Are you annoyed by the shrinking of Terry’s Chocolate Orange?

Bad tidings Mondelez bring
Chocolate orange has less zing
We wish you a tiny Christmas
And a choccy with less citrus.

Wisdom, hopefully, comes with age. We are aware that the brain is not fully formed until the early 20’s and the last part to develop is the appreciation of consequences. One reason why the young do the silliest things.

One thing is noticeable is the Westminster bubble where development seems to go into reverse for some.

Yes, I agree – it does leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

I haven’t consumed a chocolate orange for some time but they seem to have gone from being the size of a tennis ball [or an orange, even] to the size of a ping pong ball during my lifetime. I think the chocolate’s thinner too. How much smaller can things get before the manufacturers have to change the production machinery? – it appalls me to realise that over the years they have been deliberately commissioning production and packaging machinery that could be adjusted at will to alter the sizes and shapes of products without significant expense.

If they buy the Maltesers brand there is scope for continued development and sharing a production line.

Or maybe Hundreds and Thousands?

Or just Hundreds.

Scruples – do they come in packs of ten covered in chocolate? 🙂

You should have threatened to also notify trading standards. That seems to focus the minds of the weak or the uncaring.

Many Trading Standards departments don’t want to hear from the public, William. You have to go through Citizens Advice and then have no way of knowing what has happened to your complaint as far as I can see. A very unsatisfactory state of affairs.

Yes, Ian – except there’s only ever nine in the pack.

I tend to write to our county trading standards service. They can’t avoid dealing with it then.

I shall be reporting this to Tesco as well.

Malcolm -why isn’t the fact the CAB is being progressively underfunded at a time when the poor really need their services as well as legal aid being made a lot more expensive for the poor , not because of , the American imported philosophy of – these dam poor are getting too uppity by taking us rich companies to court time they were stamped on –is it ? . have a look at- papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1834129

Duncan – I cannot get your link to work. 🙁 I can see that this refers to articles on the Social Sciences Research Network, which has peer reviewed articles, so could be good quality information. It’s an example of open source publication, where the information is freely available to everyone.

I should have archived the website Wavechange I am having trouble getting back to it but I took the URL directly off the https box at the top not the general one below .There is NO space as shown in my post between pa and pers its all one word I dont know where that came from ?? As soon as I get it I will return the SSRN has a box on their website to input info for look ups . GOT IT Wavechange but it wasnt easy had to change browsers thev URL is EXACTLY as I stated – its- title – under-funded and overwhelmed : The voluntary sector as worker representation in Britain,s individualised industrial relations system and this time I have archived it ! Doesnt sound too right wing Wavechange -20 page PDF file BUT you need to subscribe as I clicked on the link .

Thanks Duncan. Interestingly I see no space on my screen.

The SSRN has its server in Arizona , Wavechange .

Unfortunately, this article is not open source, though many on SSRN are. 🙁

It doesn’t take an IQ of 200 to understand why Wavechange .

Wavechange luckily I have another browser that doesnt censor my search try- citizenadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-citizens-advice-works/media/press-releases/ also -theguardian.com/money/2011/sep/03/citizens-advice-cuts-threaten-vulnerable– be aware the Guardian website attempts to extract HTML5 data which can be used to pinpoint your unique computer settings therebye identifying who you are by correlation elsewhere. Its the latest “cookie ” innovation as everybody has blockers now for them , my security browser puts up a square box telling me so that I can block it , before that the Guardian used to send me adverts. .

Thanks Duncan. I found I had access to the full text because I’m a retired academic. I was interested because it’s about the voluntary sector. If I find anything useful we can discuss it elsewhere. Meanwhile back to chocolate oranges. I might buy one for the sake of research.

Some years ago I got fed-up with the games that companies – particularly supermarkets – play with prices. I now look at unit price, which gives me a good idea of whether a product is good value for money, whatever games they play with package sizes and prices. The CMA needs to put an end to retailers concealing unit prices using multi-buy offers designed to confuse the shopper.

Yes Philmo , on a more light hearted note- the King.s new chocolates – Isnt it grand ! isnt it fine ! Look at the CUT , the style, the reduced line ! the chocolates are all together, but all together ,its all together the most remarkable chocolates that I have ever “seen ” -somebody send for the Queen and the Queen , not wanting to appear a fool said well isnt it oh ! isnt it rich in reduction its the most remarkable chocolates that I have ever seen -and so on until a young lad not “put in the picture” said – Look at the KIng ! Look at the King ! the King is altogether eating chocolates that are invisible to the naked eye the KIng is wide open to ridicule and scorn . The parable of this tale is that many people would buy them even if they were empty given enough publicity- oh ! look at the bright wrapper I must have them, it never fails to amaze me how people are “conditioned ” by adverts . And then Philmo calculate the %age overhead costs and profit -as you say -step by step , straight out of Dilbert.

“The parable of this tale is that many people would buy them even if they were empty given enough publicity” – Only once, Duncan, only once – we are not all fools!

The problem with sweets is that the best ones are people’s favourites. There are alternatives to many of them sold under supermarkets’ own labels but they don’t have the same appeal, so tinkering with the sizes and weights by the big brand manufacturers is a dastardly game. If they shave just a little off the product they hope it won’t be noticed, or even if it is, customer loyalty will carry them through. I don’t know how we’re going to do it but we have to stop this appalling practice.

Other than getting those thoughts off my chest, I enjoyed your new rendition of Danny Kay’s song based on the Hans Christian Andersen fable of the Emperor’s New Clothes [I include those details in case any younger readers are wondering what’s going on here!]

Tesco are not shaving bits off chocolate oranges are they duncan and selling them as if they were full weight? I have to say that when a product’s size is reduced this should be clearly advertised near the product for 3 months (say) – what it was, what it is – simply so that we know what we are now buying. We have a choice not to buy.

I look at unit prices. I don’t know what has been happening to the price of chocolate oranges but I can compare the unit price of these and other confectionery.

For shrinking products you need to recall what the unit price was before it shrank. I doubt many of us will remember unit prices for everything we have bought in the past.

That’s true if you want to follow the price of chocolate orange but for those of us who just want to decide which of the available products to buy or which pack size to choose, unit prices are great. We all use unit prices for petrol or diesel.

But the point I made was to see if they have changed, you have to remember what they were 🙂 I have no gripe against unit prices – quite the contrary. Just memory. What was the unit price of brown sauce last time I bought it? 🙁

I expect the whole bottle was only 3d or 4d, Malcolm 🙂

Until about ten years ago Morrisons printed the prices on the labels of their own brand products. This was a good way of keeping track of price movements. The supermarkets would not dare do that today.

Those were the days John. I learned basic French off the HP Sauce label. Melange etc. However, as an HP fan a couple of years ago we decided to try M&S Brown Sauce at around half the price and found it just as nice. Now I can afford twice as much.

However, with most products I would not remember what the last unit price was. I have suggested, in this litigious atmosphere, that products that “shrink” without a price change, or better still unit prices that increase, should have this information shown on the new price label. So we know what is happening. To be honest, it is not top of my priority list though.

My taste in brown sauce was cultivated by Brands A1 Sauce and OK Sauce. I can still recall their tastes. I like HP though but have not tried any supermarket own-label varieties. I might give M&S’s a try the next time we are there. I never read the labels – the less I knew about what they consisted of the more satisfied I was.

I believe that HP Sauce is about 40p / 100g and for a long time the unit price was lowest for the smallest glass bottle in the local Tesco. That sticks in mind because I once found an error in the unit price. I was really impressed that the member of staff I informed immediately did a good estimate of the correct unit price, took the shelf label and printed a new one.

Unlike M&S, Tesco and Morrisons offer a good range of sauces and it is easy to compare unit prices for the various products and package sizes. I sometime use Morrisons, now my newest supermarket, and my main complaint (apart from the music) is the lack of unit prices on some of the end-of-aisle promotions, though these are not multi-buys and it’s not difficult to calculate the unit price and offers seem genuine.

If I regularly shopped in various supermarkets then I would make a point of learning unit prices.

HP Sauce costs over twice per 100g as M&S Brown Sauce, and Heinz Tomato Ketchup over 3x. But it depends on whether you like the taste – we happen to. On the other hand I prefer Branston Pickle to M&S’s equivalent.

Yesterday Marmite announced a price increase of 12.5 % in Morrisons forced by Unilever due to the British pound losing value .

But Marmite is made in the UK from the spent yeast from UK breweries. Because yeast keeps multiplying, breweries generate large volumes of used yeast. For them it is virtually a waste product that has to be disposed of, so Marmite and other companies should be able to buy it for next to nothing. Obviously it then has to be processed, bottled and marketed but I have often wondered what can possibly justify its high price. An extra 12.5% won’t put off the dedicated Marmite lover like me but it certainly seems like exploitation.

I find the Unilever logo on a jar of Marmite, though I have not noticed a soapy taste yet.

As John has said, the brewers’ yeast used in Marmite is surplus from the brewing industry. Some of the yeast is used to ‘pitch’ the next fermentation but most of it is surplus. Before using the surplus yeast, it is checked for contamination by bacteria and other (‘wild’) yeasts. If there is significant contamination the yeast is disposed of.

I guess that advertising is a major factor in the price of Marmite.

tftt, I think I might see an upside to reducing the size of CDM from 1kg in the context of obesity 🙂

That’s a patronising response and has nothing to do with the conversation. As someone who was obese I can honestly say that the size of any chocolate bar had no bearing on the weight I lost.

You are right, tftt, – they should have put the CDM price up by 10% not the weight down by the same percentage.

tftt – it was a tongue in cheek response, not patronising. However, reducing portion size should have an effect on obesity, or hopefully help prevent it developing. The tendency is to eat, or drink, what is put in front of us. I’m not sure who buys a 1kg chocolate flavoured sugary bar.

tftt – I don’t believe that Malcolm’s comment is patronising. I am not happy with the way that confectionery and soft drinks are now sold in large sizes and multi-packs. Why not go back to the small sizes. It might make a serious contribution to the obesity problem Likewise, I would like to see the large bottles of spirits removed from the shelves of supermarkets.

Yes this is off-topic but it is very important. I’m glad you have managed to lose weight and I hope you can encourage others to do the same.

Ahem, is that what the marketeers think? Isn’t 50p for 90g 50/90 = 0.67p/g? Thank goodness my mobile phone has a calculator.

60p per 100g for the first. (100/90)*50 = 55.6p for the second. However, things don’t get cheaper in this way, the unit cost gets bigger.

I would have thought the opposite of “inflation” was “deflation” as in a balloon. Your example was deflation. But in real life the cost will go up, so I’m happy to describe it as “inflation” still; no need to invent precocious new words 🙂

I’m sure my local Tesco has the traditional white cubes. Perhaps they also have the non-cubular sugar pieces beloved by restaurants too.

Perhaps I didn’t search extensively enough, but everything I saw was granular.