Saturday, August 19, 2017

Why Do Product Sizes Keep Shrinking?


Coffee is something a majority of us can’t do without in our lives.  My biggest problem with this and other products lately is the ever shrinking sizes.  Do companies think we don’t notice this?


steaming coffee cup surrounded by beans.jpeg
Maybe the solution for shrinking sizes of coffee calls for smaller cups.


I remember when people would buy a can of coffee in a 3 lb. container.  The can had a whooping 48 ounces that would feel heavy in your hand.  Then years ago, they went to 39 oz., next to 34.5 oz. and on a recent trip to ALDI discovered the cans are now 30.5 oz.  Now in all fairness I used to think these cans weren’t getting smaller, but the product inside was.  So you would open it and you see all the wasted space.  So you have to go back to the store and buy more coffee or just pick up more cans.

I know they probably studied what happened when they left the cans at 48 oz. and just raised the price. People probably bought less.  Since many stores don’t post unit prices and if you don’t look at what you are paying per ounce then you may not notice they raised the price.  They are easing price increases via shrinking sizes.

I remember one crisis where they had some problem in growing coffee and the price went sky high.  I saw the cans sit there and dust form on the top.  People weren’t buying.  But that was a quick spike in prices.

These larger sizes are still being made.  You don’t have to buy small cans. Another option is online ordering of these products. I went to Amazon.com and actually found Folger’s coffee in the 48 oz. can sold there at a price less than I was paying at ALDI.  The only problem was the shipping was $8.00 unless you have Amazon Prime with free shipping.

At this pace of shrinkage, we’ll be buying 1 lb. cans of coffee soon.  I saw some 24 oz. cans.  There are reasons I don’t buy 1 lb. cans, they cost too much, and I drink too much coffee.

I, for one, cut down my consumption of coffee.  Now I just drink it in the morning and have replaced my favorite beverage with tea and water.  Doing so, is better for my health but also a small way to protest.  If more people followed this example, then perhaps, manufacturers would get the message that we had enough!