Business Major brands deny 'shrinkflation' as Heinz says reducing the number of beans in a tin doesn't count - No additional measures are needed to make it clear that smaller amounts are being sold because changes are already "completely transparent" and listed on the company website, one boss said.

File Pic: Phil Noble / Reuters

Major brands have denied so-called "shrinkflation", despite selling smaller quantities of a product for similar prices, saying there was no need for greater transparency as reductions are put online and shoppers are "savvy".

A boss at Kraft Heinz told the MPs at the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that reducing the percentage of beans in a tin, without bringing down the price, was not shrinkflation.

Instead, the reduction from 51% to 50% beans in a 415g tin was "to make it taste better" and "to improve the quality of our product", said Dominic Hawkins, the UK head of supply chain at the company behind Heinz beans and HP sauce.

When asked by Labour MP Cat Smith about the reduction of Hellman's mayonnaise packaging from 800g to 600g, a boss at the products-maker Unilever did not directly deny shrinkflation, but said the cost of a major ingredient had significantly increased.

"We would never go to using just the pack size to achieve a price if it wasn't justified through the cost", said Marc Woodward, the UK and Ireland head at Unilever.

The maker of Lurpak butter said the removal of 500g packs and introduction of 400g boxes came with a price reduction and was to offer a smaller and cheaper product, according to Bas Padberg, the UK managing director of Arla Foods.

"It is really trying to serve consumers that are tightening their belts... to allow them to continue to get access to the product, and it was effective in that sense."


Packs of Lurpak at £7.25 in Sainsbury's in 2022. Pic: PA

'Shoppers are super savvy'

When asked if there was a greater need for transparency on pack size reductions, Mr Woodward said any changes made were already "completely transparent".

"We'll put it on our website so that we make sure we're clear about the grammage, and it's on all our tickets."

If this transparency did not exist, consumers would not buy the brands, he added.

"I think if we're not explicit and transparent in what we're doing, then consumers make a choice and they will choose not to buy your brands every time. If they don't feel they're getting value because you've not communicated correctly, then you miss an opportunity."

"Shoppers are super savvy, and they know exactly what's going on," Mr Woodward said.

Another witness giving evidence to the committee said it was for the supermarkets to say whether to have the pence per 100g cost in bigger writing.

Profit and cost of living pressures

When pressed about rising profits among the big brands, amid a cost of living crisis, Mr Hawkins said his company had "always passed on less than the inflation we've seen".

Many households have been under intense financial pressures as prices rose, and remained high after the invasion of Ukraine.

While overall inflation fell back to 4% in December, food inflation was double that, at 8%, having been at a 45-year high of 19.2% in March last year.

High energy costs and wage bills made food production more expensive - a cost that is in large part borne by the end consumer.

Use of foodbanks is at record levels as people struggle to afford food as well as energy bills, which remain above historic averages.

Article Link

Archive

 

[Grub]

These niggas eatin' 1% fewer beans.


Unless they were producing 1,500,000,000 buckets of ice cream per year, I think this math is off. Assuming the handle is that type that's basically a plastic band with loops on the ends that snap onto pegs on the bucket rim, I could easily see those having a per piece cost of ~$0.05 to $0.10. Sorry to nitpick - cost analysis/reduction is how I make my living.

That's what I was told by the dairyland rep. I obviously don't know how accurate the numbers are but that was the reasoning I was given. This was also in like 2007.

There are intelligent ways to reduce cost which don't impact quality (real or perceived) or otherwise upset the customer base through removing a key selling point. Dairyland obviously did not understand or appreciate the desires of their customers, and from you've said their brilliant cost reduction idea ended up being a sales reduction idea.

I mean, the assumption would be that people are buying ice cream for the ice cream, I think maybe they underestimated the popularity of 4L buckets.

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

six bags of space raiders for £1.50 is a travesty though.

They are 2 multipacks of 6 for £2.50 in Iceland currently. I get the sentiment though, all food is stupidly expensive.

 

[Barry Williams]

the reduction from 51% to 50% beans in a 415g tin was "to make it taste better" and "to improve the quality of our product"

How does putting less beans in a can make it taste better overall? That literally makes zero fucking sense.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

They are 2 multipacks of 6 for £2.50 in Iceland currently. I get the sentiment though, all food is stupidly expensive.

Space raiders are like Freddo's; they're 10p each and a measure of inflation for oldfags.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

One would hope that people would eventually wise up to the scam and just stick to the manufacturers who don't fuck the customers and cooking their own food. Sadly it would probably necessitate a famine as most people would spend away their savings thinking the government would pay them back.

 

[melty]

What is cheaper than beans??? I would think even the sauce stuff would be more expensive than a bean, literally one of the cheapest foods in existence.

 

[SpookNuker]

That's what I was told by the dairyland rep. I obviously don't know how accurate the numbers are but that was the reasoning I was given. This was also in like 2007.

Ah. Brand representatives are typically tongue-slapping retards. Look at them the same way you would a car salesman. The bulk of their "insider" knowledge is going to come from marketing materials (if they even read it), and marketing departments are usually just a shade or two less retarded than the reps. Brand reps and marketing professionals that actually know and understand the products they shill are depressingly rare. The rest of their knowledge is going to be intra-company rumor mill stuff. Even in 2007, those handles were probably a lot more than a cent.

I mean, the assumption would be that people are buying ice cream for the ice cream, I think maybe they underestimated the popularity of 4L buckets.

You know what they say about assumptions. It could also be safely assumed that packaging which sets a product apart from competition could be a key reason people purchase said product. Think of why prepackaged lunchmeats that are sold in reusable containers are so ubiquitous and popular these days. This is why market studies are a thing. Doesn't even need to be a large or expensive one - just ask some test groups, "what are your favorite qualities of our product?" Something like "I enjoy the utility of the container after the food is gone" is sure to come up.

 

[JosephStalin]

We buy Glad 13-gallon trash bags for our kitchen trash can. Used to get them in boxes of 80. Now we get 68 in a box, likely for about the same price. That's fucked.

Saw the pic of the Lurpak butter - $9.15 for about a pound and a half. At certain supermarkets here a regional brand of butter goes for about $7.99. Saw soda at this same supermarket go for $10.99 a 12-pack, plus .60 recycle value. At the commissary that butter costs just over $4/pound, and that 12-pack of soda runs $6.12 - $6.88, plus the .60. Since Easter weekend is coming up that soda will cost $3-$4. Gonna stock up. Yoplait yogurt downtown runs about $1 for a six-ounce cup. Commissary sells it for .38 - 65. Commissary sells products at cost.

Quite a difference between supermarket and commissary prices. For our UK-tards, if you know anyone in the US military see if they will take you to the base commissary. They should be able to sign you in.

Just remembered our local commissary sells some British foods, such as the Heinz beans. Should I try some?

 

[WonderWino]

I'll never forgive Gatorade from reducing their 32 oz. bottles to 28 oz. and upping the prices. Inb4 "muh goyslop".

Soda industry did it as well awhile back suddenly reducing their 600ml bottles to 591ml and never said a word until people pointed it out

That said lol at that dumbshit describing shrinkflation in their exact actions and then denying thats what they're doing. Whoever let him say that publicly should be fired. That said its never a good thing when companies start fucking with beans of all things. Thats one of those staple foods people tend to rely on for difficult times. This is not what companies should want people seeing when trying to claim there is nothing to be concerned about with the economy. Also I don't know why they even bother calling it canned pork and beans anymore. The 'pork' is at best a tiny piece of fat if its even included in the can at all. At this point you're better off making your own beans

 

[Truman the Jewman]

What is cheaper than beans??? I would think even the sauce stuff would be more expensive than a bean, literally one of the cheapest foods in existence.

Water.
Water down the sauce; you can even sell it as "now less viscous, easier to eat!" Just take the Nestle route of stealing it from whatever water source is closest

 

[JosephStalin]

Water.
Water down the sauce; you can even sell it as "now less viscous, easier to eat!" Just take the Nestle route of stealing it from whatever water source is closest

Here in the USA if the meat/poultry processors add water to the product it must be stated on the label. You see frozen turkeys with the label saying X amount of water has been added, for example.

 

[JULAY]

There are plenty of companies that are literally that short sighted.

This is what happens when you tie executive compensation to quarterly returns. Nobody takes the long view, and the company suffers for that. Do you know why Warren Buffett is arguably the most successful investor in history? He doesn't play that shit, he invests in undervalued companies, and makes his money building them up slowly, sustainably, and methodically.

 

[TowinKarz]

This is what happens when you tie executive compensation to quarterly returns.

The fundamental flaw behind infinite growth.....

 

[WhiskeyJack]

Weird how Biden bitched about this, since the point of shrinking the box/bag is to hide inflation from the consumer. You’d think he’d be thankful they’re hiding how shit his economy really is.

The companies should make different versions of their products, a new “Trump-Sized” version that keeps the old size and recipe, and a “Bidenflated version” that keeps the original price but is subsequently half the size.

 

[Rykel22]

Weird how Biden bitched about this, since the point of shrinking the box/bag is to hide inflation from the consumer. You’d think he’d be thankful they’re hiding how shit his economy really is.

The companies should make different versions of their products, a new “Trump-Sized” version that keeps the old size and recipe, and a “Bidenflated version” that keeps the original price but is subsequently half the size.

Biden(or rather, whoever is writing for him) wants to shift the blame to the corps instead of 'his' policies

 

[Dick Mason]

Heinz could take out a few beans, then fill it with something.

Heinz, get ze cannenwerfer.

 

[Grub]

Ah. Brand representatives are typically tongue-slapping retards. Look at them the same way you would a car salesman. The bulk of their "insider" knowledge is going to come from marketing materials (if they even read it), and marketing departments are usually just a shade or two less retarded than the reps. Brand reps and marketing professionals that actually know and understand the products they shill are depressingly rare. The rest of their knowledge is going to be intra-company rumor mill stuff. Even in 2007, those handles were probably a lot more than a cent

I don't doubt it. There's also the chance I'm just misremembering and exaggerating numbers. I know the $15 million is probably exaggerated. I think it might have been closer to a million he said. I don't remember the details clearly, I do know it was enough that basically, the cost of the handle was insignificant, the amount saved was higher than you'd think but not actually that high and there's a good chance they may have actually lost money on sales. I just kind of fill in the blanks when I tell the story and most people aren't autistic enough to notice.

You know what they say about assumptions. It could also be safely assumed that packaging which sets a product apart from competition could be a key reason people purchase said product

It's pretty standard packaging for large amounts of ice cream from pretty much every brand that sells ice cream in amounts that large that's been around since I was a kid at least. The people that complained the most to me were old people. They liked to use them for berry picking. They'd fill them up with blackberries in the summer and freeze them.

Think of why prepackaged lunchmeats that are sold in reusable containers are so ubiquitous and popular these days.

I've never seen those. Prepacked lunchmeat is pretty much exclusively sold in vacuum sealed resealable soft plastic packages around here. At least at all the grocery stores I've ever been to.

just ask some test groups, "what are your favorite qualities of our product?" Something like "I enjoy the utility of the container after the food is gone" is sure to come up.

Something tells me they don't have many test groups for the budget bulk ice cream buckets they've sold without change for at least 20 years prior to removing the handle.

 

[HairyBadger]

I always thought products were measured and weighed by volume. Filling products with air or dilute it to maximize profit.

Heinz could take out a few beans, then fill it with something.

You can always take out two or three spoonfuls of beans and replace it with 3 or 4 spoonfuls of air.

 

[dustbuster]

I've stopped buying breakfast cereal because the "boxes" are now approaching the mini size you see in hotel "continental breakfast" buffets.
Having a "box" that will, if you're lucky, fill 2bowls is dumb.
Even if it goes buy one get several free, you still end up with an absurd number of boxes taking space and filing your trash.
Oatmeal is cheaper and has less sugar and unpronounceable chemicals.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Weird how Biden bitched about this, since the point of shrinking the box/bag is to hide inflation from the consumer. You’d think he’d be thankful they’re hiding how shit his economy really is.

The companies should make different versions of their products, a new “Trump-Sized” version that keeps the old size and recipe, and a “Bidenflated version” that keeps the original price but is subsequently half the size.

It's effecting his fig newtons.