They've Ruined Tropicana Orange Juice (Again)

[CaptTom]

I guess a benefit of buying very little prepackaged in “standard” package sizes I don’t really don’t see this kind of shrinkflation...

Have you bought sugar lately? They've gone from 5-lb bags to 4-lb. Flour is starting to show up in smaller bags, too. Even pasta is often in 12oz packages instead of the usual 16. This last one drives me crazy, because it screws up all my old recipes.

Same with canned baking supplies like evaporated milk or canned pumpkin. It's getting so my mother's old cook book is practically useless.

I know it's a first-world problem and all. Compared to today, the past sucked. But just as freedom requires eternal vigilance, so does not getting taken advantage of by greedy corporations. Apathy among the public doesn't bode well for either cause.

 

[Jerry1]

It's getting so my mother's old cook book is practically useless.

We’re running into this issue today. Having family over to dinner and a little remembrance of my mother in law. Part of that is that we’re making a cake from her old recipe. Unfortunately, the cake mix is about 3oz lighter than when the recipe was written. We’re just going to go ahead and see how it turns out, but it won’t have the same texture for sure. Online, some say to add more flour but the mix is more than just flour. Ugh.

 

[audreyh1]

Have you bought sugar lately? They've gone from 5-lb bags to 4-lb. Flour is starting to show up in smaller bags, too. Even pasta is often in 12oz packages instead of the usual 16. This last one drives me crazy, because it screws up all my old recipes.

Same with canned baking supplies like evaporated milk or canned pumpkin. It's getting so my mother's old cook book is practically useless.

I know it's a first-world problem and all. Compared to today, the past sucked. But just as freedom requires eternal vigilance, so does not getting taken advantage of by greedy corporations. Apathy among the public doesn't bode well for either cause.

No, we don’t buy sugar. We don’t use flour or any baking supplies. We don’t eat baked goods nor pasta. We sauté shredded cabbage if we want “noodles” for a dish.

We’re very much perimeter grocery store shoppers. Very few items we buy are canned, jarred, or boxed. Sure we still see prices going up by the ounce like everyone else, just not the shrinkflation aspect of it. We do pay attention to cost per ounce or pound which our grocery store displays for every item.

 

[surprising]

Oh no, even the chickens are shrinking!

Picked up a rotisserie 'chicken' at the grocery store. The thing was the size of a cornish game hen!

 

[skipro33]

Does anyone know where SAM's Club sources it's OJ? It's my favorite and I know they don't squeeze their own. A check of Google doesn't reveal it that I can find. Maybe it's Tropicana!

Regarding chickens, at SAM's the rotisserie chicken I picked up yesterday could barely fit into it's container. They are larger than they were a year ago when the chicken had plenty of elbow room in that container. The container isn't shrinking either since I place mine in a plastic bag and it's the same fit.

 

[tulak]

Yes, I've seen the bigger chickens. I was having some fun with my comment.

I know they're popular, but I stopped buying rotisserie chickens at Costco years ago. Idk what they do to plump up their chickens, but I decided it's not for me. On the rare occasions I get a rotisserie chicken, I buy it from a local grocery store that uses better quality chickens.

 

[audreyh1]

Costco does raise some of their own chickens. And they have a big chicken processing plant in Nebraska.

I sometimes refer to their chickens as frankenchichens.

 

[Texas Proud]

Does anyone know where SAM's Club sources it's OJ? It's my favorite and I know they don't squeeze their own. A check of Google doesn't reveal it that I can find. Maybe it's Tropicana!

Regarding chickens, at SAM's the rotisserie chicken I picked up yesterday could barely fit into it's container. They are larger than they were a year ago when the chicken had plenty of elbow room in that container. The container isn't shrinking either since I place mine in a plastic bag and it's the same fit.

What do you mean When I buy OJ for DW at Sam's I will wait for them to fill up a jar so I can say it is as fresh squeezed as it can be...

Yes, the Sam's (and probably Costco) chickens seem to have grown... but other places have not... well, at least some other places..

 

[Koolau]

Yes, I've seen the bigger chickens. I was having some fun with my comment.

I know they're popular, but I stopped buying rotisserie chickens at Costco years ago. Idk what they do to plump up their chickens, but I decided it's not for me. On the rare occasions I get a rotisserie chicken, I buy it from a local grocery store that uses better quality chickens.

I still like Costco's rotisserie chickens. $5 (still). It's sort of the antithesis of inflation in our time. (That and the hotdog/drink combo for $1.50.) No shrinkage either.

 

[Chuckanut]

I don’t drink much orange juice any more or any fruit juices for that matter. I eat the entire fruit.

The best OJ I ever had was in Spain where they had this Ferris-wheel type device. When a customer ordered an OJ, the worker would put about 4 oranges into a tube that fed into the Ferris-wheel. As the wheel rotated the oranges were cut in half, squeezed, and then the juice come out the spout and into a glass. The spent oranges were dropped into a catch box. Very good OJ.

 

[Al18]

Sam’s Club Member's Mark Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken weigh about 3 lbs and cost $4.98. By comparison the rotisserie chicken I get at the local supermarket weighs 24 oz and costs $7.98.

 

[skipro33]

What do you mean When I buy OJ for DW at Sam's I will wait for them to fill up a jar so I can say it is as fresh squeezed as it can be...

Yes, the Sam's (and probably Costco) chickens seem to have grown... but other places have not... well, at least some other places..

SAM's has Members Mark brand as well as fresh squeezed:

Member's Mark Pulp-Free 100% Orange Juice, 52 fl. oz., 2 pk. - Sam's Club

Buy Member's Mark Pulp-Free 100% Orange Juice, 52 fl. oz., 2 pk. : Juice & Kids Drinks at SamsClub.com

www.samsclub.com

and

Member's Mark Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice, 59 fl. oz. - Sam's Club

Buy Member's Mark Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice, 59 fl. oz. : Juice & Kids Drinks at SamsClub.com

www.samsclub.com

The fresh squeezed is unpasteurized. Due to my cancer diagnosis and treatment, my immune system is compromised and unpasteurized OJ is a risk I'm told I should not take, so I buy the pasteurized.

 

[Chuckanut]

I still like Costco's rotisserie chickens. $5 (still). It's sort of the antithesis of inflation in our time. (That and the hotdog/drink combo for $1.50.) No shrinkage either.

The other day I had to stop at Costco for a purchase. I was very hungry. To fight the temptation to buy something sweet to eat, I got the hotdog deal. I was full for hours. That’s quite a big hotdog. I am not a fan of hotdogs and rarely eat them, but once in a while I enjoy one for the novelty of the experience and to feel like a kid again. I understand the previous CEO of Costco threatened to kill his successor if he did away with the $1.50 hotdog. True? I don't know. But, it’s a great story.

 

[Chuckanut]

Have you bought sugar lately? They've gone from 5-lb bags to 4-lb. Flour is starting to show up in smaller bags, too. Even pasta is often in 12oz packages instead of the usual 16. This last one drives me crazy, because it screws up all my old recipes.

Same with canned baking supplies like evaporated milk or canned pumpkin. It's getting so my mother's old cook book is practically useless.

I know it's a first-world problem and all. Compared to today, the past sucked. But just as freedom requires eternal vigilance, so does not getting taken advantage of by greedy corporations. Apathy among the public doesn't bode well for either cause.

I agree. They are not fooling anybody.

The only good thing is that a half gallon of ice cream is now only three pints. So on those occasions where my will power fades and I buy ice cream, I only eat 75% of the sugar and calories I would have eaten with a real half gallon.

 

[Koolau]

SAM's has Members Mark brand as well as fresh squeezed:

Member's Mark Pulp-Free 100% Orange Juice, 52 fl. oz., 2 pk. - Sam's Club

Buy Member's Mark Pulp-Free 100% Orange Juice, 52 fl. oz., 2 pk. : Juice & Kids Drinks at SamsClub.com

www.samsclub.com

and

Member's Mark Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice, 59 fl. oz. - Sam's Club

Buy Member's Mark Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice, 59 fl. oz. : Juice & Kids Drinks at SamsClub.com

www.samsclub.com

The fresh squeezed is unpasteurized. Due to my cancer diagnosis and treatment, my immune system is compromised and unpasteurized OJ is a risk I'm told I should not take, so I buy the pasteurized.

Heh, heh, wait until it ferments and then the alcohol will kill the "baddies."

But seriously (sort of) I had a buddy in HS who used to buy unpasteurized apple cider. He would allow it to ferment and make "hard cider." No need to ask anyone to buy booze for him, I guess. I tried it and almost gagged. At least he always drank it before it turned into vinegar.

 

[skipro33]

But seriously (sort of) I had a buddy in HS who used to buy unpasteurized apple cider. He would allow it to ferment and make "hard cider."

We used to do that too when I was a kid. It's called Apple Jack.
We would also take a pumpkin, hollow out and add water and yeast
Set it in the closet for a week, then strain the liquid and drink. Now that put some hair on my chest!

 

[zinger1457]

Picked up a rotisserie 'chicken' at the grocery store. The thing was the size of a cornish game hen!

I picked up one recently at Safeway when they had them on sale for $5, to use with my curry dish. After stripping all the meat off and weighing it it was less than 1lb, and I picked it pretty clean.

 

[disneysteve]

Another “invisible” issue that relates to shrinkflation is how companies make all varieties of their product be the same price by messing with the package size. For example we buy Mission tortillas. DW and DD prefer white while I prefer whole wheat. Both come 10 in a pack. Both are the same price. But the white ones are 17.5 oz and the wheat are 16 oz.

 

[Sojourner]

Milk still comes in gallons, pints and quarts. Eggs still come in 6, 12, and 18. I buy coffee beans by the pound.

It is interesting that plain old dairy milk hasn't succumbed to shrinkflation. I wonder if there is some FDA regulation that keeps milk retailers from reducing the size of the standard containers.

Another sector that hasn't suffered from shrinkflation is alcohol. Wine, beer, and spirits are all still sold only in their standard bottle/can sizes. There must be regulations that prevent the booze companies from shrinking 12 ounce beer bottles to 10oz, etc. IMHO, we could use that same regulation on lots of other stuff! If milk and booze companies can profit and thrive without shrinkflation, why couldn't the coffee, candy, ice cream, and fruit juice companies?

 

[Qs Laptop]

It is interesting that plain old dairy milk hasn't succumbed to shrinkflation. I wonder if there is some FDA regulation that keeps milk retailers from reducing the size of the standard containers.

Another sector that hasn't suffered from shrinkflation is alcohol. Wine, beer, and spirits are all still sold only in their standard bottle/can sizes. There must be regulations that prevent the booze companies from shrinking 12 ounce beer bottles to 10oz, etc. IMHO, we could use that same regulation on lots of other stuff! If milk and booze companies can profit and thrive without shrinkflation, why couldn't the coffee, candy, ice cream, and fruit juice companies?

I have seen 11.3 Oz. bottles of non-alcoholic beer. Seems to be the norm nowadays. Also, alcohol can be increased in price because people will continue to buy it no matter what.

I've also seen nine packs of beer and 15 packs of beer.

 

[audreyh1]

I actually don’t think milk sizes are standardized. A few companies here and there are trying to reduce their half gallon sizes, etc., but it hasn’t caught on. Too much competition with standard sizes I think.

 

[disneysteve]

It is interesting that plain old dairy milk hasn't succumbed to shrinkflation. I wonder if there is some FDA regulation that keeps milk retailers from reducing the size of the standard containers.

Another sector that hasn't suffered from shrinkflation is alcohol. Wine, beer, and spirits are all still sold only in their standard bottle/can sizes. There must be regulations that prevent the booze companies from shrinking 12 ounce beer bottles to 10oz, etc. IMHO, we could use that same regulation on lots of other stuff! If milk and booze companies can profit and thrive without shrinkflation, why couldn't the coffee, candy, ice cream, and fruit juice companies?

I actually wish some products would shrink because the current size is too much for one serving but can’t be resealed so it goes to waste. I don’t drink beer but some other beverages like ginger beer or root beer it would be nice to have a smaller bottle.

 

[MichaelB]

Shrinkflation works. Not for most of us here, but in general.

I had a conversation with the cheese monger at WFM. The different varieties the precut pieces varied in size but most were in a $6 - $8 price range, She explained that most of the shoppers glanced at the price per pound but bought when the price of a cut piece was around $7. Once the price over $7.50 per piece cut sales fell pretty sharply, and when it exceeded $10 very little was sold. People are looking at the price, not the quantity. They don’t care the piece is smaller, they are willing to spend a fixed amount even if it buys less.

This doesn’t make sense to me or most forum members, but it apparently does make sense to consumers, and food producers have clearly figured this out.

 

[audreyh1]

That kind of makes sense. They are willing to spend $X for a piece of pre-cut cheese and don’t care if it’s smaller. In other words they are trading off size against price.

 

[disneysteve]

Shrinkflation works. Not for most of us here, but in general.

I had a conversation with the cheese monger at WFM. The different varieties the precut pieces varied in size but most were in a $6 - $8 price range, She explained that most of the shoppers glanced at the price per pound but bought when the price of a cut piece was around $7. Once the price over $7.50 per piece cut sales fell pretty sharply, and when it exceeded $10 very little was sold. People are looking at the price, not the quantity. They don’t care the piece is smaller, they are willing to spend a fixed amount even if it buys less.

This doesn’t make sense to me or most forum members, but it apparently does make sense to consumers, and food producers have clearly figured this out.

This tracks with what I said earlier about the candy bars. Once the price tops a certain amount, sales plummet. It has nothing to do with size. Most customers are price-sensitive.