese to one piece of cheese and two patties. And then advertised they were meatier. Instead of less cheesy.
I'm a grocery store manager and the only product I've seen actually grow in size rather then shrink has been frito lay ruffles. They actually made bigger bags and didn't raise the price. I see approximately 10,000 items shrink in size but keep their price every year
Oh I noticed the shrink-flation way back in high school when my snack-sized hot fries were getting smaller lol. For some reason I'd stash all the empty bags in a drawer. Canned tuna is another great example; it's gotten so much smaller. What's interesting is that if you try to google images of the products, it's sometimes really hard to find examples. I have a theory that companies try to scrub those old images from the web in some way (probably just by sending out updated product images to their distributors as soon as they make a change).
I actually have noticed, because ever since I worked at Dollar Tree I've been more conscious of the net weight. Why pay $1 for a candy bar of 1.5oz when you can pay the extra quarter to get 3.5oz of the same product? Although since I've been working here, some of the boxes of candy have already reduced from 3.5oz to 2.8oz.
And they're longer a dollar. While a quarter increase isn't much, technically, the prices have increased by 25%, which is closer to the real inflation we're seeing. Let's go, Brandon.
@@jamesmoriarty3877 We are still on the lower end though. A 16floz of soda is just $1.35 here, while anywhere else around us, the standard price is $2.29.
Yup. "It's just an quarter!" Yeah, it's "only" an extra 25 cents if I'm only buying 1 thing. If I buy 100 items, I'm paying an extra $25. If I do all my shopping at dollar tree, my cost of living went up 25% over night. I work there too and I remember we got a raise but I don't remember how much. Definitely not 25% raise though. We got new products that are higher quality, but a lot of the legacy products either got shrank or just aren't worth it anymore. People SHOULD complain, but NOT to the staff, complain to corporate. There's got to be a middle ground between screaming at the cashier who can't do anything, and telling corporate you'd be fine with them raising prices even more. They'll keep raising prices until they lose enough customers that it's not making them any extra profit.
@@doejhonny I didn't get a raise and people only complained at me cuz I'm main register at my location. And people really shouldn't be complaining. Yes, it's a 25% increase but you're putting too much focus on that 25%. And I'm sorry, but if you do ALL your shopping via Dollar Tree, you got other life issues going on. But it seems most people really don't care because, at our location, the amount of customers we get are almost double on a average. This Easter was busier than last Christmas.
Proud to say that when Toblerone made their bars smaller I quit as their social media manager. I then started the petition to get them to change the bars or label it better and eventually they did. ☺️
Surprised this not a commonly known thing everywhere. In my cou try it quite often makes the news when toblerone/chocolate orange got shrunk or the last rolo was stolen
You should probably cover the other end of this, where newer, larger packaging at a higher price comes out to look like value packaging. It's part of why we aren't buying 1 chip packages of Doritos for $6.99. (Cough...Paqui...cough...) Shrinkflation is one part of a larger treadmill of deceptive marketing. We saw more coverage of the enlargement side of the treadmill in the 90s and early 2000s when people realized that maybe inhaling 20,000 calorie value servings of grease-covered starch wasn't necessarily the best for our health. That tended to focus on things like fast food fries and sodas, the low-cost add-ons to meals, but it's done across the board and I expect we'll see Doritos do it when what was a 16 oz unit becomes 8 oz. Another aspect of it is that they USE inflation rather than adjust for inflation. As you mentioned here, inflation is around 8% now, a historic spike. But these changes are always FAR more than inflation. Like the Toblerone 25% years before the current inflation. Some of that is to be expected, with floating a little above value at first and only adjusting for inflation every so many years to keep a steady price point, but they latch onto VISIBLE inflation every time and outpace any reasonable floating. And they double dip. The value goes down with a steady price, THEN the price jacks up, both by more than the inflation. Right now, inflation is largely tied to transport of goods. We don't have many raw material shortages, and what ones we have are almost entirely due to a transportation shortage. That means, end-to-end, the inflation is singular. It may not entirely be consistent in application, but the roughly 8% increase to manufacture, 8% to ship and 8% to put it on a shelf add up to 8%, not some multiple of 8%. We generally that as the excuse "yeah, it's x% more expensive from the manufacturer and our expenses are up by x% so it's 2x% more expensive" even though that's an intentional and blatant lie. And I'm not even getting into the intentional lag in employee pay that makes that total cost actually much less than inflation. Inflation is a necessary part of any economy, and it's inherently good because it means money is worth more spent now than saved, increasing the flow of money and thus the economy. But spikes in inflation obviously hurt people. In large part because of that intentional lag in wage increases and intentional exploitation of the idea of inflation to lower value and raise costs like this.
They always use inflation as a scape goat, but these companies would have the 'need' to increase their profit regardless of inflation levels. People have to understand that this trend of shrinking products isn't magically going to disappear by 'fixing' inflation
I live in Sweden and the chewing gum has gone from 25 pieces/bag to 21 pieces/bag, the toilet paper and kitchen paper have bigger cardboard rolls in the middle, and new "compact packaging" with fewer rolls, and all brands of chicken nuggets used to have 20 pieces/package, now I'm lucky if it's 18.
I've been noticing a lot of these since I work at a grocery store. The cereal boxes are a big one: we can actually fit an extra box on each shelf that we couldn't fit before. Other examples include jars of jam, which have gotten noticably shorter in recent years, and king sized candy, which has changed size in various ways depending on which candy you're talking about. It's pretty insane how widespread this trend is.
I love how MatPat is fully aware of the Creme Egg "Here Today, Goo Tomorrow" and "Goo Games" commercials....those commercials are blursed masterpieces and every single one of them belongs in the Louvre. Second best thing to come out of Britain behind Rowan Atkinson
Doritos actually decreased the size of the bags again, they are 8.5 oz. I shop on net weight of the product and count, also price per pound. It’s way more cost effective.
I work in different grocery stores all around the Triangle in NC and I'm seeing this a lot. Packaging is shrinking and the price is still raising on them at the same time. Check out Breton Crackers as one example, they shrunk 20% and raised by 1$. They hide the price raise by putting them on sale right after, then after the sale you are left with the higher price and smaller packaging.
this is what you get asking higher wages
Ah, I was wondering how that switch took place, because I thought that stocking the new stuff next to the old stuff would very obviously show the size change. But of course they thought of that. Really sad honestly.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️..
@@osmosisjones4912 This is what they get for wanting food on their table
@@osmosisjones4912 inflation has been going on for a really long time and wages didn't start going up until the last 10 years or so. Some states are still paying people minimum wage of something like $7.25hr..
In Germany, the consumer protection agency gives out a yearly award for the "Mogelpackung", which is a figurative word for a sham, but literally translates as deceptive packaging. Here, the worst offenders of shrinking packages and most air in packages are publically shamed.
Oh no they are shamed... Yet Germans still buy them. The German media loves to shame companies because it shifts the blame from their mindless government spending and puts it into companies. Hey didn't a certain Austrian born leader in the 1930s do that. Yeah, he learned it from all of the other socialists that did the same thing to spread socialism and communism. Eventually they all took over those industries and fed off the misery of their own people making themselves more rich and powerful. They also ended up murdering about 120 million people in the last half of the 20th century.
Nice any company that I might know? Like Doritos or something like that
Deceptive packaging really should be illegal.
@@Acaykath Deceptive packaging is. There’s nothing deceptive about putting the ounce mass of the item contained within and the price. Y’all need to stop whining.
@@Acaykath so should be deceptiv marketing, but if it makes money . . .
Food products aren't only getting smaller, they're also getting less nutritious and less healthy due to using lower-quality ingredients to save production costs
Why use real X when these 15 cheap chemicals make the same taste? "New look, same great taste!" bull hockey.
@@WolfieDawn I hate that so much becuse it basically forces me to be paranoid about all of those things simply becuse i dont want to deal with some chemicals that only got put into something for the reason of "Oh its cheaper for us" becuse chances are its also less healthy for me so no thanks
And more expensive
big problem is that price is easiest to objectively compare before and after....to follow all the ingredients and pack sizes vs weight per kg sizes ( or equivelant ) ..I mean...we'd need some serious amazingly done app for that kind of sh*t so you could just scan and know in 2 secs if they are screwing you up or not . but that's be too much work to make smooth , easy to use and perfect. so ye we are basically screwed. coz how are you gonna compare different price of same type of food but with different ingredients and different prices and servings..how much is poor ingredient worth compared to good ingredient. How are you gonna factor that in into simple number to compare ? it's just ONE BIG MESS...and sadly price is the easiest to track. To track bigger picture now that's almost impossible for average person even me. You'd have to check ingredient list every single time you pick up product, we would seriously need like insanely over engineered simple to use app for that. That's only way. Some crazy good app designers would have to come together to make it happen.
@@matrixfull I wouldn't say some super-advanced app is the only way to fix this problem.
If we stopped valuing companies based on their profits and started basing it on how beneficial to society they are, that would be a good start.
Seeing the words “Share Size” also makes me laugh. Every instance of shrinkflation gives me another reason to completely abandon a product I shouldn’t be eating anyway.
Fun size is another one
im seeing 'share size ' on most candies now or M&M's. thats code word for ' you're getting about 20% less and paying more ' for the same thing you bought 5 years ago
In Brazil there's a law that makes it mandatory for the companies to clearly state in the package that the product is smaller/lighter when they do it.
Wait, Brazil has a law?
Can't they just keep that "transition batch" in the warehouse and ship out any subsequent batches (maybe also rework the "transition batch" later in new new packaging) 😁
@@mxm_prime2191 beat me to it lmfao
@@EroticOnion23 That transition period is six whole months.
@@mxm_prime2191 yes, just one though.. hacking people with machete's is still very legal there. Also, there's no such thing as police on duty.. just off duty.
I went through a number of years where I was extremely tight on cash. Part of how I managed my money was tracking cost to weight of all the food and drink I bought. Because this went on for years, I do this by default now, and shrinkflation has VASTLY escalated recently. This is a very timely video, thank you for it.
Never had a big problem with money but I ALWAYS do this, instead of meat I mostly eat eggs. They are better for you can cost less ethically and price wise. Beware though, for some unfortunate few, eggs can raise their cholesterol
I do something similar where I plan everything by meal, so for example I'll see a pack of 4 battered fish for 2.50, and a bag of chips of 1.50, one fish fillet and some chips for each meal with some chips left over for another small meal, that's 5 meals for £4, I can eat for the whole month for less than a £100
@@tominieminen66 Actually dietary cholesterol raising LDL cholesterol levels is a myth. Cholesterol that is eaten is broken into it's constituent parts by your digestive system. The thing that actually increases cholesterol levels is sugar and high glycemic carbs. Sugar raises insulin and as a byproduct of elevated insulin levels for extended periods, your body is unable to regulate LDL levels due to hormone interaction. So eat all the eggs you want, they will not end you. However, skip the toast and the juice they will.
@@tominieminen66 Well, the eggs are getting smaller too, so no worries! (The eggs we bought at the store used to be the same size as the ones we get from our chickens. Not anymore.)
@@LadyOnikara Getting smaller is not the problem, that does not fool the price/amount ratio that you can check :D
"Sizes never really go back up." Actually, they do go back up. When they say, "Now 20% more!" on the packaging, they mean both the amount of food AND the price. So they shrink, shrink, shrink until enough people complain and then they increase both the size and the price at the same time and simultaneously spin in it in a way that most people won't notice.
That's not going back to normal. The price would have to remain the same for that to be true. So even if the size increases, we're still paying those inflated prices despite the fact that the reasons for inflation may not exist.
@@poolsidetoiletproductions9402 Person did not say it was going back to normal.
@@poolsidetoiletproductions9402 well, the size goes back to normal that is...
… do you know the meaning of really in this context?
@@poolsidetoiletproductions9402 that's the point?
The issue isn't that they're trying to make up costs. These companies are shrinking products, increasing cost and cheaping out on ingredients all despite posting record profits.
yep greed
Literally
Yep this
Yep, the triangle is under stress.
also not being honest about it
This is something that has been going on for decades. I remember hearing about it when I was a kid. They do go back up though. They eventually release a "new bigger size" product that is the same size as it used to be or a little bigger, but costs more. Ever wonder why there are several sizes of cereal boxes? That is why
Yup! And cooking is such a pain because of it. “The recipe says I need a 30 oz can. My options are 24 or 60. How much will the recipe suffer with less liquid? Should I buy the bigger one and try to find a use for the other half??”
@@katuni08 gotta do some good old math to figure out the new portions you need.
Yeah well, inflation has been a thing for decades too.
@@gregoryhaile7410 but that’s expensive if you don’t already have twice all your ingredients
:(
@@Anti-Taxxer yeah, thats what I want to do more research on, inflation is about 2.5% per year on average. So if the TP example shrunk 20% in a little over a decade, wouldnt it b3 basically matching inflation?
Finally we're tackling the topic of SHRINKFLATION! An especially bad problem in the wake of Covid. Thanks for covering this, Theory crew!
Ж
Yeah
Possum Tots is an amazing screen name. I am jealous
Make this the top comment
i am so glad im not going insane. i have a brand of chips that i use, since im gluten free, and i have noticed that they are getting smaller…
As a child of the 70's (Yes I'm Old AF), I started to notice "Shrinkflation" in the 90's.
Some people even tried telling me "You just got bigger"
So thanks Mat Pat, this topic needs more exposure.
Yeah, I am not a youngster either, but I can confirm that.
Smaller packages keep encroaching in our grocery at least since the '90s
So you're old enough to have grandchildren?
@@aceeonyt57 I mean there's no set age to have grandchildren, my parents are from the 70's but I'm not even of age yet
@@irishakita Alright
One of the first I remember was ice cream shrinking from 2 quart containers to 1.5 qts. Some store brands (and Blue Bell) still package in 1/2 gallon containers, but I'm pretty sure Breyers started it and everyone else followed.
What annoys me is when the chocolate bars get smaller and they say it's because it's better for you or only so many calories per bar. It's got nothing to do with less calories but they try to make us think that. They still made Toblerone smaller. It use to be 400g now it's less.
"Someone is stealing from you"
Me, looking at the several other Food Theory episodes that have taught me as much - "I'm aware. But I'll happily listen to you explain again."
Ж
True
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money.
You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
Just like your theory on why company logos are getting more and more simplified and worse, looks like their products are doing so as well.
💖
Жжжжжж
That’s true
What video did he do on this? I wanna re-watch this.
In a few years we'll be buying food NFTs instead of food.
9:21 the only thing wrong about this is that products eventually do go back to "Normal size" but they are advertised as "Mega size", the small product we know gets discontinued and companies then use shrinkflation on the "mega size" product until it becomes small then repeat the process.
Came here to say something similar! I’ve noticed that grocery shopping at a “bulk food” store like Costco is the only way my family can wait a couple of weeks before shopping again.
The brand-name products that I have to buy at a normal grocery store, like my jars of jelly, last *maybe* a week if I really stretch it. My 4 year old daughter snuck and ate a whole, new jar of jelly last night, with no stomach ache. That should be alarming, right??
yea but that's not the same product now is it? it's a "new" product which probably has a different price tag
Now, that you mention it. I did start to see that.
Wow, good point! While I still wont tag their statement as wrong, those "mega" sizes do bring back their previous versions only now selling them for what they're worth after accounting for inflation. As another commenter said, that isn't the "same" product. I would only call that returning to normal if they stuck with the same pricing while reverting to the original product volume.
Wrong! You don't pay the old price for the "new normal" when the come out with Mega Size. They mark the price up from the shrinkflated product while offering you no more than they used to before shrinkflation.
Was so happy you started with calling it stealing. These vendors are making enemies out of the general public. It should be easy enough to figure out who they are and make them pay.
I've been taught about calculating price per ounce since I was little, and been shown and told about the shrinkflation as well. The watering down thing is one I didn't know though.
🤓☝️
The watering down thing is just downright evil. The weight and size are things you can somewhat pick up on if you're looking for them, or at least notice "something is not right about it". But having to check the proportions of ingredients and such in a product you're already used to buy is just unthinkably evil.
I have been teaching my daughter how to look for deals and scams by looking at price per weight. Just because it is a bigger package or on sale does not mean it is a better deal.
The watering down thing is truly insidious penny margin play. It's the exact kinda thing we need to watch out for.
Literally yesterday I was thinking, hey this Big Mac looks way smaller. I don't go to Macdonalds often so if they did change it gradually I feel like I'd notice.
Ж
I always notice
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money.
You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
Whyruclips.net/video/FSSFgWlDbJU/видео.html..
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
Our family always gets suspicious and disappointed when a food product has "NEW LOOK! SAME GREAT TASTE!". We go "oh great, how are they ripping us off this time"
Especially on Chips.
Doritos has been playing this game before I started eating them as a teenager back in the 1980's. Not only do they shrink the sizes, they get customers used to it, and then they introduce larger grab bags at a higher price, and then slowly reduce the size over time. There are other strategies like reducing the seasoning on each chip. Notice new flavors are bursting with flavor but over time slowly become more tame in flavor, and that is because they reduce the seasoning. Also, they will change the packaging sizes, introducing more air in the larger bag, but package the same amount of chips, or slightly more chips, but at a price increase. There are other strategies, but those are the few I can think of off the top of my head.
The corn part of the chip is dirt cheap. Cheese is expensive. I stopped buying doritos with no flavor. In all honesty walmarts variety is the best out there. I've tried quite a few.
@DavidC. Don't you mean the chip manufacturers systematically displace the chip product with more packaged AIR (over time)? Thereby giving you less chips per bag?
@@SoundScientist1 That too I'm sure. It's all a numbers game with them.
@@davidc5027. Yes, any covert & slick strategies they can create to ultimately give us less product for the same price (or maybe even ↑ Higher $prices). 🤷🏾♂️
Imagine complaining that Doritos is getting you used to eating less junk food. I can already envision your sausage fingers typing that message, David.
When my sister and I were younger, my dad actually taught us about checking the price per unit, now I am saving lot of money because of that; so I’m glad to see that you guys are covering it as well.
Honestly, so many of my highschool peers and now co-workers think I'm incredibly stingy because I shop almost exclusively by the gram or millilitre price etc or only buy certain things when on sale. Yet all I'm doing is saving money for a home deposit whilst they're stuggling to pay rent in a sharehouse or apartment (me and my mates are all around 20yrs now)
My dad did the same thing, thank god for stingy dads lmao
My dad did too
I gotta say, while Food Theory seemed like an odd concept at first, it might legitimately have become my favourite of the three! While there might be some movies/ games I'm not really interested in, food is just such an all-encompassing feature of our lives that practically every theory has been interesting, at least, not to mention real-life applicable or pure educational. Thanks for popping out a banger after a banger, Theorist Family
yeah, this channel is the only one that I'm actually suscribed (and gt live) because this channel has a lot of useful information, unexpected conspirations, healthy data and thinks that even I thought like "licks to a tootsie pop"
I absolutely feel you on that, when I first heard if it I thought it would be absolutely silly but then it randomly played on auto play and now I'm hooked
Same, i vouch
Same. I got a bit burnt out on the others, but the topics in food theory are just diverse and relevant.
I still WATCH all the theories across the channels, but food theory is always the one I watch first.
I agree!
Shrinkflation is the longest running game of observation duty ever, trying to remember if the cereal box has always been that small and/or gaslighting yourself into believing it has
🤓☝️
I always notice tbh
It’s funny how companies are saying you’re hands are just getting bigger because last time I checked once you’re an adult you’re hands don’t grow anymore lmao
@@mariodude7424 same
Cereal is one of the most noticeable of this. I've worked in 4 grocery stores in the last 10 years, and when you work around it you notice it all the time.
When I was a teenager, I remember they had these Giant Snickers. They were actually huge, not like the "king size" we have today. The chocolate was three times as thick, so it took a good cracking to get through. They were the BEST! I've missed them ever since. Never seen them anywhere. Not even in America. Some things were better in the 90s.
Yeah man, morbid obesity in children used to be so much cheaper to achieve. Some things were better in the 90s.
@@mymomsbasement69 No one is forcing you to eat three giant Snickers for breakfast
Everything gets worse as you start making money, it's not even inflation. Look at McDonald's, KFC, Domino, or any other franchise. The reason why they were so popular is because they were good, at a good value. You get what you paid for. However, ever since they started expanding, the size changed; the taste changed; their ethics changed.
Bro dont get emotional
Yesterday in my college stats my professor gave us m&ms so we could count the colors and do some distribution stuff with it. He said he had been doing It for years and the amount you get has slowly going down.
I think they may have also decreased the amount of chocolate to sugar, when I was younger they tasted like chocolate. I hadn't had them in a while so I decided to try them again, and they basically taste more like chocolate favored sugar pills. Also the texture is noticeablely more crystalline than I remembered.
I thought that candy bars were getting smaller, specifically M&Ms, Peanut Butter Cups, and Snickers, than when I was a kid. But, I wasn't sure that it wasn't just me getting bigger. Thanks for confirming what I had felt.
You too? I was starting to think I couldn’t stand milk chocolate anymore after joining the dark side, Eeh, then again, is it a bad thing for M&Ms to be the only piece of milk chocolate I had in over 7 year?
I’ve switched to baking chocolate nubs for my chocolate snacking. I get to choose cacao content and it can be used to make other chocolatey treats.
@@catherinebaldwin6580
You actually blew my mind. There are quite a few things I used to enjoy but no longer do as much. And now I can't tell if it's because I'm older and my tastes have changed or because the products are getting lower in quality.
It could be either or it could be both.
Years ago, there were mandatory packaging sizes in Germany. That helped avoid that but now you get lots of crooked package sizes. Milka went from 100g to some new bars 90g or 87 g etc
If I understand you correctly, they kept the package the same size but lessen the stuff inside?
@@mitchellvd yes, looks same but less inside as there are no fixed rules on ackage sizes/weight anymore. Chocolate used to be 100g or 50g only.
I work in a grocery store getting peoples groceries when they do curbside pickup, and this becomes super obvious when you do that. Sometimes I will have what is supposedly the item the customer wants right in front of me, but it won’t scan into our system, so I have to put it as a substitution, and what shows is two items with the exact same name but one has a smaller weight/volume.
The one thing I will say is don’t get mad at grocery store employees for this, we have literally no control over that and if we shop at our own store it affects us too.
"Shrinkflation" was evident to me during my first job in a corner convenience store. Seeing packages drop from 18oz to 12oz with the big text "Now 20% Bigger! *than our 10oz box" was almost a monthly routine. Candy was the most common thing I saw pull this off. Boxes would be the same size, the fill or content would be reduced, and the text always had some legal loophole to say things were bigger and better. Advertising needs extremely strict control that just doesn't exist (USA experience)
already have truth in advertising laws. people are just easily distracted from the facts printed right on the product.
advertisements are not promises, they have to be outright lies. hence the asterisk.
@@williemerilson3112 "easily distracted" nope. it's called psychology. companies spend millions on applying psychological tricks.
@@GameTimeWhy tweaking perception and manipulation is their main tools on us, the consumer.
@@mstrikesback168 that's what I said. They literally have teams of psychologists that learn how to most effectively exploit consumers.
its almost like there should be some "rules" or something to stop these murky practices instead of relying on the customers to somehow gain enough traction to publicly shame these companies...
like "consumer protection laws" or something...
hahaha a way to protect us??? they would never
Sorry for blocking, I need serotonine
you mean like labeling Laws, which already exist and people mostly ignore?
Conservatives are scared of big gov for some reason, but not big business?
Or…we could take actions that don’t result in high inflation. Both of those work, but I feel like companies are going to be able to last longer and produce more for the economy if they don’t get short-changed by those kinds of regulations
There's a really nasty practice I've noticed with cookie packaging, where they first made an indent to the interior plastic packaging, so that there are less cookies in a pile, but the plastic is heavier, so it actually feels like, ou have more than before..
Yea I noticed that in Girl Scout cookies they used to last me at least 1 1/2-2 weeks now they only last me less than one..
@@Ihavenocluelmao as a girl scout, where are you getting so many cookies. we sell them in singles as far as i know. im confused.
@@shoe777 singles ?!?!?💀😭 what ever happened to the boxes
@@addictedtomoney2196 That's what I'm wondering to! Cookie shortage from COVID to. Ugh.
Sizes are going down but prices are not staying the same. Pasta in SW Ontario, Canada last year was 900g for $1.75 and now it's 750g for $2.25. The same goes with Doritos the weight has stayed the same but the price is up nearly $1.25 per big bag and when they go on sale they're usually around $3.25 where they used to go on sale for $2 last year for the bigger bag.
"Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. Let us falsify the scales by deceit, That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes-Even sell the chaff with the wheat..."Amos 8:5-7
our bags of dortitos used to be like ..2.75 - 3.00 for a bag, they are like 4.50 - 4.99 now., and the bag got smaller :/
Shrinking products is such a rip-off: we end up buying more packaging per unit of food, adding more to the volume of garbage we have to dispose of. Thanks, food sellers!
Exactly, selling foods in smaller portions is much less efficient thanks to the square-cube law
Be very satisfying if these greedy people swam in their own trash they sell to people for eternity
"adding more to the volume of garbage we have to dispose of" while reducing the amount of garbage you ingest per serving. What a trade off.
yeah but not everyone is willing to pay more
@@shadowdragon3521 but much more profitable 🙂
I love how Theorist team is being the town crier for things that I gripe about to myself at the groceries, hah
I guess it's up to us, the consumer to be vocal & act by our dollar spending. Thanks BJ Novak for the call out, & also for the Office
Skinflation is real.
Ive been a meat cutter for almost 7 years now. Something thats always bothered me is head office telling saying we need to put less and less ground beef in the family packs.
Dove Hand soap literally JUST did this in the past month. I realized by reading the label that they put less hand soap in the bottle, and it even seems to be diluted. They also changed the look of their bottle.
TOO MUCH WATER. Not helping dishwashers...AT ALL.
The soap actually dissolves faster too, so you will have to buy more.
Shrinkflation is insidious. "We cut back to keep your prices the same." However, there is still 8% inflation, so you're paying more for less.
._.
Capitalism and greed for ya my friend.
@@raysprad404 the state devaluing the currency is not the businesses fault, and their responses are understandable.
That being said this is not capitalism, the state has forced the businesses to make one of two changes, and they selected the one that maintains their profits which they owe their shareholders.
@@Darkworldxl but that is capitalism?
@@name3236 Nope economic intervention done by governments is not capitalism and no we don't have capitalism today.
I strongly encourage you to read some Mises( the guy who predicted the great depression) and Rothbard, mainstream economics is a joke.
Yeah it sucks that this is a thing we have to deal with. The small and subtle changes in store shelves are the worst! One of my favorite examples is from the company Bolthouse. They used to sell 14oz bottles of dressing but they subtly shifted them down to 12oz.
🤓☝️📿📿📿📿📿📿📿📿📿📿📿📿📿🖖🏾🖖🏾🖖🏾🖖🏾🖖🏾🖖🏾🖖🏾🖖🏾📿📿📿📿📿📿📿📿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿
There is nothing that we can do.
Prices are increasing because the lockdowns weakened the worlds economy, almost all small bussiness suffered, the only ones that got richers where amazon and wall mart. As the money is more concentrated on those two companies, all other business have less money, so they hire less, which means less customers and so on.
The world also stopped being supplied with Russian's cheap oil, cooking oil, fertilizer and wheat. For those who do not know, the oil is used in trucks and other vehicles that transport goods.
There is also some shutting down of nuclear power plants in europe, which make energy more expensive there. And the fact that usa not building more pipelines, which prevent the country from being oil indepedent.
Of course, there is also the fact that governs are printing money everywhere which decrease the power of the coins of their countries.
To get things back to normal we need to find a way to reduce the price of the oil in first place and increase the production in second. Following the laws of supply and demand, but that easier said than done.
dressing is bad for you and you shouldnt eat it with salad, thats counterintuitive
@@SadBoysCollectiveCirca96 It's only counterintuitive if the your only reason for eating a salad was to maintain/lose weight as a healthier alternative to other, more calorie dense and less nutritious, foods. Some people eat salads due to dietary restrictions or simply, in my case, because they have a preference for eating salads.
@@SadBoysCollectiveCirca96 A simple vinaigrette is perfectly fine.
I recall a lecture during my first year of college where my professor was talking about shrinkflation in regards to coffee containers about how they introduced the 'handle' indentation in the plastic and how consumers didn't make any complaints about how they were getting less coffee instead they praised the company for adding the handle
You know I noticed this too, because I remember that there was a time that a bag of regular Lay's potato chips used to be full to the very top. Nowadays the bag of Lay's potato chips are half full, to where there's nothing but air at the top of an unopened bag of chips.
Jesus Tap Dancing Christ, the weight of the product is literally on the bag. If you need to gorge yourself in tortilla chips, buy 3 bags.
I have a spread sheet with toilet paper costs that I started in college. It calculates TP cost for 100 sheets and then combines that with the Ply count. It was always interesting to see where the best value was. (It was usually angel soft)
You're a hero
👏👏👏👏
@@FoodTheory ogm
👏👏
@@FoodTheory food theory why do celebrate Halloween ☝️
The worst thing is when you're making recipes that call for a can of this or a box of that, but when those sizes change and you don't realize it, it throws the entire thing off.
Personally, I'd rather pay the little bit more and keep getting the same standardized sizes. But that's just me.
That's why I try to make sure the recipe specifies the mass needed for the recipe. Cause not only do I need to know the amount needed. I need to know the size of the can needed. A jar of mayo is good and all, but the industrial Jug is a tad bit more excessive than the personal bottle I needed.
@@shavagreycastle that's all well and good till you end up having to buy a 2nd box of cake mix or another can of beans or something because you need that extra 15-20% of product they cut. Then you're left with wasting the rest of that 2nd container because it likely doesn't neatly fit into any other recipes and probably won't keep long enough for you to make the same dish again.
At the end of the day the manufacturer does what it thinks will be better for them, raise prices even higher, shrink the package more, absorb the cost increase, or do a combination of the above. Now that you know what's happening you can choose to not buy that product again until the manufacturer fixes the pain that they're causing.
@@nafspark they don't give f*ck about food waste either. They figured out how to make tons of corn supposedly cuz the abundance means less hungry people but I don't see them actually giving any food away to those who need it. They instead opted to use it in chips and high fructose corn syrups so the foods us fatties eat is even more addictive.
Yes exactly! you get meee!!!
I was so confused once, cause I was doing exactly as I noted down and was not getting the same results! Now I'm making the effort to note down the exact quantity (volume?), but it's such a hassle to use one can and a half and that unused part will either be rotting away in the fridge or force me to find another way to use it up (and I'm reaaally bad at improvising. I need recipies to everything)
Teabags with less tea in them are also a thing. It's just everywhere and they always have some BS excuse. I always look at the price per kilo for this reason. I had no idea about products being watered down though! That's a new one to look out for.
I first noticed this in the mid-90s as I bought 99 cents bag of doritos chips almost every day after school when I noticed the amount in the bags was decreasing. The bags went from 3.5 ounce the 3.2 to 3.0 to 2.8 to 2.5 to 2.2 to 2.0 to 1.8 ounces.
I worked at a grocery store and I remember boxed pancake mix slowly going from 12 oz to 11.5 oz to 11 oz and the price stayed the same over months
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money.
You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
🤓☝️
A case of water just went up a dollar where I live
It's a good way for companies to not cause a panic. By decreasing Oz of products while keeping prices the same. All to reduce the appearance of inflation.
If we weren't dealing with record inflation. Shrinkflation wouldn't be needed.
If mat tried to convince me I was actually a teleporting cat who escaped a government lab and my entire life was a hallucination caused by drinking too much caprisun, honestly I'd buy it.
Lmao
Not a good thing, I think it's good to take these videos with a grain of salt to practice your own critical thinking skills so you're no easily influenced
🤣
@@Imagirlygirl0_o gaychatuber just told someone to get help? and no one said anything? we have 100% went into a different dimension.
@@specmoment3592
bro Wdym
Matpat literally cited his sources for EVERYTHING in this video
I remember when they slowly introduced yogurt in smaller amounts, from 8oz to 6oz. During that transition, they introduced Greek style yogurts and some other fancy doodads. These newer versions of yogurt were being sold in the 6oz sizes. Most people didn't recognize these changes because they were too busy with the new types. Yoplait whips was one that gave you less as you paid the same for the same size container. Stir a Yoplait whip, you get about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount vs the original.
Anyhow, it really took off in the 1970's when it was stated, 'If we took one olive out of every jar, would the people notice?' - "I miss that olive!"
I work stocking at a grocery store, and I have absolutely noticed shrinkflation happen, and I always call it out when I see it.
I noticed this the MOMENT they started doing this !!! Their " family sized " bag of chips is the same size that the " normal " ones used to be and the " normal " size is insanely smaller than they used to be. It's absolutely insane !!
With the obesity in America this is not a bad thing.
@@magilla2282 that's what I'm thinking
@@ktv9247 they love people like you.
@@magilla2282it just means I have to eat more chips
@@magilla2282 Not all of us are obese. Obese people really have to ruin it for everyone else?
I’ve noticed this with Pringles. The can size has not changed, but the chips are smaller, and they’re not filling it up as much as they use to.
They also looked a lot thinner than they used to, I'm not sure if it's just me, but Ive seen a lot more sunlight through them than before.
@@_No_Naem_ They're definitely thinner! And there's less seasoning on them too.
Truly. Last time I had a Pringles was years ago so when I had a craving for them one day, I was very surprised and disappointed to see what happened to them now...
And the logo was also changed to the oversimplified one.
I've noticed this with the Costco brand, Kirkland signature, and their waters, before the water bottle used to be filled to the brim but now it's a couple ounces less
They're even scamming you on WATER as if bottled water weren't already a scam.
It’s gotta be the chip shortages that we’re dealing with right now, if that’s the case in my opinion.
i work there and drink like 5 bottles of Kirkland water a day and haven't noticed a thing.
Huh I always though it was a lot thing. Its more noticeable with the bottles themselves compared to the amount of water. I think there are three separate variants of the bottle: rigid plastic with thick cap, rigid plastic with thin cap, and flimsy plastic with thin cap. At first I thought Costco was cheaping out on the bottles, but a few months later, the bottles went back to the more rigid plastic design. Ever since, its been more or less a tossup every time we buy water.
But it's still 500ml though at least from what I can tell it still says 500ml on the bottle so in that case it might just be a bottle redesign. Though I think I will see if their 500ml bottles really are 500ml it's easy enough to measure water.
I've noticed this for years. When I go to a restaurant today or order fast food, the portions get smaller and they tend to give you more lettuce or celery with your food.
I've noticed it as well. To-go containers have gotten 10 to 15% smaller from places that I always order from, and they aren't filled up all the way to the top like they used to be. Prices have slightly increased.
As someone who works in a store and stocks food every single day, I noticed how a lot more of our products looked different and didn't fit on the shelf correctly like before. Now I know why. Its unfortunate really.
I've worked at a corner store for the past 5 years and I have definitely noticed it. Our prices have gotten insane on top of that too.
As a note, Andy Rooney, the former editorialist on old TV's 60 Minutes, noticed this pattern of shrinking foods back in the 1980s.
Yeah this has been going on for decades. Literally everything is smaller now than it was when I was a kid. McDonalds burgers, ice creams, sweets (candy and chocolate bars), carbonated drinks etc. I feel like its common knowledge, though.
Andy Rooney was one of the greats as far as observations and opinions went. Never pass up one of his books if you can help it!
As a packaging scientist, can confirm, this is a very real thing! Whether it’s the packaging material or product, a lot of companies do this for cutting cost and corners, but don’t adjust initial product prices most of the time with it, which stinks! Also, hope you are still planning on doing the left and right Twix facility episode, would love to see the packaging research on that topic!
Here in Brazil there's a law that obliges the manufacturers to put on their packaging for a certain ammount of time how much their reducing from it.
Its usually on the weight, "Before x g, now y g"
While that doesn't solve the problem, it usually makes the consumer aware that the products are getting smaller
I mean, I saw this happening over 5 years ago. I saw that my shampoo/conditioner was getting smaller per bottle, plus getting more expensive, so I went to Big Lots where they had the old bottle with more product in it still, and bought ALL of them. Took years to get through all that but it was worth it with the price of shampoo/conditioner now!
Hey Soap doesn’t degrade, so if you have the money, go for it.
I buy all of my cleaning products online, got enough for 12 months and paid like $80 Australian.
Things are always cheaper looking online and shopping around, supermarkets charge more for convenience
Funnily enough, my family and I noticed this happening with boxed cakes from Betty Crocker of all things a few years ago before Covid. It put us off from buying them for a LONG time since it screwed with the volume in the cake pans we preferred using so the cake would have been as thick as a standard wafer bar when done, and if I’m recalling correctly they didn’t even bother to change the recommended pan sizes and types they would give you on the back of the box to help clarify which would be best based on what you want, which just ticked us off even more. Went to scratch cake baking more after that. Same with their brownies. You want the thick boys you have to use two boxes to make them feel like a proper brownie thickness.
Last time I used boxed brownies, we had to use 2 boxes just to make a decent thickness of brownies!
Some shady shiz right there
As someone who works at a supermarket, I can confirm that the Bolthouse Farms salad dressing has shrunk from 14 oz. to 12 oz. Coworker had to change the tags because of the price per ounce increase.
🤓☝️
I remember when I bought a product, saw the employee change the tags. so before he could change the tag of the product, I needed snapped a pic of the price, and gotten it for that price, because I grabbed it before the price increased.
At 5:15, your orange juice example, if you take that further back in time, all orange juice came in half gallons and gallons. But now it comes in 52 oz bottles. But, the generic and store brands still come in half gallons and gallons. So you can compare the size right in the store. To my knowledge there's no such thing as a half gallon carton or bottle of Tropicana Pure Premium any more. The other item I can think of right now is ice cream. in the 70s and 80s, and maybe later, ice cream came in half gallon containers (the typical size we bought). But now the half gallon size has been replaced with 48 oz, or something close to that.
Ohh I know, as a retail worker I've noticed many sizes have shrunk months ago, family size Kellogg's frosted flakes look like the normal size I would get just a year ago, and while normal sizes have shrunk a small but noticable amount
Edit: this is just me looking at box size. Thought I was going crazy but never bothered to look, thanks Matt
Ж
ive always known about this. my mom keeps pointing out as well. but every time im ike... what can we do? as normal people, idont think theres much we CAN do
Dominion voting system was invented in Canada to so Trudeau can steal elections
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️
I’m the same! I’ve also noticed that “Party Size” Oreos now are the same size as the regular size Oreos from just a couple years back. The regular size Oreos of now are like a small pack that you would’ve found in a gas station just a couple years ago probably. Never noticed all the drink differences though!
An example: In Sweden we have a soda drink called Julmust and Påskmust (the are literally the same but re branded for Christmas and Easter) that is deeply rooted in tradition. The brand Apotekarnes has a monopoly on the market and they went from 1,5L to 1,4L bottles which is a very obvious change since it deviates from the standard size of all bottles.
They do not have a monopoly everywhere, that is for sure! In my area of Sweden where I grew up mostly everyone drinks Zeunerts. It is the superior Julmust and I don't know how you can have a julbord without it. After moving abroad it is one of the things I miss the most.
@@MrBatmansmells wow I’ve never heard of Zeunerts
@@moaandersson5223 Try it out! Although the area where it is the most popular is around the middle of Sweden (Ångermanland), so it might be a bit harder to find in the southern parts.
Favorite example of this that I did notice over the years: Ghirardelli bitter sweet chocolate chips. Years back, a bag was 12oz and all of my recipes were based on that (two batches of my cookies). Every couple of years they would take off 0.5oz, until they now sit at 10oz. And you would notice the weight change each time!
Shrinkflation has been applied to many items found at the grocery store. Also known as Greedflation!
Yes, it's so greedy of them to disallow you from being a gluttonous cow. Ten pounds of Hershey's is a human right!
@@pearlsswine OK. So you're willing to pay $5 for a few crumbs of cake just because there's an obesity problem in the First World?
Who said anything about 10 lbs. of Hershey's? That kind of accusation out of nowhere is usually projection. Do you have a chocolate addiction, chunky?
@@pearlsswine thats a poor arguement for those of us who are not like 1/3 of the nation and obese and can maintain a diet and exercise, im not spending 5 bucks on the 8 ounce bag of Doritos that just cost me 2.50 literally 5 years ago, but im sure those on eBT dont mind as they aren't paying for it at all
I’ve seen shrinkflation firsthand at the movie theater I work at and it’s drove me INSANE. We get a new shipment of our candies and when we restock, sure enough, at least one of the boxes/bags is slightly smaller yet the prices slowly increase. It’s frustrating because I know there’s nothing I can do about it
Anybody who buys candy from the movie theater is nuts lol.
I was shocked that a large popcorn was $12+ last time I went…and this was like..10 years ago. So I can only imagine what it is now.
I was surprised recently when I was able to find an actual half-gallon of ice cream at Safeway, where most all manufacturers have switched to a 1.5 quarts. But there’s a gotcha: It’s Häagen-Dazs Vanilla. $14.99 per half gallon.
only $14
If you whip the ice cream during packaging, it is easier to scoop.
Haggen Dazs ice cream tubs have changed in size, I’ve noticed. The 16 oz tubs changed to 14 oz. I hate how they are sneaking in smaller sizes and getting rid of the original size.
@@strawberrykitty9 Yep! Their “pints” are 14 ounces and their “quarts” are 28 ounces. But their half gallons are still half gallons (a pottle).
@@strawberrykitty9 On top of that, the serving size of ice cream (and some other foods) has gone up as well. It used to be 1/2 cup and is now 2/3 cup, I think.
This has been happening for years and it is about time people started talking about it. The other problem that some people don't think about is it is screwing up recipes - sometimes you need one package of cake mix for example, well that package is smaller now so the amounts are wrong for everything else now, but how much do you need to adjust. So in addition to the financial scam there is a secondary problem too. And it isn't just food - it is everything. I would rather they raise prices and keep the original sizes so I can make better decisions - it is very frustrating. Also I love that this posted today right as I am about to head over to the grocery store.
Yeeeesss. I noticed this with Certo , which we use to make jelly. The recipe in the canning book and package say to use one per cooking. When we used to make jelly it was fine. Now, 1 package won't set the jelly, but the instructions on the new box say 1 package. It now takes 2, and there are added instructions on what to do if it doesn't set that weren't on the old box. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID.
Hope you find products that weren’t hit by this too hard for sale there!
@@lindalandrum9232 that is beyond frustrating!!!!!
They also change their products recipes by adding cheaper ingredients that don't taste as good.
The latest one I noticed was Welch's fruit snacks. I eat them all the time so I know how many are usually in a little bag. I looked at the nutrition info and the calories changed from 80 to 70 per serving and carbs changed from 19 to 17. They are also tasting weird 🤔.
@@NeroKnight666 They probably use syntetic sugar instead, thats the wierd taste, and since syntetic sugar is a lot more sweet than normal sugar, they dont need as much and can save money. In some countries like Sweden where I live there is talk about a sugar-tax, so maybe thats why Pepsi started using syntetic sugar in normal Pepsi here.. taste like crap.
@@NeroKnight666 and syntetic sugar is even worse for diabetes.
I noticed it happen to a bag of chips, noticed the package get smaller and the price per OZ jump way up. And I was like, "yeah, I ain't gonna buy that again."
"Fruit" 🤣
I used to eat them when I was a kids, they were my favorite for how "juicy" they are.
Now they are so dry and all flavor taste the same flat sweet.
this is a huge deal and people should talk about it more. I always use this method while I'm buying in grocery stores. Unless I want a certain name brand, I pay attention to the euro per kg of that product. it is so useful! great work once again
I caught on to this practice years ago during the 2008 recession. A lot of the food I bought back then suddenly came in much smaller packages. Years later, when the economy was doing much better, the food remained smaller. Because why go back to normal when you can make that much more money instead?
That's why a lot of people are worried about what's going on with petrol prices right now, when they raise prices when times are bad, that doesn't mean they'll lower prices when the times are good.
very informative food theory, it kinda sucks that not only chips have been suffering from shrinkflation, but even bars of soap and toilet paper are getting smaller. It’s just less value for your buck now
I've noticed this ALL the time!! The 99 cent store is FAMOUS for it. I first noticed this with the TACO BELL burrito for $1 getting smaller and the owner 10 years ago agreed and gave me a $10 gift card as an apology. Now? Good luck. 2.19 and it's STILL Tiny!!
Better yet, they SAY they're being healthier for you, I want a cheap meal with big burritoes!!!
Do Taco Bell's Burritoes next!!!
I never knew the “new look” thing was just to hide that there was less food in the package. That’s really interesting. Definitely something I’ll look out for lol
"New formula/ recipe" is the same thing as well.
In the last month i’ve stocked some hand dish soap. It had ghe same packaging ,same design, Same size bottle. Only differnce was that it contained less ounces and had a different barcode.
One of the things I actually like about shopping at Wal-Mart is that they actually list the price-per-ounce on the shelf. So they let you compare this sort of data between brands as well.
When they actually update the shelf price though. They're so behind on it it's ridiculous. Get the app and make sure to check cuz some things are up even as much as a whole dollar.
In my country there is no "per ounce" on supermarket price tags (and I often find myself pulling out the calculator on my phone to do the math).
I was once in another country where such lebelling does exist, but once I noticed in the yogurt section, some price tags read "per unit", some "per 100ml", some "per 100g", making them basically unable to compare against each other.
Another way these devils obfuscate the truth.
I have always notice the shrinkflation, but this is the first time I have seen the ingredients also have been changed by adding water or less costly ingredients. Thanks for pointing out the calorie change per serving.
The other problem we’re facing now is that the prices ARE going up as well. The exact same Costco shopping trip is higher this year than last year for the same items.
Ahh, the it hasn't gotten smaller, you've gotten taller play. I remember the first time McDonald's used that line with the Big Mac years back, well before the pandemic, and thinking what a bunch of hokey that was.
Great job highlighting why one should always read the fine print and focus on the cost per unit. I've tried to preach this for years to everyone I know, and I'm glad that message is now reaching the masses through you.
Because hey, shrinkflation isn't just a theory... it's a huge issue, and we all need to work to stop it.
Especially with inflation and stagnant wages. Not only less and less product but they're more expensive for less and less with more chemicals and cheese-like product rather than just cheese...
@@WolfieDawn And then we wonder why we are unhealthy. We’re all on a diet of wood pulp and “food-like product.”
The first instance of this I noticed in the late '70s, when coffee prices began soaring. The one pound can became 14 oz, then 11 oz. with the two and three-pound cans showing similar shrinkage.
Just like Markiplier said in his World's most powerful flashlight video
"I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF THIS FLASHLIGHT WAS SHRINKFLATED"
Ж
Oh wow
I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF THAT RANT IN THAT VIDEO
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because of domestic oil production being lowered, causing price increases that companies need to make up somehow. No, it must be the eeeeevil companies that only exist to serve, not make money.
You know who is at fault. Use your brain next time you vote. WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
You people voted for this, now look at what's happened. Record high gas prices, massive inflation on the basic goods and services that people need to survive proven corruption involving Burisma, violations of our basic rights granted to us by the Constitution, and World War III on the horizon. Think before you vote next time, if there even is a next time. 🤦♂️..
1:45 Kids who are as young as MatPat here may be too young to know that these practices have been going on for decades. Back in the 1970s when Canada started to go metric there were huge changes in package sizes for every product. Many companies hoped that customers would be too busy adjusting to the new system of measurement to notice that a 400 gram package is 12% smaller than a pound (454 g) especially since it was priced the same.
That's never been something I've been affected by. Instead of paying attention to the price per unit, I always look at the price per weight ratio. I started doing that to compare products of different size, but now it's become an ingrained habit.
OR SO I THOUGHT! Now I gotta watch out for watered down products. Yeeesh.
I'm going to start calling out all of these companies. I'm sick of it.
Several years ago, McDonalds did something like this. They changed their McDouble from two patties and two pieces of cheese to one piece of cheese and two patties. And then advertised they were meatier. Instead of less cheesy.
That's what you get when politicians keep printing money and subsidizing useless things like solar panels.
When i realized the mc dubble, and double cheeseburger is the same thing with one just having an extra slice of cheese 😮.
They made the sausage patties thinner and they've never been as good since
genius.
@@sie4431 Even the big Mack is not big, it's like kids size jr mac Mcdonalds use to sale for a dollar some years ago.
I'm glad Matpat is recognizing the more serious stuff and trying to help us out
Same
🤓☝️
@@zeydric9776 How many comments have you replied to with that LMAO
I'm a grocery store manager and the only product I've seen actually grow in size rather then shrink has been frito lay ruffles. They actually made bigger bags and didn't raise the price. I see approximately 10,000 items shrink in size but keep their price every year
🤓☝️
they just probably stuffed more air into them
Oh I noticed the shrink-flation way back in high school when my snack-sized hot fries were getting smaller lol. For some reason I'd stash all the empty bags in a drawer. Canned tuna is another great example; it's gotten so much smaller. What's interesting is that if you try to google images of the products, it's sometimes really hard to find examples. I have a theory that companies try to scrub those old images from the web in some way (probably just by sending out updated product images to their distributors as soon as they make a change).
I literally haven't touched a majority of these products in years out of pure spite. Feels good
Voting with your money would change things rapidly if everyone did it.
they are unhealthy anyways
@@cyanidechristthats what we are doing, we still buy the smaller ones lol. Thats why they keep doing it. They are smart
I actually have noticed, because ever since I worked at Dollar Tree I've been more conscious of the net weight.
Why pay $1 for a candy bar of 1.5oz when you can pay the extra quarter to get 3.5oz of the same product?
Although since I've been working here, some of the boxes of candy have already reduced from 3.5oz to 2.8oz.
And they're longer a dollar. While a quarter increase isn't much, technically, the prices have increased by 25%, which is closer to the real inflation we're seeing. Let's go, Brandon.
@@jamesmoriarty3877 We are still on the lower end though. A 16floz of soda is just $1.35 here, while anywhere else around us, the standard price is $2.29.
That killed me when I shopped at the dollar store! I was like “okay it’s cheaper but there’s no way it’s the same amount”
Yup. "It's just an quarter!" Yeah, it's "only" an extra 25 cents if I'm only buying 1 thing. If I buy 100 items, I'm paying an extra $25. If I do all my shopping at dollar tree, my cost of living went up 25% over night. I work there too and I remember we got a raise but I don't remember how much. Definitely not 25% raise though. We got new products that are higher quality, but a lot of the legacy products either got shrank or just aren't worth it anymore. People SHOULD complain, but NOT to the staff, complain to corporate. There's got to be a middle ground between screaming at the cashier who can't do anything, and telling corporate you'd be fine with them raising prices even more. They'll keep raising prices until they lose enough customers that it's not making them any extra profit.
@@doejhonny I didn't get a raise and people only complained at me cuz I'm main register at my location.
And people really shouldn't be complaining. Yes, it's a 25% increase but you're putting too much focus on that 25%. And I'm sorry, but if you do ALL your shopping via Dollar Tree, you got other life issues going on.
But it seems most people really don't care because, at our location, the amount of customers we get are almost double on a average. This Easter was busier than last Christmas.
Proud to say that when Toblerone made their bars smaller I quit as their social media manager.
I then started the petition to get them to change the bars or label it better and eventually they did. ☺️
nice job, thank's
@@yehiaadas5262 thank you!
Good job Simon
Thought you were full of it but then I looked up the petition!
@@evan99m79 Why lie? :)
the biggest problem is that they are shrinking how much we get while *also* increasing prices
I’m not the sort of “eat the rich” kind of person currently but this would be a valid excuse for an exception
I have become one, seeing the abject propaganda put on the back of things like kid's cereal boxes.
@@kathrineici9811 Socialistic economies work better than capitalist economies.
I've noticed this happening for about 2 decades now, glad to see other's are noticing, too bad it's too late at this point.
It’s not too late. We just need to force these companies to stop gouging the working class
Surprised this not a commonly known thing everywhere. In my cou try it quite often makes the news when toblerone/chocolate orange got shrunk or the last rolo was stolen
It's not too late; you can choose to stop using the bad money that leaves these companies with little option but to use deception. Bitcoin fixes this.
You should probably cover the other end of this, where newer, larger packaging at a higher price comes out to look like value packaging. It's part of why we aren't buying 1 chip packages of Doritos for $6.99. (Cough...Paqui...cough...) Shrinkflation is one part of a larger treadmill of deceptive marketing. We saw more coverage of the enlargement side of the treadmill in the 90s and early 2000s when people realized that maybe inhaling 20,000 calorie value servings of grease-covered starch wasn't necessarily the best for our health. That tended to focus on things like fast food fries and sodas, the low-cost add-ons to meals, but it's done across the board and I expect we'll see Doritos do it when what was a 16 oz unit becomes 8 oz.
Another aspect of it is that they USE inflation rather than adjust for inflation. As you mentioned here, inflation is around 8% now, a historic spike. But these changes are always FAR more than inflation. Like the Toblerone 25% years before the current inflation. Some of that is to be expected, with floating a little above value at first and only adjusting for inflation every so many years to keep a steady price point, but they latch onto VISIBLE inflation every time and outpace any reasonable floating. And they double dip. The value goes down with a steady price, THEN the price jacks up, both by more than the inflation.
Right now, inflation is largely tied to transport of goods. We don't have many raw material shortages, and what ones we have are almost entirely due to a transportation shortage. That means, end-to-end, the inflation is singular. It may not entirely be consistent in application, but the roughly 8% increase to manufacture, 8% to ship and 8% to put it on a shelf add up to 8%, not some multiple of 8%. We generally that as the excuse "yeah, it's x% more expensive from the manufacturer and our expenses are up by x% so it's 2x% more expensive" even though that's an intentional and blatant lie. And I'm not even getting into the intentional lag in employee pay that makes that total cost actually much less than inflation.
Inflation is a necessary part of any economy, and it's inherently good because it means money is worth more spent now than saved, increasing the flow of money and thus the economy. But spikes in inflation obviously hurt people. In large part because of that intentional lag in wage increases and intentional exploitation of the idea of inflation to lower value and raise costs like this.
I didn't know you could write so much on a RUclips comment. You're pretty smart 🤓
The dawn is here, humanity is gonna perish.
ruclips.net/video/SPLl7UgvuLE/видео.html
@@stephaniemireles4171 Thank you. I wish I was able to write this much back when teachers wanted me to fill pages for an assignment. 🤣
@@Merennulli me too 😂😂
They always use inflation as a scape goat, but these companies would have the 'need' to increase their profit regardless of inflation levels.
People have to understand that this trend of shrinking products isn't magically going to disappear by 'fixing' inflation
now shrinkflation is paired with raising prices
I live in Sweden and the chewing gum has gone from 25 pieces/bag to 21 pieces/bag, the toilet paper and kitchen paper have bigger cardboard rolls in the middle, and new "compact packaging" with fewer rolls, and all brands of chicken nuggets used to have 20 pieces/package, now I'm lucky if it's 18.
I've been noticing a lot of these since I work at a grocery store. The cereal boxes are a big one: we can actually fit an extra box on each shelf that we couldn't fit before. Other examples include jars of jam, which have gotten noticably shorter in recent years, and king sized candy, which has changed size in various ways depending on which candy you're talking about. It's pretty insane how widespread this trend is.
I love how MatPat is fully aware of the Creme Egg "Here Today, Goo Tomorrow" and "Goo Games" commercials....those commercials are blursed masterpieces and every single one of them belongs in the Louvre. Second best thing to come out of Britain behind Rowan Atkinson
and david attenborough
Some stores have stopped listing price per ounce and label it per unit which tells you nothing.
Doritos actually decreased the size of the bags again, they are 8.5 oz. I shop on net weight of the product and count, also price per pound. It’s way more cost effective.
And who cares if this means more packaging is being used? Plenty of more ocean to pollute.