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Consumer Advocate Offers Tips To Fight Downsizing

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Nov 20, 2008 7:43 pm US/Eastern

Consumer Advocate Offers Tips To Fight Downsizing

(KDKA) Walk down any supermarket aisle and many products you put into your grocery cart - food, soap, paper towels, toilet tissue - are shrinking.

Although most of us never notice, we are paying more for less. It's called downsizing, or companies putting less product in the package they sell, but charging the same price.

It's a backdoor way of increasing their price.

But consumer advocate Mary Bach does notice, and she has been tracking downsizing for more than a decade.

Starting with Maxwell coffee and it's one pound cans, which she says went from one pound or 16 ounces of coffee to 13 to 12 to 11.5 ounces. However, the size of the can didn't change, nor did the price on the can.

"If they price themselves too high, they know we're going to be less loyal and possibly shop around for better value," says Bach. "So they would rather take product out, hope that we don't realize it and keep the price just about the same."

Even though most of us don't realize it, the price we pay for many products has gone up by as much as 25 percent.

Dial soap downsized several months ago this spring and they went from three 4.5 ounce bars to three four ounce bars per package, experts say. That's one and half ounces less for the same price.

As for toilet tissue, Bach says, "Not only did they make the sheets shorter, in terms of width, they made the cardboard holder larger or fatter so that the old cardboard goes into the new cardboard.

Every tiny bit the company takes away from you can mean huge profits for them.

Years ago, Starkist downsized their product by just one eighth of an ounce.

"Now an eighth of an ounce is a miniscule amount," says Bach. "I laugh that it's the amount that sticks to the lid when you open the can. But it's a profit motive for companies."

The Heinz Company, which at that point owned Starkist, said that they were saving approximately seven million pounds of tuna a year.

But experts say there is a way for the consumer to know when it happens. Bach says watch the net weights on products because by law, companies have to tell the truth there.

But Bach isn't the only one watching, Consumer Reports has found its share of downsizing, too.

For example, Fruit Loop boxes may look the same size as always. But on closer examination, the old box is 19.7 ounces and the new one just 17 ounces. And the old Tropicana orange juice gave consumers 96 ounces, the new is 89 ounces.

For protection against these backdoor price increases, experts say check the unit prices. Companies don't always downsize all sizes of products. Consumers can see exactly how much they are paying for each ounce of product brought.

Also, experts say be prepared to switch brands if your favorite downsizes, and complain to let companies know how you feel about paying more for less.




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