|
U.S. PIRG Consumer Blog
« Got Real Milk? Monsanto to sell off genetically-modified milk hormone unit |
Main
| Qvisory: new online resource for young adults »
August 08, 2008
Food prices up; food sizes down
UPDATE: For more, check out M.P. Dunleavey in Saturday's New York Times: The Price Is the Same; It’s the Size That Shrinks.
ORIGINAL POST: Have you noticed the new, improved 8.9 ounces size of the 10-oz. box of Cheerios or the new higher-priced 13.25 oz. "pound" of spaghetti at the store? In a story Food Giants Race to Pass Rising Costs to Shoppers (pd. subs. req'd) the Wall Street Journal reports: Many food manufacturers are retooling assembly lines to produce smaller versions of everything from cereal boxes and ice-cream cartons to mayonnaise jars, margarine tubs and cheese packages. By giving consumers less for roughly the same price, food executives hope to keep consumers from moving to cheaper brands.
The increases are claimed to be attributed to global competition for U.S. grain (used both to to make bread and cereal and to feed cattle, as well as to make energy, these days): The U.S. Department of Agriculture sees food prices climbing 4.5% to 5.5% this year and 4% to 5% in 2009. Even under this more conservative forecast, the average family of four would see its annual food costs hit $9,800 in 2009, up about $1,200 since 2006.
Posted by Ed Mierzwinski at August 8, 2008 06:03 AM
Post a comment
|
