How does a manufacturer
maintain its profit margin on a bottle of tomato
sauce, a slab of chocolate or a bar of soap
without putting up the price? He does it by going to the considerable expense of designing
a pack that contains less product but looks pretty
much the same size as the old one.

This phenomenon has a name, shrinkflation, and
statisticians can no longer ignore it, given its
effect on food prices.

Shrinkflation is a rise in the general price level
of goods per unit weight or size, with a
corresponding reduction in the weight or size
of the item sold. Hence the price of the
packaged product remains the same.

The manufacturers apparently believe that
consumers would prefer to get less product than
pay more but, because they are silent about
subtle pack shrinkages, consumers are left feeling
duped and short-changed.

The “let them get less” phenomenon is confusing
to consumers because competing brands now
look the same size on the shelf but the contents
vary, sometimes considerably.
So those who base their choices solely on selling
price aren’t necessarily getting the best value
because they’re paying less, but getting less, too.

Conclusively, the only way consumers can accurately compare
prices of competing brands is to focus on the
unit price.


Source: http://www.biznews.com/undictated/2015/05/05/shrinkflation-how-to-spot-those-sneaky-price-increases/