Ha! We Knew It!!

The LA Times has finally noticed what's been happening for at least 6 months.

We first saw it in Breyer's Ice Cream boxes. They used to have straight sides. Now, the sides taper inward. In other words- same packaging look, but a bit less ice cream. Same price, of course.

So this is how prices are rising. Instead of just raising the price, manufacturers are making the boxes/jars/bags a tiny bit smaller in ways you wouldn't notice unless you were paying close attention. The LA Times article includes a photo showing that Skippy peanut butter now has a deeper indention at the bottom, lowering the volume from 18 ounces to 16.3. Nice.

We really liked smaller packaging when we lived in England, so we don't exactly object to being able to buy smaller quantities. And given that our fridge is a piece of poo that doesn't open all the way and holds two english muffins and a bottle of soy sauce (if you carefully arrange things), smaller packaging would be helpful to us. If this was a route to portion control, that, too, we would support.

But not as a cheat. Shame, shame.