Shrinking products and rising prices. From cereal to soap, paper towels to pretzels, you might have noticed you’re not getting as much as you used to at the grocery store.
Consumer blogs pointed WCCO to products like oatmeal packets of 10 cut to eight for some varieties, tuna cans from seven to five ounces, and some family-size cereals slimming down from 19.3 ounces to 18.8 ounces, all evidence of what’s known as shrinkflation. Kim Sovell, a marketing professor at the University of St.
Thomas, says companies have learned how consumers don’t like to pay more. “It’s really a way to conceal higher prices,” Sovell said. “We’re very deterred by price increases. We’ll switch brands. … We focus on cost over quantity. Cost over quality.” Unless you have an old box in your cabinet at home to compare, you might not notice.
“We check prices every time we shop but we rarely check weight,” Sovell said. The world economy continues to struggle with pandemic woes, and if you haven’t noticed price hikes, Sovell expects it to be more pronounced soon.
The maker of Huggies diapers and Cottonelle toilet paper announced it will charge 4% to 9% more through 2022. Proctor and Gamble, behind products like Gillette Razors and Tide detergent, is also looking at price spikes. READ MORE
