Yesterday while I was having breakfast, I discovered a ripoff the affects mainly seniors.
I had two boxes of the same cereal on the table as one was just about empty so I had a full one so I could have the usual cereal serving. I happened to notice that the weight of the old box was 1.45 kg. (Sorry, I don't know what this is in the English system.) The weight on the new box was 1.24 kg. So the new box weighed 210 gm less or .21 kg less. So this is almost 15% less. And you guessed it the price was the same for both boxes.
Today when I did my shopping the price on the 1.24 kg box was $7.49. That's almost a twenty percent percent increase from $5.99. Now that's a real big kick in the pants. How low can some big food companies go so that they can squeeze out more money from little old age pensioners ?
So why is this mostly for seniors? Well, many young people don't eat breakfast. Raisin bran is consumed mostly by seniors as it keeps them in great condition. Would kids eat raisin bran? I think not. So this company hits hard on seniors.
So therefore I have made the accusation that seniors are being ripped off.
Now I could include pictures of the boxes of cereal to provide evidence of this scam but I would have to take off the name of a very big cereal company or I may be liable for slander just because I inform seniors
that they are being ripped off.
I think I'm going to have to find some hot cereal that is far less expensive than the cold cereal. That'll teach them for ripping me off.
Here in the US, they have changed the sizes of ice cream from half-gallon to something less, but kept the prices the same...then they raise the price and we are supposed to think it is just the normal increase. Greed is everywhere!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more on the greed point.
DeleteYou are very observant to notice the size difference in the cereal boxes. I don't think I would have paid that much attention. And I bet that's what the cereal company was counting on.
ReplyDeleteOne hot cereal I like is Cream of Wheat..yum.
I think they depend on us not noticing and it works well.
DeleteI alternate rolled oats and cream of wheat.
they do that a lot at the 'saver' stores (like dollar general or family dollar). they sell them for what looks like cheaper costs but actually market down-sized packages to those stores.
ReplyDeleteand i love raisin bran.
I guess they just try to keep us from complaining so much when they use these marketing tactics.
DeleteI have been noticing that too..with coffee..I don't drink it but my husband does. We try to shop the sales in the grocery store and stock up then...that seems to help on the grocery bill. I was in Walmart the other day. In the baking aisle they increased the price of everything by 50 cents:(
ReplyDeleteWe go through the flyers every week before we shop.
DeleteTerrible on a lot of things. I choose many by what is on sale. I never pay more than 3bucks for a box, I enjoy eggs better.i was told carbs raise your blood sugar so it makes one hungry earlier where protien keeps us full.
ReplyDeleteCarbs certainly do make you hungry.
DeleteRipoffs all over the place! :) I think i first noticed the size trick with chocolate bars, they just keep getting smaller.
ReplyDeleteI think chocolate bars have undergone many weight changes in my time. I remember the holler when they sold beer in smaller glasses.
DeleteMy dear Red!
ReplyDeleteI shall comment in the morning - still only afternoon here - 3.00pm, by that time I will have cooled down!
However check the serial number on the box.
The serial numbers - a heap of them on the side of all supermarket food, will tell you from where they came. Here it is 9 310082 158089.
And then it has to state - " Made or Produced in Australia" .This now is a law.
Canada, the USA and other western countries all have these numbers. Even the fruit and vegetables of the fresh variety have to have this " Produced where" label.
You could find that your beloved, depleted and price rise cereal is now manufactured or produced in China!
Colin ( Brisbane. Australia)
So Colin where do you find what each number represents? this sounds like a very good idea.
DeleteIt's the same here. A favourite scam is to make big boxes more expensive per unit weight than small boxes. Supermarkets have to display price per kilo or litre but the print is awful small.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the unit prices are small and when the bottom shelf is near the floor I really have a problem.
DeleteThere's a big scam being pulled on all consumers. I'm buying generic these days and avoiding big labels.
ReplyDeleteI find generic is very inconsistant because they contract to different places on a regular basis.
DeleteYes it is the kind of thing that is happening all over the world - and not just with breakfast cereal. After a bit, when the boxes get smaller and smaller, they will introduce a "new" giant economy size - at a new higher price of course.
ReplyDeleteI see you've been around these procedures a time or two.
DeleteIt's true, it's happening everywhere. Even the toilet paper rolls are the same price but not as big, which is obvious when I took it out of the wrapper and placed it in the holder! It's everywhere these days. I don't eat cereal for breakfast any more because it's way too expensive.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't noticed the toilet paper trick. With TP it has so many different combinations so it's hard to tell which is the best price.
DeleteDid you get my comment? I said it's the same everywhere!
ReplyDeleteYes , I got your comment . Thanks.
DeleteIts happening everywhere Red. It doesn't matter what you pick up, its smaller and the price escalates every time you turn around. There are so many GREEDY people in this world today and they really do not give shyte about SENIORS or anyone else. This is an excellent post Red and yes, you would be set as the example of SLANDER.
ReplyDeleteGreedy seems to be the key word. Companies look at sales and do anything to increase sales.
DeleteRed this inflation of ours is crazy, but I love your idea to boycott the cereal company and switch over. I generally watch for sales, when the items I like to purchase are on sale I get a few of them and tuck one or two away in my limited space. Once I get the basement finished I'll allow an extra shelf for second and thirds of items to be stored. Thanks for the awareness, I would have forgotten to add the extra shelving unit and my cupboards would continue to be overflowing.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost porridge time of the year, last I knew it was a much less expensive route. I love to add cinnamon to spice it up and sometimes wither the Craisins or just plain raisins. Now I want porridge but no time this morning. Maybe tomorrow!
Have an awesome day!
We check the flyers each week before we shop. Sometimes I think our food inventory gets a little over the top.
DeleteI also try nutmeg in porridge.
I have noticed this also, there are a lot of products that are the same price even after reducing the amount, seems I remember one of the cola companys going to a 20 pack rather than a 24 pack--sigh
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Soft drink companies really have fun with changing numbers of cans and the size of cans.
DeleteFrank wrote about this sort of thing about 8 years ago. And though it was a humourous account of the problem it essentially dealt with the same downsizing of packages. He coined the term "decontenting" for it.
ReplyDeleteYes , you could have a lot of fun with this topic. I think consumers could do more if there was more communication on these issues. However , when I look at all the prepared food for sale these days I wonder. These people aren't buying what I buy. they are buying value added stuff.
DeleteInflation has hit. The blame is the drought and all the crops not made in the bread basket ...no rain. Lots of cows and pigs were pushed through early as feeders couldn't feed them out...no grain.
ReplyDeleteBacon here (two weeks ago) was $3.99 a pound, last week $7.99....horribly hard for any one who has to live on a budget.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Interesting that your bacon was $7.99 as hog operators here are losing money on each pig. They blame things on the increase of feed.
DeleteYou are absolutely right. Truly, Red, they do this for all the cereals! In fact all products these days. You know they're in it for the big bucks and don't care about those who cannot afford it.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that they're in it for the bucks. They look at sales and constantly want to increase sales so they come up with the gimmicks.
DeleteI sent an e-mail - too long for your blog.
ReplyDeleteYou may edit, may give your readers some information on these rip-offs and actually what we are eating and from where. Country codes are there on everything purchasable here. Just google your country's food labelling, if not there you have a problem. Like Linda has written, how do people live on a budget???
Great blog report Red, you do get people thinking.
Colin
Thanks. I thing we are singing from the same page which is good. some day we may accomplish something.
DeleteI'm an oatmeal-from-scratch fan. It annoys me when companies pull these stunts!!! :( Hope you can find an alternative to your raisin bran!!
ReplyDeleteI'll second the oatmeal choice.
DeleteMy husband and I have noticed it happening here a lot. The latest we found was coffee like Far Side has already noted.
ReplyDeleteGood ole oatmeal still isn't too bad and it's good for you. :)
I think you could find some slick marketing trick every day if you shopped everyday.
DeleteI love my oatmeal.
Just been checking this food numbering again at the supermarket, where for the last couple of days, there are multiple signs
ReplyDeleteurging the buyers to support Australian products. Also the tabloid papers with full page spreads. I have no idea why all of
a sudden this campaign???? Not a bad idea really, keeps hard working farming community in existence and without them
in all the various crops, cattle, sheep, wool, and the orchards they produce, well what could happen???
Anyhow: The Australian coding numbers are 9 310 etc etc
I saw that I have Tabasco sauce - clearly marked "Made and Produced in the USA" - code 0 11210 etc.
Also if produced in Australia and packed in New Zealand, yep that's correct - cheaper costs is the reason
given????? The code changes to 9 300 etc.
Today I wanted to buy some smoked salmon - the cheapest was the Atlantic salmon from Denmark.
Again all the information and the Danish (Denmark) code is: 9 434005 etc. Product of Denmark
Dijon Mustard from France: Code 3 036817 etc and again all the information. Product of France.
I do have Maple syrup but it comes under the 9 300 etc - New Zealand, they produce it there.
I will TRY to remember and look at the Canadian number on your Maple syrup tomorrow.
I believe that everyone should be aware of all this - then you know what you are REALLY buying and
from where it is coming. Red, you sure put up interesting blog subjects.
Cheers
Colin (Brisbane. Australia)
Thanks for this Colin. I wish you would blog because you write comments with a lot of info. So I'm glad you made a comment out of this as I couldn't move it from my email to the blog.
Deletecold cereal has gotten too expensive. the boxes got smaller and the prices got higher. I only buy it now if I have $1 off coupon and it is on sale..the generic is sometimes just as good, depends on the cereal. we switched to toast and peanut butter, eggs or oatmeal....half the price of the convience found in the box.
ReplyDelete