A community about companies who sneakily adjust their product instead of the price in the hopes that consumers won't notice.
We notice. We feel ripped off. Let's call out those products so we can shop better.
Shrinkflation is a term often coined to refer to a product reducing in size or quality while the price remains the same or increases.
Companies will often claim that this is necessary due to inflation, although this is rarely the case. Over the course of the pandemic, they have learned that they can mark up inelastic goods, which are goods with an intangible demand, such as food, as much as they want, and consumers will have no choice but to purchase it anyway because they are necessities.
From Wikipedia:
In economics, shrinkflation, also known as the grocery shrink ray, deflation, or package downsizing, is the process of items shrinking in size or quantity, or even sometimes reformulating or reducing quality, while their prices remain the same or increase. The word is a portmanteau of the words shrink and inflation.
[...]
Consumer advocates are critical of shrinkflation because it has the effect of reducing product value by "stealth". The reduction in pack size is sufficiently small as not to be immediately obvious to regular consumers. An unchanged price means that consumers are not alerted to the higher unit price. The practice adversely affects consumers' ability to make informed buying choices. Consumers have been found to be deterred more by rises in prices than by reductions in pack sizes. Suppliers and retailers have been called upon to be upfront with customers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation
n.b.: for moderation purposes, only posts in English or in French are accepted.##
So I had to buy two of them to get as much as I used to get with one. Each one of these now cost $12. The total ounces of salmon you see here used to cost $7.
Interesting that they're each 4 ounces. I wonder if the moisture content or something else has changed.
Uhhhhh........these are both the same purchase.
Yeah I tried to explain in the original post this is not a "before and after" shrinkflation photo. I literally just this evening had to purchase two of these to get as much as I used to get with one purchase.
One pre-cooked seasoned vacuum-sealed salmon fillet used to be 7 oz and cost $7. I've been enjoying these for years. I haven't had one in a while but went to purchase one today and look what we have here. I had to buy two packages: each was only 4 oz, and each cost $12.
Why is social media full of these posts?
“This used to cost $3 but today I paid $13.”
Why did you pay? Are an imbecile with zero control over your actions? Don’t give them money. It’s that simple.
You're asking me why I bought that? I've been buying these for years, and I had a strong craving for it today and I went to the grocery store solely for this, the only thing I bought at the store today, because that's what I went to the store to buy. I had no intention of leaving the store without it, in some pathetic meaningless form of silent protest, fuck no, I was hungry for this, and this only.
It's not silent protest, you're voting with your wallet.
Voting with one's wallet is silent.
It also does literally nothing lol. I'm continually shocked at how many people continue to think it's an effective form of resistance despite all available evidence.
It absolutely works...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-sales-decline-value-meal/
That's not "voting with your wallet" lmao it's not being able to afford food
I could always afford, I just stopped going because it was bad value. I am not alone on this. That is literally what voting with your wallet means.
You need to work on your logic skills, you appear to have almost none and have zero awareness of this deficiency. I'm sure you'll ignore me or get emotional but keep in mind that is exactly how someone will poor logical skills reacts.
Straight from the article the other commenter linked:
"The context is since October of last year, you've had lower grocery prices than restaurant prices. And when prices are cheaper at grocery stores, low-income households go there. When McDonald's is cheaper, they go to McDonald's," Wedbush restaurants analyst Nick Setyan said.
Buying the cheapest available food option is not "voting with your dollar." That's called trying to survive. Low income people don't get to vote with their dollar.
McDonald's is not cheaper than groceries or cooking yourself, it never has been and never will be. People are voting with their wallets.
I literally just quoted the people in the article you cited
No you quoted a restaurant analyst...someone who is paid to figure out how to get people into restaurants, you really think they're gonna say "yes people aren't eating at your place because it's to expensive, you should lower your prices"...no they're gonna make up some bullshit that allows the companies to save face.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/18/shoppers-political-boycotts-spending-patterns-poll
Another article...
you really think they're gonna say "yes people aren't eating at your place because it's to expensive, you should lower your prices"
That is essentially what they said.
Another article...
That article also doesn't say anything about the efficacy of voting with your wallet. Just that people are doing it.
It does give examples of boycotts that worked, meaning organized and with a clear message. Very different from randos silently "voting with their wallets" over "thing they don't like about a product"
I don't even....
Voting with your wallet out of a need to survive is still voting with your wallet.
It's really weird that you want to reject the definition that everyone else agrees it to be and even more weird that you haven't attempted to provide a definition for what would quality as voting with your wallet that excludes price sensitivity.
Voting with your wallet out of a need to survive is still voting with your wallet.
Are you hearing yourself right now? How tf is it a vote if you don't get to choose?
Wikipedia's definition is: "an analogy that refers to the theoretical impact of consumer choice on producers' actions by means of the flow of consumer payments to producers for their goods and services."
I'm low income, and I vote with my dollar. I go without, and find other sources. If the person who just paid $24 dollars for two pieces of fish (did I read that math problem right?) Can't afford to vote with his dollar, they're doing something wrong. But like if they want to pay it, let them. Its more important right now where you spend, than on what. Local grocer? Cool cool. Whole foods? Eat a dick bro. Stop supporting national companies that are supoorting this admin. Fish should be expensive, humans over harvest.
If you want to do so and can afford it, go for it. But without an organized movement backing it, don't expect it to change their behavior.
Whole foods? Eat a dick bro. Stop supporting national companies that are supoorting this admin.
This is precisely what I hate about "ethical consumerism." Not only does it not work, it also pushes people to perseverate and waste energy over individual choices that, again, do not matter and divides us for no good reason. We are all just trying to get through this. Shopping at Whole foods or Amazon does not mean you endorse everything they do. It might just mean you have a dietary restriction that local grocers cannot accommodate or you need things delivered to you because you are disabled. Amazon makes the vast majority of its profits from AWS anyway. Whole Foods could die tomorrow and it essentially would not change anything.
In fact Whole Foods once was your local grocer. That's how capitalism works. There is no such thing as ethical consumption.
You want change? Organize. Boycott. Strike. Participate in mutual aid groups. If given the opportunity for direct democratic action, vote - with your vote, not your wallet.
it is literally the only thing that matters unders capitalism. or rather, any "protest" that doesn't also target the bottom line is useless when government/courts are captured.
In the absence of clear demands and organization (which would make it a boycott, which is something that works), "voting with your wallet" just looks like random noise to them. You really think because you stop buying a product or go to the grocery store across the street instead anything will change?
Ok, go verbally complain like a Karen to the manager. That'll definitely help. 😂
So you feel like you shouldn't have to pay this much but you're unwilling to fight and endure some discomfort for what you think you're owed. That sounds like a metaphor for a broader societal issue.
For a piece of food in a plastic packaging no less. 🤦🏻
It's the textbook definition of inelastic demand.
Supply and demand.
Once they know you will pay they will keep raising the price.
Man's gotta eat
So I had to buy two of them to get as much as I used to get with one. Each one of these now cost $12. The total ounces of salmon you see here used to cost $7.
And so you rewarded them for their new pricing model.
Go to Target. Walk the store, and eventually you'll see "New lower price".
It's not a new lower price. It's the old price before they raised the price, but nobody bought that item. So they lowered it back.
When companies raise the price, and cut the content, and people still buy it.....what reason do they have to charge the old lower price?
If I had left the store without buying that, do you think they would feel the sting of my protest and they would all go bankrupt?
Likely not.
But I would be fucking HUNGRY because I was craving only specifically this. I went to the store to buy this and only this. When I left the store those were the only two things I had purchased. Because that's what I went to the store to buy.
And society dies in the small fire of individualism
It's high time to quit buying any product that ends up this way.
Also, if you can get them, hemp hearts have better levels of omega-3's in them than fish.
Good luck getting anything from the store then, I haven't seen much that isn't hit by both inflation and shrinkflation. And the shrinkflation is directly caused by the inflation as the manufacturer knows people have a spending limit on the product they are selling, so they have to cut into the product to keep below that limit.
But you don't understand, they were craving this specfic brand and food sustenance and would have literally starved to death and died had they not purchased it.
This is an example of being poor because of avocado toast.
If this were a sane world this would be a parody but they are clearly very serious.
And probably with 28% more microplastics too! What a time to be alive.
How do you cook these op?
Microwave on high for 5 minutes, squirt of ketchup, bone apple teeth!
I cut it open with scissors and eat it straight from the package. This here is travelin' fine cuisine. It's the easiest quickest most delicious healthiest satisfying thing ever.
That's Atlantic salmon? God, it's barely even pink. Salmon used to be as red as my investment portfolio is now.
Tell us more about your investment portfolio. Is red a good thing or a bad thing?
I think the green crayons are pretty, but the red ones taste better.
The color of the flesh doesn't say anything about its flavor necessarily, but it's been common for a long time for producers to add food coloring to Atlantic salmon.
Fucking hell. How much plastic?
Where on earth are you from that hot smoked is called "smoke roasted"?
I feel like a guest at Bilbo’s Eleventieth trying to parse that title.
That totally sucks. I'm glad you got a fun treat, and I hope the price doesn't prevent you from enjoying it.
It's never a bad time to start checking lot vegetarian recipes. A few years ago I got a vegetarian cookbook and a vegetarian Indian cookbook. I started a meal or two a week to mix things up. It turns out there's some veg recipes that I really love, and over time I've found so many that I now almost never cook meat at home.
As I've eaten less meat, I've grown to crave it less, and oddly my lifts have gotten better and I've put on some serious leg and shoulder muscle. Most meals are some combo of beans, lentils, tofu, and just lots of veggies. I've become a better cook, and almost every dinner is significantly better than what I can get at any restaurant.
It costs way less to get into even the most basic beans and rice dishes. Veg recipes can still have great macros. I found that meat dishes are usually so savory that folks rarely spice them very much, or if they do you can't taste the meat anyway. So my veg chili, stews, sauces, curries, and stir fries taste pretty much the same because it's mostly the seasoning you taste. Some texture is a bit different, but I have found I really prefer the texture of mushrooms, seitan, and tofu. I still occasionally crave my 24hr smoked brisket or my all day braised short rib, but I don't mind saving them for a rare treat rather than expecting it every meal.
I do hope though you enjoy your fish, pay respects to the animal that died to bring it to you, and make an amazing meal out of it. I hope it's the best you've ever made, and it nurishes your body. If the inflated prices are getting to be to much, have hope that there's a world of interesting affordable meals out there.
Atlantic salmon is farmed in unsustainable and environmentally insensitive ways. Skip it completely and buy wild caught fish from your local fishermen.
Shrinkflation by greedy companies combined with our de-facto oligopoly of grocery stores trying to convince us that prices must go up because they’re barely scraping by.
I want to see how the new tax credit for groceries pans out. But it feels like a bit of a (maybe necessary?) Band-aid.
I would absolutely LOVE to see the government finally tackle the oligopoly issue with grocery chains and telecoms.
A bit of a tangent. I had a Bell rep knock at my door today, nice guy. But I told him that their deals are predatory, the way they lock in discounts but not the rate. Then they up the price while you’re locked in, effectively nullifying your discount. He told me, at least in my area that they are supposedly offering real rate lock ins. But it doesn’t fix the root of the problem spurred by blocking competition and blatantly predatory and misleading “deals”. I despise telecom companies in Canada.
Edit: I wanna add, it doesn’t have to be like this! I lived abroad for a while and any time essential groceries went up in price, people got mad and the government curbed it realllll quickly. And telecoms offered true unlimited for reasonable rates. It can be done. We have good infrastructure in much of the country (sorry to those in mega rural areas), now let’s get some legislation to manage and/or break up these oligopolies. I’m no politician so I don’t know what exactly is the best solution, I only know that it needs to happen.