"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
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"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
Why not call a few manufacturers and see what their logic was. Start with
Sherwin-Williams. Continue with General Mills, Kraft. Del Monte etc etc
etc. Maybe they found out from focus groups that the smaller package was
a better idea. There might be a reason for this. Think about it. Let's
say you have a fairly strict food budget. $100 a week, to pick a number.
Now, your favorite ice cream goes up $1.00 in price. 5 cans of beans go
up a quarter each. Your detergent does the same, along with paper goods.
Add it all up and perhaps your bill is now $120.00. You may say you can
adjust to that, but a whole lot of people can't. So, who should the
manufacturers cater to?

Are people getting skinny since they now consume less from the smaller
packages?

I really really want a 7 Series BMW but it is not in my budget. Do you
think they should sell a version with only three wheels so that I can
afford it? Or do yo think I should buy another brand that I can afford?


I'm not saying you're wrong to be outraged by a size change, but I don't
think the motives behind it are pure evil, as some people suggest.

I do. They want to keep the price in line with the competition. They do
this by reducing size. I was part of a program years ago to reduce cost
on some products. The idea was to make the tubing walls thinner, a few
less fasteners, and on and on. It worked for a while, but when customers
got PO'd, the company went out of business. The problem with the food
industry is that they all do it so they are all equal.

My favorite ice cream did go up $a package, but it is still smaller than
the half gallon of decades before. No I only buy it when it is on sale
and I stock up. What did they gain?

Evil, I say, evil in the name of market share and profits.


Evil? What's the alternative? Slowly go out of business??? And, what's so
evil about a company like Breyers shrinking their package a bit, when
there's a world full of rocky road/marshmallow addicts who are happy to pay
twice as much (unit price) for those little Ben & Jerry's containers?

Your "thinner tube walls" analogy is a bit off, by the way. You reduced the
quality. Not the same as a food or paint company reducing the amount per
package.