Food packages shrink, price stays same

[Newsweek]

A cleaver trick to hide the feeling of inflation?



That Shrinking Feeling

By Karen Springen | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Aug 29, 2008 | Updated: 11:49 a.m. ET Aug 29, 2008

With food packaging decreasing in size, but not in price, a consumer-affairs blogger offers advice for shopping smart.

Many consumers may have noticed that popular food and beverage containers are shrinking along with their wallets, but that prices, alas, are not. Tropicana, for example, recently redesigned its large orange juice container, giving it an easy-pour lid—and the capacity to hold only 89 ounces, rather than its old 96 ounces. The price has stayed constant. In an email, Tropicana spokeswoman, Karen May, explained that the smaller size was needed as "the optimum configuration" for the new lid, adding, "Our consumer research indicates that, despite the smaller size, there was no change in the perceived value of the product because of the benefits of the added features."
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http://www.newsweek.com/id/156172