Honey, They Shrunk the Snack Chips and the Cookies, the Coffee and the Ice Cream (but Not the Prices)
By SHELLEY SHELTON
CORRECTION RAN SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 A2
The 2008 grocery survey results that appeared Sunday on D1 contained an error and omitted several footnotes.
The total price for Safeway when including sale prices should have been $141.14, $9.70 less than was reported. The change did not affect the store’s overall survey ranking.
Also, the following footnotes should have appeared with the grocery price listing:
1. Bashas’ was the only store that still had 13-ounce Folgers Classic Roast on the shelf. All others carried an 11.3-ounce size, although several of the shelves still noted it as 13 ounces.
2. Food City did not have Barilla brand spaghetti.
3. Food City had only boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts, so the price listed is for thighs.
4. Albertsons had only a 15-ounce box of Life cereal instead of the 21 ounces the other stores had.
5. Safeway did not have a 35-count package of Size 3 Pampers Cruisers. The price listed is for the 52-count package.
6. The smallest Pedigree package at Albertsons and Safeway is 8.8 pounds, so that is the price listed.
2008 grocery survey results
Any way you slice it, Wal-Mart wins again. Wal-Mart Supercenter and its cousin, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, handily remained at the top of the Star’s annual grocery price survey, with the nearest competitor – Food City – almost $30 behind.
Even factoring in sale prices couldn’t bring the competition within $10 of the retail giant.
Taking sales into account, Albertsons, which no longer has a store loyalty card, came in $13 behind the Neighborhood Market. Fry’s had 24 of the 32 items on the list on sale as “VIP specials” – meaning you get the discount if you use the Fry’s VIP card – and it couldn’t get past fourth place when the rankings included sale prices.
If it seems like you’re able to tear through a bag of chips, a package of cookies or a carton of ice cream a lot faster than you used to, it’s not just your eating habits.
You might also have noticed that you’re emptying the coffee canister and the orange juice jug sooner than you did a year ago.
In this year’s grocery price survey, those five items were in smaller package sizes – around a serving’s worth – than they were last year, and all had a higher average price.
Such trends come and go over time, said Chris Waldrop, director of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
This time around, it probably began six to nine months ago, he said.
“What you’re seeing is a result of increased commodity prices overall,” Waldrop said.
At a time when company costs are increasing, manufacturers have two choices: They can raise prices outright – “which is the most clear way to do it, but it’s the one consumers identify very quickly,” Waldrop said – or they can change the amount of food consumers get per package.
“If companies are going to do this, they need to be very clear and open and transparent about it,” he said.
In the current economy, most people understand that everyone is dealing with higher prices, and consumers are less likely to revolt against companies that announce it when they shrink their package sizes, Waldrop said.
“Consumers don’t like to be deceived in the marketplace,” he said.
The items in the Star survey join a long line of other products that have been publicized this year for shrunken packaging – among them Starkist tuna (from 6-ounce cans to 5 ounces); Best Foods mayonnaise (from 32-ounce jars to 30 ounces); Cheerios (from 14 ounces to 12.5).
On the surface, it may appear that the food manufacturers have been sneaky, said Anita Bhappu, an associate professor and division chair of the University of Arizona’s retailing and consumer sciences department.
“More than likely, they’re doing it to offset what has been an increase in food costs across the board,” Bhappu said.
That’s why it’s important for consumers to be value shoppers, she said.
This means looking not only at the overall price of an item, but also checking the price per unit – usually per ounce – that is frequently listed right on the grocery store shelf, Bhappu said.
“Most shoppers today are more pocketbook-sensitive, so I would think customers are picking up on it,” she said. “Being educated is the way to go, and the information is there.”
On top of that, Waldrop said, it’s important to shop around, make comparisons and buy store brands instead of heavily advertised brands that have the cost of advertising built into their prices.
“It’s hard,” Waldrop said. “It’s a tight situation for consumers because of rising food prices. It’s even more difficult when the food industry has to adjust the prices like this.”
full survey results: How stores compare on each item, D7
2008 STORE RANKINGS
Without considering sale prices Basket cost
1. Wal-Mart Supercenter $111.96
2. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market $112.62
3. Food City $140.23
4. Albertsons $150.77
5. Fry’s $151.39
6. Bashas’ $153.49
7. Safeway $165.95
Including sale prices Basket cost
1. Wal-Mart Supercenter $111.96
2. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market $112.62
3. Albertsons $125.75
4. Fry’s $127.98
5. Food City $135.43
6. Bashas’ $139.50
7. Safeway $150.84
Kmart Super Center was not included this year because it was missing two items on the list and did not clearly mark an item’s regular price when the item was on sale.
PREVIOUS RANKINGS
2007
1. Wal-Mart Supercenter
2. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market
3. Kmart Super Center
4. Fry’s Food and Drug
5. Albertsons
6. Bashas’
7. Safeway
Food City was not included in 2007 because the store was missing six of 32 items on the list.
2006
1. Wal-Mart Supercenter
2. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market
3. Kmart Super Center
4. Food City
5. Fry’s Food and Drug
6. Bashas’
7. Albertsons
8. Safeway
* Contact reporter Shelley Shelton at 434-4086 or sshelton@azstarnet.com.
Originally published by SHELLEY SHELTON, ARIZONA DAILY STAR.
(c) 2008 Arizona Daily Star. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.