Have you ever heard of Shrinkflation? If you haven't here is a simple definition: Paying the same amount for a smaller quantity.
Today I found a very good example of shrinkflation and here's a little write up on it.
Paying the same -- Getting less
If you look at the package above you will see that it has a great big $10 price sticker on it. Real Canadian Superstore has been selling a $10 bag of lean ground beef with three chubs of beef in it for some time now. My guess is that it is pretty popular so they keep it around.
However, I'm pretty sure that the $10 allure. It is easy to remember, very obvious, and catches the attention quickly. Changing the $10 price tag would be very obvious to anyone buying the beef! If they change it to $12 or $14 right away people would notice that the price went up and it wouldn't be nearly as tempting.
When I first started buying these $10 packs before COVID hit there were 3 x 454g chubs (1lb chubs). Then COVID hit and it was unavailable for a little while and then it came back. Same packaging. Same $10 price tag. But if you weren't paying attention the package size went down to 400g from 454g. Hmm... paying the same but getting less by just over 10%!
Recently the lean ground beef in the package went out of stock again. A week or so ago I saw it return, horray! Or maybe not. A quick look now and the 3 x 400g tubes are gone and now the package is 3 x 367g tubes. Hmm... same packaging, same price point, but they got 10% smaller...again.
How to approach shrinkflation
Now I could get upset and complain. I could boycott the store and look elsewhere. In reality though things are just getting more expensive from production to transportation. In this case getting upset is not very useful. Complaining isn't very useful.
What do I do?
Just step back a little bit and don't get distracted by the shiny $10 price tag. I do the math and figure out exactly how much I'm paying for the beef. It is 1.1kg for $10 which means about $9.10/kg. When I head over to the fresh ground beef aisle the large size of ground beef (lean) sells for $9.90/kg. Extra lean is close to $14.99/kg.
Buying the frozen and pre-portioned sized with the $10 logo on it is still the least expensive way to go. However, instead of being fooled by their marketing ploy I'm actually looking at the actual value it presents.
If I truly need ground beef this is the least expensive way to go.
Alternatives
Now if I'm only looking for a meat protein I can look at chicken, pork, and turkey as well. A quick look at a pork tenderloin (uncut and unground) shows me that I can get that meat for $5.50/kg which is a big savings from ground beef. Am I willing to eat pork instead of beef? Probably. In this case I feel its important to be making an informed decision.
Just grabbing a $10 pack because it looks like a good deal -- bad idea, I'm being duped by the advertising.
Making an informed decision by checking other pack sizes and other alternatives? Makes me feel better about what I put in the cart.
Be a smart shopper
In the end it is all about beig an informed shopper. Food is likely to continue to get more expensive. Doing the math, looking at alternatives, looking for sales and NOT being fooled by advertising is more important now than every.
So be cautious. Don't just blindly look at sale signs or attractive price points. Look closer and make sure you are really getting the best value for your dollar.
Just my thought
and as always I love getting comments :)