Up untill a week ago Nofrills carried these “three packs” of salmon for $10. Now the same pack contains two for the same $10. I thought it felt light when I bought it yesterday.
This comes to about $0.02 increase per gram, and a $1.10 price increase overall. Or a 11% increase in price overall. Meanwhile inflation is at 6-7%?
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This sucks. One of my favorite places to eat has both inflation and shrinkflation. Higher price for smaller portions.
More than likely their suppliers are bleeding them, a lot of restaurants in my town are dealing with the same shit
Yeah. One of my favourite restaurants closed a couple months ago because they just couldn’t justify charging more for food, but their suppliers sure could.
It’s not the supplier “bleeding them” the supplier has the exact same problem the restaurant has, inflation, if they don’t raise the prices they go bankrupt. It’s a vicious cycle of everyone raising prices not to go bankrupt which causes everyone else to do the same.
If you don’t think suppliers are using inflation to justify robber-baron price hikes, I guess you missed the part where companies are posting record profits.
Huzzah for our current system of capitalism that insists a company is only doing good if each quarter has record profits. What’s bad with doing “good enough?”
This concept of greedflation has been disproved in recent meta-analysis. It should probably die. I’ll copy paste a comment I wrote in some other thread analyzing it.
I think everyone should probably listen to this great report from NPR that dissects this issue. The Tl;dr: is greedflation is not really a real thing.
The deeper answer to your question of, “can one party increase prices in a market?” is sort of basic economics, and the answer is, “Usually, no.” In a competitive market, the answer is no. In a monopolistic market (meaning one company controls most of the market, think like Google with browsers) with no government oversight, the answer is yes. Things get complicated when you add in government regulation or oligopolistic markets (markets where only a few players control the market). In those cases, it depends on how strong government regulations on price-gouging are and any anti-monopoly or anti-anticompetitive practice laws are, and also depends on how oligopolists behave. Sometimes, particularly in industries with few big players, the big players will make the same decisions independently. If they do this cooperating it will usually violate antitrust laws, but if they both decide they’ll be better off say, not paying workers as much, or charging super high markups, them that can happen. A lot of economic research shows that kind of “tacit collusion” happens in real life, like in the oil and gas industries. But other times oligopolies will behave very competitively, only uniting through lobbyist trade groups if at all (think Microsoft and Amazon in cloud software).
So that’s the facts, but here’s my economic musing: The reason it feels like greedflation is a thing is a combination of factors:
- Inflation was very real, and very salient.
- Corporations (as mentioned in the NPR piece) crowed about their “record profits” in the short term, and also mention them when they are absolute record profits, not just record profit margins (something not mentioned but very real - a company can make twice as much money but also have spent twice as much, making way “more” money but with identical margins)
- In the US at least, we are seeing the highest numbers of industry consolidation and monopolies/oligopolies since the Gilded Age, so it feels like companies should be able to raise their prices if they want to.
- Media coverage and online spaces have become extremely polarized, so “corporations bad” is a very easy refrain to find if you’re watching or reading anything remotely left-wing, and it has been parroted by many democratic politicians as well, because it scores cheap and easy political points (also, and this is just my opinion, it helps vilify corps more in the public eye to help get more support for better antitrust legislation and enforcement, the actual end goal. I don’t think senators like Bernie Sanders don’t actually understand what’s going on with profit margins, I think they’re using it to generate political will, but that may be my own bias creeping in).
I work for a packaging supplier and inflation is hitting us hard.
Perhaps the people whose job it is to know shit a actually do know shit
I’m an inflationary economist and I feel you, man.
People will just tell you “Ah, that’s the excuse they gave you to not raise you to match the inflation”.
And we won’t and can’t know who’s right until we know who you work for and what’s their past and current financial output.
I know who is right because I’m not some bottom-tier employee parroting what I’ve heard. My job requires me to work with our finance team, M&A team, COO, and SG&A team as part of overarching strategy.
Inflation drives all the numbers up. If money inflates to half the value but you maintain the same profit margins, you’ll make record profits despite the finances having functionally remained exactly the same.
Workers are also making record wages. It doesn’t mean much if you don’t consider how much the money is actually worth, as we’ve all been discovering over the last few years.
so why not just lower the profit margins? also give me some of them record wages please, all I got was a bottle of champagne for all the work weve done and record profits but also raises in pay are frozen because of the turbulent times
so why not just lower the profit margins?
Probably for the same reason you don’t casually decide to go to your boss and say that you voluntarily want a pay cut.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wages
Average hourly wage at the start of 2020 was $24. It’s now $29, which comes to about $10,000 more each year, and is an increase of about 21%. That growth has been concentrated in the service industry, but the data is pretty clear regardless, and the general trend applies to basically all sectors. Inflation in that same time period is 18.1%, so it simply is a matter of fact that the average worker has greater buying power today than they did in January 2020.
That’s an average, of course, and may not necessarily apply to you individually.
You got champagne? All I got was runaround, brand new policies pulled out of thin air, and creative counting to deny seniority benefits. Turns out, I’ve worked for the same place 30 years when it inflates their retention and longevity numbers for the oversight agencies. I’ve also worked there for only a year (started a new position last year) when it suits them to deny a published benefit. The completely mindboggling part? These two countings were in the same email.
you got champagne? I just got lumped onto more projects for no more money
Workers are not making record wages, maybe CEOs and the upper middle class are but nobody else is. Maybe this is specific to America? Nearly everyone I know across multiple wage brackets I struggling with the cost of living.
I think that’s exactly it. I don’t know for sure, but these numbers may be average wages. And if that’s the case, having the top % or earners earn more while the bottome stays the same would still increase the average And would increase the divide between the top earners and bottom earners
Wage growth in the US has been most pronounced in the lower end of the market. Growth-oriented businesses like tech are a lot more sensitive to interest rate spikes, since their entire model is to borrow a ton of money to pay highly skilled workers a lot to “disrupt” an industry and achieve very rapid growth.
That isn’t necessarily contradictory with still struggling, since inflation exists. If you suddenly make 10% more money but everything costs 10% more as well, you are objectively making record wages, even though your buying power remains the same. Per that report, inflation-adjusted wages have actually grown on the lower end of the job market, so the average low-wage worker’s buying power has actually increased, but general statistics don’t always translate over to real-life experience super cleanly, and of course, a slight improvement from a bad financial situation doesn’t suddenly put you in a good situation.
You’re getting downvoted but the suppliers have suppliers too, and even if it’s a farm-to-table thing the farms have supply costs.
Every place I used to eat pretty much. And they cheap out on cheap shit too, like fries and rice. I used to work at a restaurant and the owner always taught me to fill up the sides cause it makes people feel they got their money’s worth
The worst part of shrinkflation is that it ruins all the old mid-century recipes that were based on “convenience foods” and specified ingredients like “one can” of cream of mushroom soup or “one package” of jello. Nowadays you’ve got to use a can and a half, or whatever – WTF am I supposed to do with half a can of leftover soup, assholes?!
Americans in shambles as shrinkflation ruins their measurement system /s
I had a recipe for queso I found that asked for 13oz of condensed milk.
The stores here only sell 12oz cans. So I had to buy a small 5oz one to go with it. It’s so dumb.
… Or, you know, just adapt the recipe. Not simping for shrinkflation here, but it’s pretty dumb to buy more than you need just to exactly match a recipe for queso. Shit ain’t analytical chemistry
Food isn’t as precise as people think. I used to stress over recipes and shit when I first started cooking regularly. Shit just kinda works if you stick roughly to most recipes.
Edit: this is just a general comment, I know some foods require an absolute fuck ton of skill and precision to get right
Baking is where it turns into an exact science.
Cooking is art, baking is science.
I’ve never made it before and I usually follow recipes as they are and everything always comes out really good so I try not to deviate from that.
When I get experimental, it sucks and then I’m wasting food.
I was also intimidated by making queso specifically as I have a hard time making sauces. I do experiment but they come out shitty when I do and they come out shitty when I follow the recipe.
Most other things come out fine if it’s a recipe I already know and can change a bit without having to worry.
I didn’t mean to come off rude before. I’m sorry for that.
I can see this is very important to you and I shouldn’t have made light of it.
Thank you. It did turn out for the best that I had extra condensed milk so I could figure out the best measurement for it.
I’m actually working on something tricky making my own queso. I want to make something that stays liquid but uses real cheese.
Cursed cheese. Never the consistency you need lol.
as a chemist this got a chuckle out of me
Lol, you just wrecked this guy so politely and firmly here. Well done.
Gee thanks.
LOL, it’s true!
That said, it’s certainly possible to have the same problem in metric. To the extent that you don’t, it’s probably because you’re still cooking with real ingredients scooped into a container in a market instead of processed, packaged ones.
In other words, the thing you should really be gloating about is being less at the mercy of Cargill and Nestle and whatnot than us Americans are.
being at the mercy of loblaws isn’t much better
I’d try adding more milk or cream if you’ve already got some. I ain’t wasting an extra can either. I’m the kind of person who puts a ton of beans in my chili compared to ground beef because I can’t waste them lol
Some countries have outlawed this behavior. If the seller/producer wants to decrease the package contents and keep the package size and price the same, they can (of course), but they must write on the package that the contents have decreased in large bright characters that are hard to miss. Something like this:
255gnow 200gI’m not sure where you are (assuming USA, based on the packaging), but it’s not illegal in the USA, since consumer protection is near to nonexistent.
Pretty sure this is Canada, no frills is a franchise chain under Loblaws. Loblaws is the kind of company that increases a product price by 20% and then puts up a “same price everyday” sign to gaslight customers.
Meanwhile Kroger raises their prices and then puts a giant yellow tag on them labeled “Everyday Low Prices”.
It’s not on sale, it’s always more expensive than it was before, but they want you to think it’s a discount.
Bob Loblaw Lobs Law Bomb.
Cool business move… NOT!
(Should we even be bringing back the ‘not’?)
Same price everyday (only for the day)
In the US it’s actually illegal for companies to do something that benefits the consumer
The thing that pisses me off the most is “””eco-friendly””” companies doing shrinkflation. My guy, you can tell me it’s recycled plastic or whatever, if the portions are smaller you’re still pumping out more plastic than before, asshole.
If it’s not Shrinkflation, it’s Diluteflation.
I occasionally see posts and news articles about how AriZona Tea Company has “held the line” and kept their giant cans of iced tea priced at 99 cents for so long.
Well, after drinking a few cans of the stuff recently, I’m almost certain they’re watering down their product. The tea is nowhere near as concentrated as it was a few years ago. There’s practically no flavor to it anymore.
I kinda doubt they would bother to water it down. Realistically the flavouring in it costs a fraction of a cent for them. If they changed it for any reason would probably just be to be healthier
Companies operating on that scale sell millions and millions of beverages. Even half a cent per can can add up to huge amounts of money. Also, their job is literally to sell containers of diluted high fructose corn syrup, so I don’t think customer health is their priority.
Hmm I’ve been drinking it for years and don’t notice that either. Maybe check the sell by dates on yours. They do kind of deflate over time.
Here in southern Ontario near the border we’ve been getting REALLY great deals on Arizona lately because our local market buys in bulk from across the border. I’ve never been able to get Arizona for 50 cents my entire life before. It must be overstock or something, but I’m having one or two like every day.
The old fish costs $3.92 per 100g, the new fish $5. That’s a price increase of (255/200 - 1) = 27.5%. The difference per gram (which isn’t of interest to anybody) is 5-3.92, i.e. ¢1.08. Which also equates to a (5/3.92 - 1) = 27.5% increase.
Not sure what you were calculating, but every result was wrong.
Cost per gram is the only sensible measurement
and yet every single online grocery shopping I’ve been on refuses to have a filter or sort by price per weight option. It’s even more incredibly infuriating when you have to click into an item’s description or calculate it yourself, extra bonus hell points to the sites that change the weight metric so it’s an extra step to figure out what the actual comparison is (probably more a US problem with ounce/pound conversion).
I just wish the weights were consistent across similar products. I’ve seen some supermarkets where one brand uses cost per gram while another brand uses cost per 100 grams, and yet another brand uses cost per kg, all for the same product. Some toilet papers are cost per sheet, some are cost per 100 sheets, some are cost per roll. In the USA, one item might use price per ounce while the product next to it uses price per pound. Some packs of soft drink cans use price per can while others use price per 100mL or per fluid ounce.
Drives me crazy.
This is as designed. It’s like shopping for mattresses, they don’t want you to comparison shop.
Unit pricing is mandated in many jurisdictions, however many of them don’t mandate the specific units that are used. I wish they’d do that so that we could properly compare items.
The marketing law in Denmark does that. With few exceptions, everything must have the price displayed in the proper unit (liter, kilogram, meter, square metres or cubic metres) in addition to the price pr. item.
Price per roll has to be the worst seeing how rolls are different thicknesses
I know right? I’ll take a photo next time I see per roll unit pricing.
It’s 2 for the price of 3 - 50% increase
$3.33 to $5 is 50%
In pieces, sure. But the old pack contained 255g of fish and the new one contains 200g ;)
My bad thanks
Interesting that while there is only 2 instead of 3 in a pack, the total weight has gone down only 22% (from 255g to 200g, instead of 170g if the weight dropped by a third/33%). So the actual salmon pieces may be bigger?
This is still shrinkflation but there has probably also been previous hidden shrinkflation in the individual salmon pieces too and that bit has been slightly undone.
Usually when I buy bigger packs of salmon, the amount varies and the only thing roughly consistent is the weight. So if they decreased the weight, you might either get 2 bigger fillets or 3 smaller fillets depending on the package
Packages says right on them 2 packs and 3 packs. So amount isn’t changing on these particular ones.
I’m on disability. Watching the prices climb the past few years has been genuinely distressing. I could never afford a full month of groceries but now I can afford even less. Food doesn’t go nearly as far as it should. I find myself having to stretch stuff over days or do what I’m currently doing and just not eat for the better part of a week to save the little I have left.
I am not doing well and this shit is making it worse… I’m honestly afraid.
Don’t be to humble to go to a food pantry. It’s food for people who need it. I’ve used them. I’m not ashamed.
I recommend you check out TheFreePizzaDude on Imgur. There is a limit to how often you can receive donations (like once every other month), but they will help with getting you a pizza or even some regular groceries if you ask.
This is something the government should be doing though, rather than having to rely on charities and kind individuals. In most developed countries, the government has good programs to assist people in need, ensuring they can get basic groceries. The US is an outlier.
I mean the government is doing it, that’s what disability is. It’s just not kept up with inflation in a lot of areas.
What I meant is that the government should provide it and ensure you can actually live off of it.
Oh then I would not agree the US is an outlier in that, or at least not near the only exception.
The absurd thinness of the “family size” boxes of frosted mini wheats is another one.
They won’t be able to stand upright in the next round of shrinking.
I love them sockeye… Watching them fight to get to spawning ground is something special to watch. One year I watched a group splinter off the Hoh river in Washington and make their way up a feeder stream. Ever day after school I’d run out to see where they were. So many started and only a few made it.
They literally saved my life. I was looking for somewhere to end myself when I found them. Their presence intrigued me and I decided to see it out. The day the last one spawned and died broke something in me, that hate I had. It’s hard to explain but I was so overwhelmed by the experience I decided that if they can do that journey, i can do mine.
Thinking about it again always makes me so emotional.
Anyways that salmon is cheap and it should be cherished for what it is.
Sockeye Salmon are the best flavor of salmon.
You comment made me feel emotional too. I’m glad you’re doing better now.
I have lots of stomach issues and can’t eat a lot of foods, which means I mostly eat the same few things over and over. One of the few things I can have reading out is a particular local restaurant’s chicken strips, and I’d get them for lunch a couple times a month. They’ve raised their prices twice in the last 6 months, and what used to be 6-8 strips for$6 is now 5 chicken strips - just the chicken, no fries or other sides - for $10. If I’m feeling masochistic, I’ll get myself and my father each one of their chef salads. Two of those are now $27. They are a very, very popular place and usually crazy busy, but since that last hike I’ve noticed the parking lot at lunchtime is often half empty. This is not a wealthy area, people can’t afford these prices. They are going to greed themselves right out of business.
They’ve also lost every single long-time employee they had. And when I say long, I mean 15, 20 years working there. I watched most of them grow up, get married and have families. Every. Single. One. is gone, and I’ve seen most of them at other restaurants now. Their staff is now different every time I go in there, and service sucks and orders are frequently wrong. My work stopped ordering food from there for meetings because of it. Greed, greed, greed, with a healthy dose of apparent staff mistreatment. Story of the world at large nowadays.
If you are paying a restaurant to make your chef salads and chicken strips you have no reason to complain about price when you can easily make those for 1/4 the cost yourself with ingredients from a grocery store.
Sometimes a guy just wants to not have to cook and to just go eat some god damn chicken strips
Apparently even the simplest pleasures in life are luxuries now.
I’ve never been able to make a single salad for less than the price of a salad at a normal-priced resturaunt, ever. Sure I can make 10 salads for the price of one, but it’s really hard to buy 1/4 a tomato, or 1/2 a head of lettuce from a grocery store.
“If you like eating at restaursnts once in a while, you deserve not to be able to afford to eat!”
Fuck off, prick.
There’s a fresh Canadian fish market near my house. A huge piece of wild caught Atlantic salmon that can feed 3-4 of us is $28 or so after taxes. The salmon is fresh, delicious, and way more plump. Shrimp too, I buy a $20 pack of shrimp at food basics and it shrinks to nothing while cooking, and the $25 of fresh shrimp from the fish market stays huge and doesn’t soggy my recipe
Sounds like they might be pumping water into that shrimp. They do it for chicken breast and I think up to half the weight of the product can be water added or something ridiculous like that.
That’s how they do, it’s all water weight and then they freeze it. You end up paying more for their shitty shrimp than you would at a decent market.
I have a locally-run produce store close to me, and I’ve found even for things like the brand of packaged cookies they sell, there’s a unique texture and crispness to them - it’s made me a bit more aware of the quality standards that individual stores may have.
If I go there, I don’t get my pick of 17 brands for common things like meat or milk, but I end up enjoying the one or two options they have.
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Arizona Ice Tea the fucking OG.
Still 99 cents for a huge ass can.
Respect.
El busto coffee too
The ever reducing diameter of wraps is the thing that gets me the most. Do they think we won’t notice?! It’s maddening. I want a big wrap.
You’d think with a wrap it’d be easier to just stuff it with cheap starch and keep it looking big and satisfying in the display case.
For that they just put all the filling in the middle, cut them in half and only display the cut side for stuffed looking cross section. Meanwhile half or more of the wrap is empty.
its literally impossible to make a burrito in Australia. every wrap is made for ants
