Judy: With inflation at a
40-year high in the U.S., we're
all spending more when we go to
the store.
But economics correspondent Paul
Solman reports that there is
another dimension of inflation
these days -- shrinkflation.
We'll let him explain.
Paul: So what is this?
The rogue's gallery or
shrink for Asian?
-- Shnkflation?
Edgar: These are some of the
newer items.
Paul: In fact, items consumer
advocate and lawyer Edgar
dworsky had bought in just the
past week.
Edgar: The first one here is
kind of an egregious example.
Angel soft toilet paper used to
have 425 sheets on a roll.
The new one has 320.
It's almost two full rolls in
new sizing.
Look at the packages.
Don't they look almost
identical?
Paul: Do they ever.
And that's the key to what's
being called shrinkflation, says
dworsky, who writes the online
consumer world newsletter and
has been tracking product
downsizing for decades.
Edgar: I remember the Charmin of
the 1960's when Mr. Whipple came
on TV --
>> Please don't squeeze the
Charmin.
Edgar: It had 650 sheets on a
roll.
The biggest one today has 366.
It's about 90% less.
Paul: It's not just toilet
paper.
Ice cream tubs used to be a half
gallon, or two quarts, then 1
and three-quarters quarts,
they've now trimmed down to a
svelte 1 and a half.
Because lately, it's been the
incredible shrinking everything.
Edgar: Shrinkflation tends to
come in waves.
We happen to be in the middle of
a tidal wave at the moment
because of inflation.
Paul: That's because material
and transportation costs have
been soaring since the much
reported supply chain snags.
How best to pass them on to us
consumers?
Edgar: Manufacturers rely on
both raising the price and
shrinking the product.
The difference is they know that
consumers are price conscious
and consumers will catch the
fact if that container of Orange
juice went from $2.99 to $3.39
and they'll balk, they'll
complain, maybe they'll switch
to another brand.
But they know consumers are not
net weight conscious.
They're not going to notice most
of them if the product has
gotten a little bit smaller.
Paul: Especially not if the
shrinkage is pretty much
indiscernible.
What is that, dishwashing
detergent?
Edgar: This is dawn.
The current seven ounce little
bottle is now six and a half
ounce.
So you lost half an ounce.
Honest to goodness, I don't know
how they did it.
The bottom line is you are
getting half an ounce less.
This is post honey bunches of
oats.
The old one was 14 and a half
ounces.
The new one is 12 ounces.
Look at the boxes.
They look identical straight on.
You got 17% less.
That translates into two fewer
bowls in the new box.
And the price was the same.
Paul: Now, the official
inflation rate is 9.1%.
The honey bunches rate, 17%.
No wonder corporations are
posting record profits.
They can raise prices above the
overall inflation rate, and we
won't even notice.
Edgar: Gatorade.
Forever it's come in 32 ounce
bottles.
The new one is 28.
So you lost four ounces in every
one.
But you look at them, you say,
they look the same height.
What did they do?
Paul: They squeezed the midriff.
Edgar: They gave it a waistline.
That's exactly right.
And the company says, oh, now
it's easier to hold.
Well, thank you very much.
I'd rather have the extra four
ounces and I'll suffer holding
the old one.
Paul: And companies also
rejigger the products
themselves.
Edgar: Folgers ground coffee
recently reformulated.
They said they fluffed up the
beans so they could no longer
put 51 ounces of ground coffee
into their canisters.
They could only fit in 43 and a
half ounces.
But they're still claiming it
makes up to 400 cups with half a
pound less of coffee.
You'll have to decide as a
coffee drinker, is it still the
same cup that you used to get?
Paul: So the onus is on the
consumer to be hypervigilant,
says dworsky.
In a supermarket, there's that
unit price for everything,
right?
Edgar: I don't know the
statistics of usage of unit
pricing.
My sense is it's very low.
Paul: Moreover, since the
self-proclaimed Mr. Consumer --
Edgar: Where unit pricing
doesn't help is when the
individual product changes.
So unless you've memorized that
your Keebler cookies were 14.3
cents an ounce and now it's 16.7
cents an ounce, is not going to
help you.
Paul: I would I would be totally
overmatched.
Edgar: I mean, it's bad enough
that I try to counsel people,
look at the items you buy all
the time, look at the net
weight, the net count, memorize
it.
And when you go back to the
store, double check that it
hasn't changed.
How else are you going to, you
know, make a choice
intelligently if you don't know
what it used to be?
Paul: Yeah, but that's almost
impossible.
Who's going to keep track of
that?
You are either a professional or
a lunatic.
Edgar: A little bit of both.
Paul: Meanwhile, for the rest of
us, inflation at the store these
days turns out to be even more
pronounced than we realize
because of shrinkflation.