Why Our Household Products Are Getting Smaller But Not Cheaper

With companies downsizing (along with the economy), it shouldn’t surprise that some of the common items we use around the house seem to be doing the same thing.  A product that you bought a few years ago at the grocery store might weigh less or be smaller today, even though the price is the same or even higher.  You will be able to find many examples of this when you look at the items you regularly buy at the store.

Toilet Paper

Toilet paper is a product that most people don’t talk about, but the rolls have been getting noticeably smaller over the past few years.  Scott Toilet tissue, for example, boasts that they have a stronger product today, but it is missing more than 10 square feet from a year ago.  They keep the price the same, but reduce the amount on a roll, thereby maximizing profit.  They are certainly not the only toilet paper company or paper product to do this by any means.

Ice Cream

Another product that is smaller today than it was a year ago is the Haagan Daas ice cream.  It went from 16 ounces to 14 ounces and stayed the same price.  While our waistlines might appreciate this, our wallets certainly don’t.

Cheese and OJ

Kraft Cheese is popular still, but they reduced the number of slices from 24 to just 22, citing that the larger product wasn’t selling well.  Tropicana Orange Juice did the same thing, reducing the size of their containers from 64 ounces to 59 ounces.

The Great Pringles Swindle

If you love Pringles, you may have noticed that the weight of the chips packet has fallen by 15%.  The brand claims that the weight reduction is the result of ‘crunchiness engineering’ to make the chips tastier, this making them weigh less.  However, this added crunchiness has come at the cost of reducing the pack weight from 106g to a mere 90g…. basically, we are losing the weight of 16 Pringles.  Worth it?  Only you can decide.

As you can see, we are paying the same prices but we are getting less of each product for our money.  If it makes you feel better, look for supermarket items that say “20 percent more!” on their items, and be assured that this means you are getting the same sized bar or packet as you were 10 years ago.