Shrink wrapped – why are products getting smaller?

Hand Soaps seem to be getting smaller in size, which for the manufacturers means more unused pieces to be thrown away as they get used up.{What is the best way to use up the last pieces?}

I only buy the large better quality soaps, for they do last longer and do leave less wastage. Just don’t drop them on your foot in the shower.

I can give a bit of insider knowledge on this – I worked in marketing on a well known chocolate biscuit bar brand a few years back. Our main pack was sold in 9 bars for £1. Most of our competitors did the same. We were doing fine until we got hit by loads of cost increases ( basically wheat and chocolate costs all went through the roof, as did labour costs and energy bills ) We had to do something to recover profits.

I ran a research project to look at three options: 9 bars for £1.20, 8 bars for £1, or 9 smaller bars for £1. Each was tested separately, with no reference to the current pack. The 9 smaller bars was the preferred option. As you say in the article above, most customers know how much a pack cost ( and how many biscuits they get in it ! ) – but they weren’t so sure about the size of the individual biscuit bar.

We made the change – quietly, and without fuss – and got on with it. We had very few complaints. And before people start shouting at me, I should point out that nearly all our competitors had done the same thing – either reducing the quality of their products, or the size. The ones who did reduce the number of bars, or put the price up lost sales dramatically.

You could argue it’s unfair, or unethical – but in the end it was sound business sense. Believe me, we didn’t want to do it any more than you wanted us to. But we had no choice.

If you want to cast the finger of blame in all this, look to the major supermarkets for insisting on increasing margins and promotional support. It doesn’t leave manufacturers with much margin these days..

Chris – you’re talking rubbish.

Few companies are greedy / naive enough to make their products smaller unless they absolutely have to.

What tends to happen is a product gets launched with a decent product margin – say 30 – 40% ( common in the food industry ) Then the retailers push for better terms so the margin goes down. Then your costs go up – either ingredients, labour, packaging, energy or a combination of all the above. In the end your profit margin might be tiny – 5% say, or maybe even making a loss. You then have to make the product smaller ( in the trade we call it ‘ value engineering ‘ ) to recover your profit margin to where it used to be.

So you can see it’s not really about being greedy. The alternatives are either putting your price up ( even less popular and far more noticeable ) or losing money. And firms that lose money go bust.

I’m just eating a Curly Wurly – I haven’t bought one of these for years. THEY ARE NOW TINY!!! I commented on Facebook how small they were and someone kindly sent me this link. Just goes to show, despite what many people say, my mouth ISN’T getting bigger….LOL!!

All juices are now 420ml not 500ml like before.

Cravendale Milk a fine example from 4 Pints to 2 litres . What a con ,they think people don’t realise .

Mars , Snickers , Bounty and a few other multipacks have dropped in size immensely but the outer packaging remains the same size to deceive people . They have packed the excess packaging with cardboard .

How stupid is all this getting , really winds me up that we the general public are being taken for a ride by every company , that’s not just the food companies .

Short of legislation for all supermarkets to display prominently rolling unit price records over a year, there is little that can be done, I used to buy sausage rolls at £1 for 10 at Sainsburys – they are now £1.35 for 8 and have less sausage-meat content.

Which? could ask its loyal readers to note the weight and price of various consumables and do this as a public service, but what would be the result? Weights would remain the same but prices would rise.

We wanted to measure chocolate bars to preserve their current dimensions for posterity – and to check whether they get smaller in the future! Here are the results and pictures from our Grand Chocolate Survey 2012: http://blog.go-walkabout.co.uk/2012/12/the-grand-chocolate-survey-2012/

Why are consumer products made “smaller ?’ I have questioned these companies and their operators just keep-on reading lots of dishonest excuses from their company computer screens with lots of bs excuses from a – z …like “raw materials are more expensive now, etc. It is all absolute bunk and nothing else……a / k a …dirty filthy greed wanting to charge us all more $$$$$$ while giving us less. Seems not one Consumer Advocate has addressed this issue for reasons I cannot understand. Unless they have been bought-off $$$$$$$$$ !

Toblerone have reduced the 400g size to 360g