Here We Shrink Again – Summer 2024 – Part 1

Some big brands are continuing to downsize their products despite some easing of the inflation rate… so shrinkflation continues. Here is the latest batch of products that have gotten smaller, and next week we’ll feature more.

This is a big one in a category that has seen so many downsizings over the years. Remember when you could always buy half a gallon of orange juice? Those days are long gone (except for a few store brands). Tropicana has gone from 64 ounces to 59 ounces to 52 ounces and now to 46 ounces, depending on which size the retailer wants to stock.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Here, they don’t even pretend to keep the carafe looking roughly the same. In their current product line, they have eliminated the 52-ounce carafe and substituted a 46-ounce unimaginative bottle. These are all the container sizes they are now offering:

Thanks to Edward E. who was the first to spot the Tropicana change, and to Barry R. for the photograph.

And it is not just their orange juice that has downsized… other beverages lost six ounces also, like this limeade.

People may think of Kashi as a new-age type of company but with old-fashioned values. They are actually owned by Kellogg’s, which has been playing cereal shrinkflation games full time in the past several months. This example comes from Sean M. (Boston Globe readers may be able to figure out who he is) who was distressed to find that his favorite morning cereal went from 13 ounces down to just 9.7 ounces. While you used to get six bowls of cereal out of every box, now there are only four.

*MOUSE PRINT:

At the same time the company shrank the product, they also reformulated it. And consumers are not very happy — posting nearly four dozen one-star reviews on their website.

Bruce B. forwarded an email to us from Chewy announcing that Purina was downsizing its kidney function dry dog food in the next couple of months:

That’s a 26-percent reduction with no decrease in price. Yikes.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Leif S. and Phil K. discovered that Kellogg’s removed two ounces from Frosted Mini Wheats between the middle of June and the beginning of July. Thanks for this picture that we annotated.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Our ace shrinkflation spotter, Richard G., found a major size reduction on Walmart’s Great Value Whole Almonds. They went from a 30-ounce bag to one that was only 25 ounces. And the price stayed the same at $7.98. The one-pound bag also lost two ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Brendan B. found a big change in Downy fabric softener at Sam’s Club. The old one was 170 ounces and provided 251 loads. The new version was the same price, with 20 fewer ounces. but supposedly provided 257 loads. The new equation must be less = more.

*MOUSE PRINT:

And who knows what “5x softening power” and “7x softening power” really mean. Further, to add to the confusion, in conventional stores like Target, there is a 140-ounce size of Downy and it only gets 190 loads. That’s 67 fewer loads with only a 10-oz. loss of liquid?

Shoppers lost about a bowl of cereal in each box of Kellogg’s Fruit and Yogurt. And note how the new box is actually taller than the old box. How did they do that? They made the new box more narrow.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Clif Bar has reduced the number of bars in each box. In the case of the old 12 packs, there are now only 10 bars. And the six bar pack is down to only five. Thanks to Richard G. for spotting this.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Following Quaker’s lead, Albertson Companies’ store brand, Signature, found at their various chains around the country including Star Market and Shaw’s in the Boston area, has reduced the number of packets in their oatmeal packages from 10 to a box to just eight. And the price stayed the same.

*MOUSE PRINT:

If you spot a product that has recently downsized, please try to take a picture of the old one and the new one showing the net weight or net count statements. Then email your find to Edgar (at symbol) MousePrint.org . Thanks!