Obviously prices are higher. Have you noticed, though, that sizes are shrinking?
I love chocolate, paricularly Dove milk chocolate. A bag of it was $5.87! AND, when I pulled it off the shelf the bag was puffed up with air, and there were 10 pieces inside. I remember beingable to buy a bag for $3.50 and there were 26 pieces in it.
I put it back. I just couldn't do it.
Now, chocolate is a dumb example, I realize. The same thing is happening to everything. Here's the good news: smaller packages means you can store them more easily as you stock up before prices go hyper-crazy. And, another positive thing: it might be a good time to break some bad habits (such as not buying the chocolate, for me).
One last thought: the smaller volumes is a sneaky tactic, and many people will not understand the double-whammy and will go through their grocery money way too fast. Credit card debt will spike, but so will crime. Keep extra vigilant.
Quality's going down the drain too: water bottles with plastic so thin the bottle can't stand straight, onions with a strange gritty texture, garlic infested with bugs. These are just some recent examples from the last few weeks.
A personal favorite is recently the little plastic spout on cartons of half and half shrank to half the length/height. So a) the lid is harder to get off/on and b) pouring is less than half as neat. Some asshole bastard apparently figured out they could save $0.025 per unit resulting in a stock uptick of $0.00125 per share or some shit.
RTTB. (Race to the Bottom, as me and a friend lament basically constantly.)
Ahhh nice catch, I thought I noticed something similar on store brand heavy cream recently!
It happened on liquid laundry detergent too. I switched brands for the time being but I expect unless one of them catches on* the trend to continue.
*I noticed (IIRC) Heinz boasting that their worcestershire sauce is still a larger bottle than L&P - well, yeah, because however they do it no-one gets close to the real thing - I'd throw away cases of their crap before using it anywhere near food. But I digress....
Frenches worchestershire sauce for my beef jerky
I remember when you could stand on an aluminum soda can with your full body weight and it wouldn't collapse. Try that today, I actually had a can burst (midway down the can) when I was putting it in the refrigerator by doing absolutely nothing. Aluminum cans are razor thin nowadays. And I don't need a lecture about "don't drink soda" - I have a can every other week (Dr. Pepper) that I mix with my favorite rum to unwind. Otherwise, I only drink water, eat healthy and I workout every day - friends say I should eat more, I eat plenty, and here I am eyeing 135lbs as my goal!
HEB cane sugar Dr B
It's a copy that's better than the original.
I'm curious if the same is happening where you live...check out the produce at your typical international supermarket. Here, near DC, all of the international grocery stores have the BEST produce while the mainstream grocery stores have nothing left but the dregs...
Huh, that's really interesting. I'll have to check and get back to you!