Fooled At the Food Aisle (April Fools Day)
It’s April Fool’s Day and not only do we need to look over our shoulders to make sure our friends, family and co-workers aren’t pulling a fast one on us, so too do we need to keep an eye out at the grocery stores. With companies looking every which way to save money, we have the old optical illusion trick. The price looks the same, the package looks the same but lo and behold… presto chango…it now has less product in it! The trend for food manufacturers has been, rather than raising prices, reducing the amount they give us.
Two of the more obvious has been the ice cream container which used to hold 2 quarts of creamy, luscious, velvety goodness. Then it dropped to 1.75 quarts and now 1.5 quart packages are showing up. Secondly is the yogurt container, which has dropped from an 8 oz. package to a measly 6 oz. serving.
The harder to notice are ones like processed cheese that used to have 12 slices that now only has 11. The cereal box that looks the same size but now holds 2.4 ounces less (more air in the box weighs nothing).
This phenomena has also hit soap, mayonnaise, butter, dog food and many other products. And as Ben Popken, blog consumerist said during an NPR interview, “unless you’re a savant and have memorized the sizes of all the products, you probably will not notice the reduction in size.”
Even More the Fool
In many cases, when the drop in portion size is more obvious, the marketing departments are using the reason of wanting to provide a more “sensible serving size” to justify the reduction in the amount of product. Their seemingly altruistic approach of helping out the obesity cause is to really hide the fact that it is not about our bottoms they care about but their bottom line.
What can we do about it as Smart Shoppers?
The first is to buy bulk. Larger quantity packages offer a better value. For example, a 32 oz. container of Mountain High Vanilla Yogurt has an average price in my area (according to www.SmartShopIt.com) of $3.42. A 6 oz. container of the same has the average price of $0.72. This calculates to getting over 10% more product buying the larger size. Plus you are helping the environment by not throwing away as many plastic containers. If you take it to work for lunch, put it in a small reusable container.
The second is to know your cost per unit. Trying to calculate this in your head is a difficult matter. I see many a shopper walking around with a calculator just for this purpose. There are easier ways. Many stores show this value on their labels so you can see if buying on size or product is better than another. Another way is to use the Smart Compare feature in www.SmartShopIt.com. Print this off before going to the store for the products you want to buy. Better yet, access it via your mobile device while at the store. Use the ’best value’ comparison option to see which product is the most economical.
Be aware that buying larger is not always the most economical. If a smaller size is on sale and you have a coupon, the cost per unit may work out better.
Many grocery tip sites suggest you create a price book so you can remember what you paid for items in the past. Write it down and put it in your purse, wallet or store it on your mobile device. Better yet, use the Favorites feature in www.SmartShopIt.com and access it via your mobile browser while at the store. It shows you the Smart Buy Range, Your Best Price and your established Price Trigger for all your favorite items.
Being made the fool can make for a good laugh for everyone, except when it comes to our wallets. Be a Smart Shopper that is aware of the sizes and prices of the products you are buying. Use tools to help you know the best prices and values (cost per unit). Then we can enjoy All Fool’s Day knowing we aren’t being taken advantage of at the grocery store!
(Visit our main site and become a free member at SmartShopIt.com to save time and money grocery shopping. Create shopping lists, see product price and nutrition information. Get free coupons and compare products. Also accessible via your mobile web device at http://m.SmartShopIt.com)
Filed under: Checkout Counter
