18 Photos That Prove The Products We Buy Are Slowly Shrinking, Yet We're Still Paying The Same Price
IDK if you've noticed, but it's ROUGH out there right now (and by rough, I mean expensive). Just last month, inflation in the US hit 9.1%, the highest it's been in 40 YEARS. These numbers come from the consumer price index, which measures the prices of everyday goods and services, aka food, rent, and other things we need to survive/live our daily lives.
CBC
You've probably noticed prices going up, but maybe you've also noticed that despite paying the same price (or even more) for the products you've always bought, packages seem smaller, and the goods seem to be running out a lot quicker than they used to.
CBS
Well guess what, you're not imagining things! These days, we're all paying the same amount or more for less product thanks to a little thing called "shrinkflation." According to CNET, shrinkflation is "the practice of reducing the size or quantity of a product, while keeping the same price." So, even though you're paying the same amount of money, the cost per unit actually goes up, because the product won't last as long.
Rooster Teeth
Shrinkflation tends to happen in times of high inflation because manufacturers are trying to cut corners and deal with rising costs of ingredients, packaging, labor, and transportation.
Shrinkflation is happening all around us — we literally can't escape it. So, here are few examples of things you might notice looking a little smaller the next time you go shopping:
1. Cereal:
2. Juice:
Simply Lemonade (and many other juices) have gone from 64oz to 59oz to 52oz over the years while the price has remained the same or increased. from shrinkflation
3. Soap:
4. Paper towels:
New bounty paper towel on the left, old bounty on the right. Both packs bought at Costco. Width is smaller & the towel itself is thinner. from shrinkflation
5. Detergent:
6. Tomatoes:
The eight-year old recipe I'm using calls for "15 oz. can of stewed tomatoes". All the cans are now 14.5 oz. from shrinkflation
7. Cat food:
Cat food. Was $55 for 24, 5.8 oz cans. Now $62 for 24, 5.1 oz cans. That's .7 oz. less per can, and $7 more per case. from shrinkflation
8. Chips:
9. Body wash:
10. Salad dressing:
11. Coffee:
On the left, purchased last month 11.3oz for $4.98. On the right, purchased yesterday 9.6oz for $5.32. And the lid doesn’t fit properly on the new can, it won’t stay on. from shrinkflation
12. Ice cream:
13. Cookies:
14. Air freshener:
Bought a bottle of Febreze for the first time in a few years, still had the old bottle. New one is 37.5% smaller. from shrinkflation
15. Storage bags:
16. Diapers:
Net sales up 7% in Q1, $5.1 Billion Q1 sales, $693 Million Q1 Profit, yet still feel they NEED to reduce package size by 3.45% (174 to 168) from shrinkflation
17. Makeup:
18. And finally, our precious chocolate croissants :(
Aldi bake from frozen pain au chocolate. The ones on the left bought last month :( from shrinkflation
Have you noticed any examples of shrinkflation on the shelves of your local store? Tell us in the comments.
H/T: r/shrinkflation
