In The incredible grocery shrink ray - why what you buy is getting smaller Sandra Haurant (Money Editor for The Guardian) asks readers "Do you ever feel like your groceries are getting smaller while your bill is not? It's not an optical illusion. Some of the items you may regularly buy really have been shrinking, but their prices have stayed the same".
She quotes Jeff Allder of the National Consumer Council who says: "In America it is known as the grocery shrink ray and this is one trend from the US that we definitely don't want too much of over here." (in the UK)...
From an American perspective, I would push the argument further. If I look at cereals for example prices have gone up while boxes have shrunk in size and weight.
To my chagrin, there are now many European cheeses that I rarely buy as they have crossed the $15 a pound line.
The Consumerist documents the ongoing Grocery Shrink Ray phenomenon...
Ben Popken, their editor, discussed the topic online with the Washington Post readers on July 17...
Mary Ann Romans in Coping with the Grocery Shrink Ray (Frugal Blog, August 14) reports that "many packages are shrinking just in time for back to school. These
include items, such as peanut butter, frozen waffles, etc. Harried
parents need to pick up these items quickly to prepare for the hectic
mornings to come, and the manufacturers want to take advantage of that
fact."
She suggests that while shopping you "dig
to the back of the shelf or to the right and left. Depending on how
they stock, you may find older packages containing more for the same
price"...
Jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity gives his take on our changing times in his Frugal Living column.
The struggling side of Consumed to Thrifty
How do you cope with this?
Are you changing your shopping habits?
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