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It it just me or is the volume getting smaller? I was cooking bacon this weekend and this morning I realised the weight said 375g. I thought bacon was 500g.

Fishin Guy said "It it just me or is the volume getting smaller? I was cooking bacon this weekend and this morning I realised the weight said 375g. I thought bacon was 500g. "

But Superstore carries a whole pound package and I think it is listed in their flyer this week. We bought a package to try and it was good. I haven't had so much bacon in the pan for years!  
 
It's really annoying when you want to make cabbage rolls and you buy a 375g piddly package of bacon, that's not enough for cabbage rolls!

No packaging is getting smaller. There was an outbreak of a virus in the US a year ago or maybe longer, the price of pork skyrocketed so the easy way of taking a certain amount from the consumer for bacon was reduce the size of the package, the part that bothers me is that pork prices didn't stay at those levels long and soon came down, but the bacon package stayed the same size. Another example is a few years ago wheat prices rose to $20 a bushel on the futures market and all the products related to wheat rose but very few of them went back to the lower level when the prices dropped.  
 
Was told once that that is how companies stay in the game, but I don't think that it is fair, but that's the way the world works.

I believe this was changed almost 2 years ago. Charge the same for a pound but packed with less product. Its a pretty good scam.

Packaging has been getting smaller for a few years now.  
 
Bacon has been down to 375 for quite some time, since the whole hog issues began - though some companies still offer the 500gr package, but you have to look. Costco still sells a Canadian made bacon in 4 pk bundle - 500gr packages for 17.99 (4.50 per package)  
 
Yogurt is another big one - down from 750 to 600 in some cases.  
 
Most packages food are down big time as well. Cereals are smaller - especially the non family sizes. Products like Alpha getti and Chef Boyardee have more sauce in them then they used to - in the case of AlphaGetti it is nearly half sauce now.  
 
KD boxes have significantly less macaroni in them now, and packages of pasta use to be 1kg and now are down to 900gr or less depending on the company.  
 
Our family has been buying less and less prepackaged foods so I am sure there are other items out there - but pre processed foods are not the only victims.  
 
Even romaine lettuce if you buy the three pack from Sobeys are far smaller than they used to be - the weight is down on them.  
 
It is how these companies are keeping their shareholders happy. Lowering costs but keeping the same prices, most people will not notice that they are not getting as much yogurt as they used to.....

Have noticed this for a while now. Used to be 2 l., now most are 1.66.  
re: bacon, yes most are now 375 g., but did get a 500 g. package of Compliments brand bacon at Safeway.

It''s called shrinkage. Business''s make the packaging smaller in hopes the consumer won''t notice right away. That way they don't up the price and make more money. Bacon has been in 375g packages for years now.  
 
Edited by *enter name here*, 2016-09-19 11:44:39

Some packages did grow again. No name kleenex, for example, used to be 150 tissues per box. Then it was 136. Then 125. For awhile, it was 100 (I started buying bigger boxes). But now it's back to 136.  
 
Cheese went from 900g to 800g about 2 years ago. Bacon started shrinking 4 or 5 years ago, it used to be the "premium" and gluten-free bacons where only 375g, but now most packages are.  
 
Some package shrinkage makes sense - from 1L to 946ml because an US quart is 946ml, so a company only needs to make 1 size packaging for the entire North American market. A US gallon is 3.7L, so you see that a lot instead of 4L. Naturally they're going to opt for the smaller quantity while keeping pricing the same, but there is a logic to it.

I guess I haven't noticed too much as I haven't done the shopping and cooking in a while. If I do I just open the package and make it. It wasn't today until I was bored and looking at the package and noticed the 375. We buy turkey bacon all the time at the 375 weight but it never cooked down. Now when munching on the bacon and the pack is gone I was Whaaaaaat.....how did I eat a back of bacon. The more I look the more I see. Did notice the ice cream. Many beverages no longer 2l but 1.89. Granola I saw too, a 5 pack. I was like what the hell....but one a day is a week supply, easy packaging.

This morning what the other big loser was - it is potato chips.  
 
They have quickly shrunk from 300 to 275 to 225 - and the Old Dutch boxed ones are about 1/2 the size each bag used to contain.  
 
Funny how the junk food takes a big hit - but soft drink CANS are still the 355 ml. what makes me angry though is those smaller cans. I love the smaller cans as we don't generally drink a lot of them in our house, these are a better size for us. But the big companies still have their big cans as loss leader pricing.  
 
I am one of the few that actually looks at per unit pricing as opposed to cost per item, but soft drinks are one item that we seem to waste a lot of so I notice it more.

foxtrot11 said "This morning what the other big loser was - it is potato chips.     They have quickly shrunk from 300 to 275 to 225 - and the Old Dutch boxed ones are about 1/2 the size each bag used to contain.     Funny how the junk food takes a big hit - but soft drink CANS are still the 355 ml. what makes me angry though is those smaller cans. I love the smaller cans as we don't generally drink a lot of them in our house, these are a better size for us. But the big companies still have their big cans as loss leader pricing.     I am one of the few that actually looks at per unit pricing as opposed to cost per item, but soft drinks are one item that we seem to waste a lot of so I notice it more. "

It should always come down to unit pricing, except if it's something that you know you can't get through in time like pop (we solved that problem by not buying pop, but drink crystals you add water to).  
 
You can't always assume the larger package is a better deal - it's not always - but you also need to make sure you will got through X units in the allotted time.

Abbysmum said "    foxtrot11 said "This morning what the other big loser was - it is potato chips.     They have quickly shrunk from 300 to 275 to 225 - and the Old Dutch boxed ones are about 1/2 the size each bag used to contain.     Funny how the junk food takes a big hit - but soft drink CANS are still the 355 ml. what makes me angry though is those smaller cans. I love the smaller cans as we don't generally drink a lot of them in our house, these are a better size for us. But the big companies still have their big cans as loss leader pricing.     I am one of the few that actually looks at per unit pricing as opposed to cost per item, but soft drinks are one item that we seem to waste a lot of so I notice it more. " It should always come down to unit pricing, except if it's something that you know you can't get through in time like pop (we solved that problem by not buying pop, but drink crystals you add water to).     You can't always assume the larger package is a better deal - it's not always - but you also need to make sure you will got through X units in the allotted time. "

I am a Costco shopper too - so I am well aware of pricing, sizes, unit prices, etc.  
 
I plan and scrutinize everything we buy. Drives my kids nuts because I am always saying we can't buy something one week because it is not on sale, or a better price elsewhere - but I know when they are out and on their own it will sink in as to why I do it.  
 
Even some things at Costco are not as good a deal as smaller chains have them especially when they are loss leaders. But even with the gas in to Winnipeg every six weeks or so, I am stlll down about a thousand bucks a year over when I did only shopping in Brandon. That is kind of frightening.

foxtrot11 said "    Abbysmum said "    foxtrot11 said "This morning what the other big loser was - it is potato chips.     They have quickly shrunk from 300 to 275 to 225 - and the Old Dutch boxed ones are about 1/2 the size each bag used to contain.     Funny how the junk food takes a big hit - but soft drink CANS are still the 355 ml. what makes me angry though is those smaller cans. I love the smaller cans as we don't generally drink a lot of them in our house, these are a better size for us. But the big companies still have their big cans as loss leader pricing.     I am one of the few that actually looks at per unit pricing as opposed to cost per item, but soft drinks are one item that we seem to waste a lot of so I notice it more. " It should always come down to unit pricing, except if it's something that you know you can't get through in time like pop (we solved that problem by not buying pop, but drink crystals you add water to).     You can't always assume the larger package is a better deal - it's not always - but you also need to make sure you will got through X units in the allotted time. " I am a Costco shopper too - so I am well aware of pricing, sizes, unit prices, etc.     I plan and scrutinize everything we buy. Drives my kids nuts because I am always saying we can't buy something one week because it is not on sale, or a better price elsewhere - but I know when they are out and on their own it will sink in as to why I do it.     Even some things at Costco are not as good a deal as smaller chains have them especially when they are loss leaders. But even with the gas in to Winnipeg every six weeks or so, I am stlll down about a thousand bucks a year over when I did only shopping in Brandon. That is kind of frightening. "

You know, people tell me that but I honestly have a hard time believing it. Maybe it's just the way we eat (we really don't eat a lot of highly processed food in general), but I have been hard pressed to find things that are genuine deals at Costco vs. shopping locally at loss leaders, etc, once I break it down to unit prices.  
 
The only exception to that *might* be meat, I don't know because I've never really looked at it. I find meat in the grocery store to be outrageous and not great quality for what you get, and I buy most directly from the farm or as a whole/side of an animal (and get it butchered, cured, etc as requested). I find in the long run, it's MUCH cheaper doing it that way.  
 
I also hesitate to buy produce at Costco because my SIL's dad delivers produce to Costco in Winnipeg. They are the absolute pickiest store in terms of what they will accept for delivery, and will turn away entire truckloads of produce because it's not precisely to spec. I always wonder what happens to that produce (does it end up at other stores?) and at the food waste it must produce.

It isn't just the food sizes that are getting smaller....dish soap, laundry soap, motor oil, even clothing sizes aren't the same anymore...the standards have changed and a large isn't a large anymore...size 18 not is more like a size 14....

See, here I thought it was the opposite. I've been wearing the same size for years even though I know I gained weight. It seemed to me (at least in the plus sizes) that the number on the label stayed the same but the clothing got bigger. I figured it, again, was a marketing thing.