Food Prices are Up, Package Sizes are Down

 If you grocery shop the way most people do, you probably plan a few meals in advance, make a list, and then buy – more or less – the same items week after week.  You know about what your weekly food bill should be, and so you’d likely notice any price upticks of the items you regularly buy.  But what you might not notice is that while prices might be holding steady – package sizes are shrinking.  So while you might think you’re not paying any more, you are – simply because you’re getting less.

A recent article in The New York Times noted that food companies will do this from time to time when unemployment rates are up, or when food costs are rising – they’ll downsize package contents a bit so they can avoid raising prices. It’s done in an attempt to keep peace with consumers who would certainly notice when their grocery costs start climbing – but who may not pick up on the fact that their packages are shriveling in size.

A few less chips or cookies in a bag probably wouldn’t be obvious to most people.  And you might not have noticed the big the “dimple” in the bottom of a peanut butter jar because – other than the dimple – the other dimensions of the jar have stayed the same, so it looks normal on the shelf.  Tuna cans have stayed the same size, but they hold a lot less tuna than they used to.

This downsizing is usually done pretty quietly, but some of the recent changes have been so dramatic, that they just can’t go unnoticed.  So some food companies are trying a different spin.  They’re telling us we should feel good about small packages because they contain fewer calories, and that less packaging material makes products more  environmentally friendly.  Smaller packages, they say, are more portable, and foods tend to stay fresher.

True as those statements may be, it’s also true that we’re getting hit where it hurts. Any way you look at it, we’re paying more for food.  We need to start looking at food prices like we do the price of gasoline – we might gripe about it, but at least we know how much we’re paying per gallon.  So pay more attention to those little “unit price” stickers on grocery shelves.  Because if you’re not comparing the cost per ounce of everything you buy, you’re just comparing – as they say – apples to oranges.


Excerpts reprinted with permission from:
Food Prices are Up, Package Sizes are Down 
Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD