If you’ve been grocery shopping lately, you may have noticed that – for once – prices don’t seem to be going up.
But don’t take that to mean you’re not getting less bang for your supermarket buck.
From peanut butter to cereal and from detergent to diapers, a number of grocery items are being repackaged in smaller forms – with no change in price.
Kara Pukicz has noticed it.
The Conestoga College student says she’s even seen toilet paper manufacturers producing rolls with fewer sheets.
“Prices are crazy, and quantities are just decreasing ridiculously,” she said Wednesday, while shopping in Kitchener.
Those changes, Pukicz says, make grocery shopping more time-consuming as she continually has to reassess which products deliver the best value.
Joe Freeburn, associate dean at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, says reducing packaging isn’t a new innovation – and it’s something shoppers have already demonstrated a tolerance of.
“Up to 10 per cent reduction, consumers don’t seem to be concerned,” he said.
“You cross that tipping point, and there’s a bit more of a reaction.”
Another Kitchener shopper, Danielle Wellwood, says she’s noticed pet food manufacturers making similar changes to their products and is looking at switching to other brands.
“We’re your valued customers – give us some value,” she said.
