Inflation—Here We Go Again

We all know and are well aware by now about the commodity spikes, raw materials cost run-ups, and the added shipping costs associated with higher gas prices. These things are sparking yet another round of The Incredible Shrinking Product.

• Coffee—yet again, shrinkage from the old 16 oz. to the 14 oz., and now the 12 oz. bags, vacuum-packed bricks, and cute canisters.

• Bleach, water, soda, and just about any other liquid—bleach that used to be sold by the gallon has downshifted visually into ¾ gallon jugs, and is rumored to go into liters in the coming years. Water, soda, and anything else already sold in liters will get downshifted into fewer liters per container.

• Look for gas to be sold by the liter if the oil price continues creeping up—Europe has been selling gas and oil in liter measures for decades now, and this will come to American shores in the future. Know that there are roughly 3 liters to a gallon of gas—when we get to liters, you’ll know that gas has tripled.

• Chips—yep, they’re still shrinking, but I lost track since I no longer eat them.

• Bread and bread products—since wheat and other grains used in the making of these products rose so high, topped off by higher shipping costs, these products have gone from the standard one pound measure (16 oz. for a loaf of bread) to 14 and 12 oz. sizes for pre-packaged versions of pasta, rolls, etc.

• Laundry detergent—the boxes of powder are shrinking and becoming “concentrated” and “new and improved”, and both phrases are dead giveaways of product shrinkage. Bottles of liquid detergent are also shrinking, concentrating, and improving. My favorite marketing ploy in this aisle is the Tide Cold Water—didn’t they try this with All Tempa-Cheer, and when are people going to figure out that ALL LAUNDRY DETERGENTS WORK IN ALL TEMPERATURES, so there’s no need to buy a special soap for cold water?

• Tea bags—speaking of temperatures and product efficiency, we’ve been led to believe that tea won’t brew in anything but hot water…until Lipton cleverly decided to educate us on the existence of Cold Brew tea bags. Again, ALL TEA BAGS WILL BREW IN ANY TEMPERATURE WATER, it may just take a little longer in cold. Case in point: sun tea. You fill the pitcher with cold water, put tea bags in it, put it in the sun, and walk away. The sun eventually warms the water, and VOILA! You have tea made from cold water, without having to buy special bags for it.

• Sugar—remember when sugar was sold in 5 lb. bags? Then it went to 4 lbs., and now it’s gone to smaller bags, cute canisters, and boxes—all represent significant product shrinkage and a hidden cost increase.

• Canned salmon and tuna—I remember when salmon was sold in 15 oz. cans, and tuna was sold in 8 oz cans—now it comes in 8 oz. sizes for salmon, and 5 and 6 oz. for tuna. This represents close to a 50% price increase for the salmon, and nearly a 25% increase (or shrinkage) for tuna. Just wait—in the future, salmon will shrink to the tuna can size, and tuna will come in sardine-can sizes.

• Milk—I can’t comment much on milk except to say that a gallon of milk still costs more than a gallon of gas. I no longer drink milk due to allergies. Look for this fluid to also go metric and be sold in liters in the future.

• Meats—I went into two grocery stores looking for a full round steak, and couldn’t find one—all I could find was the pre-packaged, toaster oven-sized cuts of meat, and nothing bigger than that. After asking a butcher about it, he said that pretty much all meat these days comes in boxes pre-cut at the slaughterhouse, and what I see is what they get. A closer look at the unit price told me all I needed to know—at least a $2.00/lb. price increase along with the smaller sizes. This reflects the ethanol phenomenon and farmers and ranchers killing off herds and flocks during the winter to avoid huge feed bills, creating a shortage on top of the shrinkage.

• Alternative foods—soy in all forms (tofu, edamame, flour, sauce, you name it) has also skyrocketed and shrunk, and it’s got to be driving vegans out of their minds. So have nuts, beans, seeds, and any other form of protein, however lowly. This is what happens when all our corn is going to ethanol, leaving farmers and ranchers no choice but to shift their feed protein sources, and no source has been spared—whatever rice, beans, cottonseed, and sunflower seeds we can get our hands on (due to foreign countries hoarding their own stock) are now going to animal feed. I’ve noticed a shortage of organic ground turkey and chicken in my health food store—this means whole flocks have been killed off during the winter to avoid huge feed bills. The same may happen to organic beef too.

All this makes you wonder whatever happened to the “produce costs too much” excuse for not eating a decent, nutritious diet, doesn’t it? Just about the only thing that hasn’t seen huge or rapid price run-ups is produce—the only real increase has been in packaging and shipping costs. With everything else in the supermarket becoming hostage to the ethanol phenomenon, it’s looking more and more like produce is the one saving grace we can still afford, and good thing—when you start seeing whole uncut carrots, green beans, cucumbers, and summer squash available in cute plastic canisters, vacuum-packed bags, or sold by the kilo (equivalent to 2.2 lbs.), be warned and be wary. It’s only a matter of time.