We Are Being Taken For A Ride!

[Iamcazzy]

What is going on with basic grocery stuff lately? I go to the supermarket to buy orange squash and find something called "double concentrate" which is supposed to be twice as strong as standard squash so I only use half of it. It's twice the price of normal squash. Where has this stuff come from? Why was it not available years ago on the shelf? It can hardly be something that's just been invented.

Kitchen towels are similarly anachronistic. Why are they 2-ply and 3-ply at a premium price whereas years ago it was single ply or nothing. The same seems to apply to toilet paper.

Vinegar is continually being reduced in acidity.

Bakery bread in some in-store bakeries (notablly Asda)is positively pale in colour compared to what it was a few years ago.

Jacob's Cream Crackers look positively anaemic nowadays. I realise that baking is costly but these manufacturers are getting away with murder!

[Iamcazzy]

Exactly. I don't see the price of bread or crackers being reduced because they use less energy in baking them. We are all being taken for suckers.

[ELVIS68]

Have to agree, Heinz Tomato ketchup... they sell about 10 different size bottles, glass or plastic, all in different sizes, total rip off

[Jeza]

Whether it's bread or biscuits or pastry I like mine very brown. If I can't see the colour I don't buy.

[EDDIE51]

Always look for the small print on the label where they tell you the price per kilo or litre , what looks like a bargain often is not. I never buy 'brands' unless it is cheaper than the supermarkets own label stuff and you can't tell the difference.

[WyeDyed]

Is it the weekend?

[jno]

I don't fancy single-ply toilet paper at all, thanks! And if I get a choice between 2-ply and 3-ply I am capable of making that choice.

[baza]

"NEW" or "IMPROVED" does that mean the old stuff was rubbish,? If the old stuff was good then why improve it, oh yes just thought, they can put the price up or shrink the container.

[society]

"WyeDyed
Is it the weekend? "

Today is Saturday, I believe it is.

[THECORBYLOON]

If the squash is twice as strong, no doubt it's had some water taken out of it to reduce the volume. If it makes twice as much squash as the weaker strength, even if it costs twice as much, you are paying the same per glass after it's been diluted.

[missnemesis]

The thing that annoys me the most is the 'shrinkage'. You buy an innocent looking packet/box and the inside wrappers are the same size they've always been but the biscuit or whatever is inside has shrunk considerably. Crisps are the same, you open the bag to find most of it's air. Grrrrr!

[THECORBYLOON]

I notice that the organic Heinz sauce has a third more tomatoes per 100g than the normal version.

[jno]

because things do improve, Baza. (Fancy one of those breeze-block mobile phones from the 90s?) Even food can be improved.

You're right about smaller portions; Marianne Faithfull would hardly be able to see a Mars Bar these days. That's partly a move to keep prices down; and actually, smaller portions of fattening foods isn't a bad idea.

[pixie373]

Crisps are sold by weight, so the air won't make a difference

[baza]

jno, note what you say, do you think MF would go for a new smaller Mars bar or a Milky Way.

[missnemesis]

I understand that pixie it's just that I don't see why they have to bother making the wrappers/packets so much bigger than the item. Surely it would be cheaper to manufacture the correct sized wrapper. Just a thought :)

[Iamcazzy]

corbyloon, you are missing the point. Leaving the cost to one side, why has double concentrate squash only become available fairly recently? Are you telling me that they didn't know how to boil the stuff down in the Sixties when I was a child?

[Iamcazzy]

jno, I understand your comment but ask yourself this. Would it be more economical for you to use twice the amount of single ply toilet paper rather than pay a premium for double or triple types? I'm talking about cost here not aesthetics

[douglas9401]

The gas in crisp bags is usually nitrogen or a similar inert gas, missnemesis.
Crisps are sold by weight not volume so if it says 33g/25g or whatever on the bag then that's (at the very least) the amount you should be getting.

[Iamcazzy]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the shrinking Mars Bar is not that objectionable. If Mars can't afford to continue to provide the product to shops at a given price, then they have no choice but to reduce the size. There is no other alternative.
It's up to the consumer to judge whether or not it still represent good value for money.
It's not quite the same thing as the other points I have raised in this thread.