trend toward portions

luvs

luvs

'lil Chef
have yinz noticed the way that food co.'s now have lessened portions~

yogurt, pop, bottled h2o, sugar can now be purchased in lesser quantities, & also candy & impulse buy items- i.e.// junk-food-
i luv this trend ('cept fer when they won't change their prices, yet u get 2 ounces less of that item). 'bout time. there is a population of ppl that simply cannot ingest a gallon of milk in a week.
plus, they make shelf-stable milk. i get several per week. half a carton of eggs. half a lb. of butter. cheeses in 1-2/portion segments.
 
I don’t know when they started to “down size” products, but I do remember the first 12 ounce package of bacon I bought. We needed a package of bacon and I saw a package and the price. I said to myself “Wow, that’s a great price for bacon”. It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed that it was only 12 ounces and not a pound….. From that point on I have looked at the size of a package of bacon.
One would also think that the bigger sizes would cost less per ounce than a smaller size of the same product, but this is not always the case. I have seen many times when 2 eight ounce package cost less than 1 sixteen ounce size of the same product…..
 
It is a constant hustle by manufacturers to keep prices low by sacrificing quantity. They think folks don't notice but most do. I actually like some of the smaller packages but not the price.
 
BUT the smaller quantity screws with tried and true recipes!! AND it is deceitful to keep roughly the same SIZE package (usually most people have become used to the size and shape and don't read sizes just grab the same old thing) with LESS inside. They should be forced to change the design, color and shape etc. and label in BOLD and un-missable writing "NEW size" or some such on the package.
 
i'm glad they made these portions a trend. my buying a bulk item (or normal item) on the cheap makes me lose $$. if i buy a gallon of milk, rather than a pint, the vast majority of that milk is gonna be poured into my kitchen sink drain.

8 oz. of pop quenches my thirst suffiently, so why drink another 4 jus' to~

i may only be hungry fer a steak. not 2-4. so i can now get 1.

to me, their lessening of portions were obvious, 'cept fer a few. they changed their packaging. new items arrived on the market in noticeably less packaging, too.
a few companies have forewent mentioning a thing. i can think of a yogurt co. that pulled that deal when this trend began, both w/ grocery items & restaurant foods. usually, tho, it's blatantly obvious.
 
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our market has had individually cryovac'd steaks / chops for a while - very expensive.

with two, bread is an issue - homemade I've scaled back the recipes, but now I found a "mini-Italian" loaf at the in store bakery. 8 ounces by weight - $1.95 - I like them for their still-fresh-when-gone factor....
 
Since we are talking about package sizes let me get this off my mind. It’s about the sizes of packaged meat.
Fewer supermarkets seem to have a service meat counter anymore and those that do often do not have ground beef in it. There are only two of us in my family. we are both in our late 70’s, and the children are have been moved out for several years. So when I buy ground beef I only want enough for the two of us or enough to make a small recipe. How is it packed in the supermarkets? Most of the time anywhere from 1.20 pounds to 1.55 pounds. I know I can always just use half and freeze the rest, but for some reason I just do not like to freeze ground beef. I know it’s just my problem. Then there are the real big packages that have 2+ to 3 pounds, but I don’t even look at them.
Why can’t I find a package of 2 chicken breast or 2 pork chops? Or any other meat that is packaged for just 2 people?
We live down here in Lower Alabama about 12 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico and during the winter we get several thousand of what we refer to as Snowbirds that come down here for a couple of months. They rent the condos and do a lot of their own cooking. I have asked the meat market managers why they don’t package smaller packages, raise the price a few cents a pound and place them in a special section of the meat cases that is labeled “Snowbird Specials”.
But it’s all about sells and the more ounces, or pounds of meat you sell the more money you make………Have several thousand stores and each store sells just a few ounces more of each package of meat sold and the numbers add up quickly. You do the math…….
 
these stores have meat counters. & pre-packaged meat sections, so u can buy pre-packaged meats, too. the point of marketing is success. success means $$. why have a business if that business loses dough--
 
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they have one and two pound packages in our market.

if I'm looking for one pound, all they have is two pounders.
if I'm looking for two pounds all they have is one pounders......

they do however have a full service meatery. bandsaw, grinders, flashing cleavers . . . so one can get pretty much anything. apparently they stock primal cuts in the back - I've asked for certain cuts and watched as the butcher came back with a big xss chunk-of-beef slung over his shoulder . . .
 
a great grocer is gonna keep primal cuts. that means profit fer them; savings 4 the consumer. workin' w/ a primal cut takes a 'lil effort & a few minutes- tho is pretty economical. if that item sells, & is in high demand, & ppl buy enough fer u to turn a profit- then that is a job well done.

where i shop, they follow trends, yet stay ahead of the game.
 
another thought- places have several factors keeping them in demand besides portioning to suit various ppl., & keep w/ portioning, too- that is why i shop where i shop.
if a person is thirsty fer 1 drink, they can buy one beverage, rather than 12-24.
they have a dine-in section, so if u buy a prepared food, u can have a restaurant-style lunch.
salad/antipasto bars, cheese caves & cheese mongers.......
& they know me by name, & usually that item i was looking to buy.
i can press a button @ the 1 deli counter, get a #, & be called over a loudspeaker when my # appears.
or get these items on several other aisles.
& if u wanna try an item from their deli, they offer a slice or 2.
they have demo cooks weekly, & demo celeb Chefs, too. u can leave there w/ a full lunch fer passing by several of them. they offer their food & their recipes.
several celebrity Chefs have graced us w/ their presence in various locations.
i luv where i buy food.
 
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The best I can recall the whole reduction in package sizes started with coffee back 10 or 12 years ago. Maybe more or less time. Packing went from one pound to 13+ ounces. The people that roast and grind coffee claimed that they had discovered a new way to grind the beans that gave the ground coffee more volume, thus reducing the weight. This allowed you to make the same number of cups of coffee with the same volume, but less weight.
I wonder how all of them made this discovery at the same time???????
 
they have marketing experts that keep focused on these trends. many corporations can see when an item is trendy, & have enough $$ & employees to develop/test market a similar change in their own brand, quickly. packaging is readily available, & labeling changes can be made easily, too.
 
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