At this point we've all experienced the increase in the prices of virtually everything. While most noticeable at the pump and the grocery store, you see similar situations in almost every item, be it cars, toothpaste or gardening supplies. The causes are numerous, from internal policy decisions to supply chain issues to the war in Europe. If there's any consolation, it's that the rates on these shores are modest compared to some others. That's said, it hardly lessens the blow to note that our annual inflation rate of close to 8% pales next to Argentina's 52%, Turkey's 54% or Venezuela's eye-popping 340%.
In some cases companies have no choice but to increase the final retail price that the consumer pays. The most noticeable involves oil: as the raw material costs more, refiners pay more to purchase it and turn into the stuff that goes into your tank. There is no way to hide that increase: a gallon of gas is a gallon of gas, period. You can't make it look bigger, prettier or add some cheap trimmings that make it appear worth more than it is. The consumer sees the simplest of equations, this for that. And when it costs more this for the same that, they ain't happy.
However, not all goods have the same problem. That's not to say that manufacturers of other goods don't have to increase their prices to cope with the higher costs of the raw materials, then processing them into finished goods. It's just that there are ways of camouflaging that increase with a little sleight of hand. After all, any magician will tell you that the key to many a good trick is misdirection: look over here while I actually perform the switch over there. In the case of consumer goods it involves repackaging the products in subtle ways so as to be able to keep the price the same. The hope is that you don't notice the change, a concept that has come to be known as shrinkflation.
No one knows when it actually started, but the most convenient marker is 1987. The story goes that CEO Robert Crandall of American Airlines came up with the idea of taking one olive out of every salad that was served to first class passengers. Who could possibly miss that? Yet, calculations are that doing so saved the company $40,000 a year, and no one in the forward cabin was the wiser. Likewise, Northwest Airlines started cutting the limes they used for their drink service into 16 pieces as opposed to 10. That little bit of extra knife work reportedly resulted in savings of $500,00 in their fresh fruit budget.
These days a walk down the supermarket aisle finds similar nips and tucks. The result is smaller packages with prices that not too long ago were found on larger ones. In some cases, the packaging is only slightly trimmed but otherwise the same. Unless you put an old container of Sun-Maid Raisins (22.58 ounces) back-to-back with the new one (20 ounces), you'd be unlikely to notice a difference. The same goes for Dove Body Wash (24 ounces to 22), Charmin Toilet Paper (264 sheets to 244 sheets) or Chobani Peach Cobbler Greek Yogurt (5.3 ounces to 4.5). In other cases they restyle the container as a benefit, as when Gatorade made theirs more “streamlined and holdable” to mask the fact that it went from holding 32 fluid ounces to 28. And in another case you'll have to have fewer kids as the Family Size bag of Keebler Chips Deluxe cookies went from 17.2 ounces to 14.6. Sorry, Junior, none for you.
The latest to make the move is Doritos. Frito-Lay, the snack's parent company, say they took about 5 chips out per bag, resulting in a package that weighs 9.25 ounces instead of 9.75. Who would notice 5 chips? Well, the accountants do. Estimates are that they will save about $50 million by cutting down on the number in each bag.
The list is of products that have shrunk is endless: Pringles potato chips, Crest toothpaste, Wheat Thins crackers. The only place it could play in your favor is at Christmas. For once it's a good time to be naughty: with coal prices up, Sana won't be able to stuff as much into your stocking.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford will pay whatever it costs for chunky Skippy. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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