Cost of Living - Shrinkflation is speeding up at an alarming rate

[glenimp617]

Yeah Tesco home insurance £142.38

That's per year, not per month

I'll only use if something really bad happens like a flood or fire

 

[cheesefest]

Not too sure if this is for certain shops. The Nescafe latte sachets I saw in Iceland were in boxes of 5.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

On the Beeb today - one of France's main supermarkets is going to introduce warning stickers in their aisles about products that are affected by shrinkflation. This is to call out the sneaky food manufacturers such as Unilever that does this.

France's Carrefour puts up 'shrinkflation' warning signs

Carrefour is telling its customers which products are smaller than they used to be.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[StriderX]

It's inherently misleading and yet apparently legal to do it, why do people just accept it?

 

[cheesefest]

The thing with shrinkflation it cannot go on forever.

 

[Hades]

It's inherently misleading and yet apparently legal to do it, why do people just accept it?

I don't. Where I see it I buy an alternative product. The problem is every company is doing it so you just go round in circles changing what you buy every few months.

 

[Richie]

Not direct shrinkflation but Supermarket loyalty schemes allegedly gaming a system of sorts:

Supermarkets' loyalty schemes are not the bargains they appear, according to a leading consumer rights group.

Which? says Sainsbury's and Tesco are using "dodgy tactics" by increasing the prices of everyday items so the discounts for people with loyalty cards look bigger than they really are.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66813908

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Not direct shrinkflation but Supermarket loyalty schemes allegedly gaming a system of sorts:



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66813908

There is more to this than the headline. The supermarkets disputed Which’s methodology. It’s worth reading the whole thing before making up your mind.

In particular one of the items Which cite as going up in price when the nectar promotion came in was already at a promotional price so the offer switched from being available to everyone to Nectar only. It’s regular price was actually higher. If their monitoring started earlier, they would have captured that.

 

[Richie]

There is more to this than the headline. The supermarkets disputed Which’s methodology. It’s worth reading the whole thing before making up your mind.

In particular one of the items Which cite as going up in price when the nectar promotion came in was already at a promotional price so the offer switched from being available to everyone to Nectar only. It’s regular price was actually higher. If their monitoring started earlier, they would have captured that.

Well, yes, hence why I say allegedly... I didn't want to post a large article and left it for people to be grown up and read the article just as you have

Given you posted one example of Sainsburys defending themselves, why not post the other example where Tesco didn't really defend it.

Which? also highlighted:

• Heinz Salad Cream (605g) at Tesco with a Clubcard price of £3.50 and a regular price of £3.90

The salad cream had been sold at £2.99 for several weeks but the price was increased to £3.90 just 22 days before the Clubcard promotion began, Which? said. Which? found the condiment had been sold at £3.90 for just 14% of the previous six months.


Tesco said its 8,000 Clubcard deals offered genuine savings for customers.
"All our Clubcard Price promotions follow strict rules, including considering how they compare against prices in the market, to ensure they represent genuine value and savings for our Clubcard members," a spokesperson said.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

In other words, retailers sometimes push up the price of an individual item for a few weeks before it goes on offer.

OMG really? I didn’t know that…

What they often say in the articles while complaining about this practice is that while they did this for the small size of brand x for one week, the following week it’s brand Y on offer, the following week it’s the bigger size of brand X again, and so on and so on.

Where there is multiple brands operating in a category, there is always at least one of them on ‘offer’ at any one time. Sure it sucks if you must buy X brand but more fool you in that case. On top of that you could always just buy the non-branded version for less the entire time. A lot of this stuff is also long life, if you must buy brand X then buy enough to the next time it’s on offer and you’ll always get it on the ‘offer’ price.

It’s literally worked like this my entire adult life and it doesn’t matter if it’s ketchup or washing machines or carpets. The principle is exactly the same.

 

[cheesefest]

People need to understand that supermarkets own brands are much better than back in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Heinz awful, Kellogg’s just as bad. Nescafé original tastes burnt

How can people justify paying £1.20 for a tin of Napolina tomatoes when the supermarket budget version is about a quarter cheaper?m

If I made a spaghetti bolognaise using the same ingredients bar the tomatoes- one with a tin of chopped tomatoes from a supermarket budget and the other the rip off Napolina tomatoes. You won’t be able to tell the difference

Only things I buy branded are beer, Pepsi/Coke, washing up liquid, anti perspirants. Everything else is supermarket brand, unless have a clearance bargain at work. For example, Radox shower gel was 20p when my work got rid of the old (larger) sizes.

Think how much money you are saving from buying supermarket lines

 

[Jono8]

People need to understand that supermarkets own brands are much better than back in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Heinz awful, Kellogg’s just as bad. Nescafé original tastes burnt

How can people justify paying £1.20 for a tin of Napolina tomatoes when the supermarket budget version is about a quarter cheaper?m

If I made a spaghetti bolognaise using the same ingredients bar the tomatoes- one with a tin of chopped tomatoes from a supermarket budget and the other the rip off Napolina tomatoes. You won’t be able to tell the difference

Only things I buy branded are beer, Pepsi/Coke, washing up liquid, anti perspirants. Everything else is supermarket brand, unless have a clearance bargain at work. For example, Radox shower gel was 20p when my work got rid of the old (larger) sizes.

Think how much money you are saving from buying supermarket lines

Other thing is seasoning. Most own brand seasoning/spices etc are genuinely awful. Schwarz stuff is a million times better.

But i agree with you, 90+% of branded stuff tastes no better than the supermarket equivalent.

 

[MatsyLR]

I only by Aldi brands, most of the stuff is almost identical to big brands.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Only things I buy branded are beer, Pepsi/Coke, washing up liquid, anti perspirants.

Tesco’s knock off Pepsi Max/Coke zero is actually pretty good. Worth trying for 65p for 2L.

 

[Jokester]

Tesco’s knock off Pepsi Max/Coke zero is actually pretty good. Worth trying for 65p for 2L.

The new recipe Tesco Coke Zero cherry actually tastes more like cherry now. Not bad at all.

 

[cheesefest]

Tesco’s knock off Pepsi Max/Coke zero is actually pretty good. Worth trying for 65p for 2L.

I buy cans - though more expensive than bottles per ml because they go flat. A can of Pepsi Max/Coke Zero (depending what’s on offer when needing some) does two double JD/supermarket version of Malibu nicely.

I sometimes buy the 1-1.25 litres of Coke Zero or Pepsi Max if a quid - £1.25 a bottle

Buy bottles of tonic water as doesn’t go flat as quickly as Coke

 

[cheesefest]

Get customers who buy everything branded. If we sold branded chicken- portions, whole birds etc and carrots, they probably buy those!

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Not direct shrinkflation but Supermarket loyalty schemes allegedly gaming a system of sorts:

There is more to this than the headline. The supermarkets disputed Which’s methodology. It’s worth reading the whole thing before making up your mind.

From what I understood, the supermarket was originally selling Nescafe coffee for £8.10 for all shoppers, dropped briefly to £6 again for all shoppers. Then a few days later it was back at £8.10 with a Nectar price of the £6. Repeat repeat for other items.

So I agree with both of you as there is more to it, but it's the principle of it too - some people are out of pocket because of this.

 

[cheesefest]

From what I understood, the supermarket was originally selling Nescafe coffee for £8.10 for all shoppers, dropped briefly to £6 again for all shoppers. Then a few days later it was back at £8.10 with a Nectar price of the £6. Repeat repeat for other items.

So I agree with both of you as there is more to it, but it's the principle of it too - some people are out of pocket because of this.

Those who refuse to sign up to a loyalty scheme as don’t want their information shared! Your information is shared by other companies you use without your knowledge.

I remember going into one of these supermarkets with a loyalty discount scheme. Customer said she forgot to put her card into her purse. How much does a card weigh?

Tesco and Morrisons you need their card to participate in the wine and clothing offers. Sainsburys, at the moment, no Nectar card required.

Then on Nectar app, if you use smart shop, get personal offers. But never things on Nectar prices.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Do supermarkets share loyalty scheme data?

I doubt they do, it’s very commercially sensitive information. I’m not talking about anonymous stuff like 50% of club card holders bought X this week. I’m talking about information about your personal ‘club card’ profile.