__MOD NOTE__: PLEASE REVIEW OUR [STICKIED POSTS](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1cae7ai/community_announcements_apr_2224/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) WHICH PROVIDE STATEMENTS ON RECENT EVENTS.
Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here!
This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I remember the first time I heard of shrinkflation (I don't think it was named that yet)
It was in (iirc) the early 2000's. Tampax removed 2 tampons from their boxes.
Lots of *very* angry women wrote many, very strongly worded letters to the company until it was changed back
Oh good for you ! Seriously I don’t even understand how these things are not free . PS , I am a man . The fact that women have to pay for these things is ridiculous in my mind. Like what if you can’t afford it ?
I sew so I made my own washable pads, along with buying a reusable Diva cup (about 40$). I sold washable pads to friends and coworker and it paid the material used (Zorb, flannel, coton and softshell)
My biggest regret is not going the reusable way sooner. I saved so much money in the last 5 years.
The biggest downside is having to clean. It can be unpractical at time and gross. I totally understand why some women are reluctant to go try the ''green'' way.
These necessary items used to be taxed, too, up until a few years ago, so there was another 15% added on to the price. And most of the cheaper brands aren't that good, so I'd need to buy the expensive name brands...for four of us..it gets very expensive.
I've witnessed shrinkflation in the '90's when I went to the store to buy my fav kit-kat and the size kept reducing from 53 grams to 50 grams to 48 grams to 43 grams in the span of less than 5 yrs! I had kept the wrappers at the time when I was a teen and was going to make a collage or something... Maybe even write an essay about them... But things got lost when I grew up and moved out after high school!
This has been happening for years. Long ago, it wasn't as noticeable but corporations are taking liberties now. The practice is widely known as "shrinkflation" but I prefer my own term: deflationary gouging.
I really started to notice the trend when I worked at Superstore. We knew when a product was changing because the price would end in some weird number like .44¢.
When I first noticed it, there was hardly any change in the size of the container, but the label would be different, say "new and improved" or some shit like that. As time went on, I noticed some huge discrepancies. The worst was a box of David's Tea. The original box was 60 grams. The new box looked exactly the same, but it only contained 5 grams and was exactly the same price.
They're not even hiding it anymore. Almost everything has been reduced in one way or another.
Here's one example...
https://preview.redd.it/dwksy5kht5yc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7990858778111e6351aef8148c2d96297f73308
Same price, 10 less bags per.
I complained about the can size change a couple years ago at Campbell's Twitter account and they deflected to say the new cans were the new industry standard. Funny how everyone else hasn't changed their can sizes like they did yet.
Their packaging is Industry standard in the USA not Canada. Campbell soup and Chunky were made in three Campbell plants in Canada for Canadians. They shut down every one of their Canadian plants, the last one to close was in Toronto. Campbells doesn't make anything in Canada now. Everything Campbells makes is now made in the USA and trucked back to Canada. They blame fuel cost for a lot of their increases.
Inflation, everything is going up. A company can either charge you more or they can shrink the product. Most people won't notice the product shrinking but they will notice the price going up.
Products could stay the same size, but you'd need to deal with increased prices on the sticker.
and they are changing the quality so that cheaper fillers and ingredients can be added too.
I've noticed that pretty much all at once they will add inferior ingredients, make it smaller, and charge more. It's been happening in a few spots now.
They study how much they can do this without catching people's attention so you subconsciously don't even know it's happening unless you purposefully pay attention.
There’s a bit more to it with loblaws . I’ve done some digging when it comes to the court cases with them , the supply chain , and their contracts . Of course people will have their opinions . Mine is that it is warranted based on their behaviour towards their customers . If wages are now decreasing for its employees since the pandemic and the profits year over year are at an all time high at 10 % , all the while they feed customers lies then they shouldn’t be surprised people are upset because they only have themselves to blame that their reputation is shot . It’s actually that simple . It’s not about , everyone else is feeling it , so should we as you pointed out above , it’s we will continue to lie to you and then make it worse by engaging in further lies . This whole thing about standing up against suppliers makes me laugh . . Europe just did so successfully against Pepsi whereas Loblaws just increased the price of Pepsi so they actually are not standing up for us . Pepsi is a behemoth and if a European grocer could do it with ease , so could Loblaws but they decided not to . So why would I believe them ? Why would I believe they even stood up to any of the suppliers ? They just passed all the costs down to us and then included their own mark up on top of that , clearly . This is why people are upset . I mean this is one example . The list goes on and on . So there’s more to it than just “everyone” is experiencing this . Canada is SO not experiencing this like other countries . It’s worse here . I’ve asked all my others friends all over the world. It’s also clear , the grocers are just colluding with each other ( the main chains ) and I mean it is what is , that’s what happens when you have a monopoly right ? The proof is in the pudding . Look at the bread fixing scandal . Need I say more ?
It’s global but the rates aren’t globally the same. Food inflation seemed to hit Canada first and is now hitting the US; most places in Europe have cheaper groceries. Different chains in the same cities can have wildly cheaper prices, fresher produce, etc.
Global inflation doesn’t explain any of these things but profiteering provides the most clear explanation. There are also countless other examples of capitalistic gouging in unrelated industries, so we can’t just naively ignore those as well.
I’m an open minded person, I’m happy to be proven wrong, keyword proven, not this ‘Trust us bro’ response from the grocery giants.
Canadian grocers learned they can just do both! Lol. I noticed the chocolate bars I usually got were suddenly shrinkflated, then went up in price a few weeks after. Thanks Loblaws!
Don't forget skimping on the ingredients (less chicken, more water, cheaper ingredients, ...).
Skimpflation's the most nefarious of these, IMO. Many or most people will notice a price increase. Smaller packaging is a bit harder to catch but I think a lot of us are paying closer attention to this these days.
But you can hardly tell cheaper ingredients were used until you open the product up at home and, if they do it carefully enough, many may never notice.
There's a podcast called Stuff You Should Know and they recently did an episode called Greed-flation. All the big food producing companies used covid and inflation to jack up their prices big time. Grocery stores aren't entirely to blame.
I remember working in food manufacturing in the '00's. Shrinkflation was absolutely a thing back then. In my years we went through a few different packaging sizes for the same class of product. There was once when the size went up, but I think they changed its class to a 'family share' and the personal size got smaller.
Shrinkflation used to work a little differently. I remember in the early 2000s, coke made their bottles a little bit smaller, and then a few months later put them back to their original size but raised the price (I was in high school at the time and a friend and I used to drink coke daily, we kept track this as it was happening). Then our Econ teacher talked about it in class, how corporations made their product a bit smaller for a while, then went back to the original size while raising their price to trick consumers into thinking they were getting a better deal with the higher price because the “product was bigger” even though it was the original size.
Now they just jack up the price and shrink the package simultaneously because fuck the consumer. Corporate greed has really become a big issue
It’s happening now because shrinkflation happens when a brand is secure in their market and they begin lowering the volume to save money and people won’t notice. If they notice they just shrug and say.. “huh, 15 ml is nothing, still tastes good”.
On the other side, if they start off with small volume it is less likely to secure a following, brand loyalty, and secure their product as something someone can go-to… poor brand and memory imprint.
It's literally called "shrinkflation" where the producing companies maximize price while providing minimal product to squeeze greater profit from the people.
It's been going on for a long time. I first heard about it 20 years ago. The idea is, that instead of raising the price, give people less for the same price. I think I first noticed it on chocolate bars and more recently on deodorant.
You’re lucky at 4. My last one had 1…I’m finishing up the stock and never buying again. The recipe for my favorite one changed too…it looks different and has much less flavour.
The most expensive I could find was Shoppers at $5.29. Any actual grocery store (including Loblaws!) is in the $3.27-$3.69 range.
OP is full of it, but facts don't matter here. 99% upvoted post with flat out lies in it 🤦♂️
When I left Superstore last year, a can was going for $3.49, when I could go next door to Walmart and get 4 cans for $10.
OP is not wrong about the size getting smaller though.
Idk where op found that price but I've looked it up quickly and I found it to be 2.99 at Super C (so discount Metro) and 3.29 Metro, 3.49 Loblaws and at Walmart (Qc) it is at 3.47
And there's almost no meat in it anymore, and the broth is like water. I used to eat these soups all the time. It's been years since I could stand one.
Yeah I don’t think I’ve eaten a canned soup since like 2016… anyone with the ability to make their own should just do a big ass pot and freeze individual portions.
Gee, thanks. I’ll just use my extravagant wealth and unlimited connections to uproot my entire career and family so I can afford a can of soup that costs more than a restaurant side soup.
Pick a day youre home for the weekend. Buy a whole precooked rotisserie chicken. Chuck it in a pot with water. Boil with chopped carrots and celery (whatever is left chop up for weekday snacks). Simmer for 6 hours while you study or game or something. Pick bones out and add whatever spices you want. Chuck pasta and potato cubes in. Simmer for like 1 more hour. For the same cost of 2 chunky cans you got homemade chicken soup that will last the entire week bare minimum. Just chuck servings into baggies and into your freezer when youre done dinner. Trust me, it's a lifesaver.
There's the ubiquitous $7.99 chicken at Costco. Less than $3/lb. But chicken should be frozen after a couple of days, so divvy it up, freeze it, and you have instant meals.
Extenders can also include fresh tomatoes, celery, mushrioms, carrots.....
This should be illegal and be regulated but what do I know? I just basically go to work and pay taxes. What do I do for fun? Pay taxes. Canada is such a scam.
I'm curious about the price you claim as the online Real Canadian Superstore price is $2.49. Are you just inflating the price to try and make a point or do you live in a really remote location?
Hey everyone, thanks for all the comments, I don't use reddit much and sorry if I can't reply to everyone, there's lots of good discussion here.
I want to thank you guys for the suggestions, but I unfortunately do not live close to any walmart or dollararma and do not have access to a vehicle. I try my best to cook for myself now, as I try to avoid shoppers drug mart, the only thing near me.
As for the price, I apologize if I misremembered the price, but I'm fairly certain I recall seeing it and audibly groaned out loud in the store. It's definitely over $5 and closer to $6
I just wanted to vent when I discovered an old unopened can from before in the back of the cabinet and compared it to the new one. Thanks for reading.
So make it yourself…? It’ll be so much cheaper. The problem isn’t the prices, the problem is no body knows how to shop anymore. Look for deals… if it isn’t on sale don’t buy it. Common sense. 💁🏻♂️💁🏻♂️💁🏻♂️
lol no
The only food I’ve bought at Shoppers was several cans of Stagg chili, back when I could eat it. It was on sale for less than Food Basics. Quite cheap actually.
I severed ties with Shoppers yesterday
Just make a big pot of soup? If you really want to stick it to these grifters, learn to cook.
I haven’t bought bread in over a year
https://preview.redd.it/2qf9qmu744yc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb8412f0f31911f2667e6dc246904d5f71727474
The more you make from home, the less power you give their monopoly on your nutrition.
You can buy 4lbs of frozen ground chicken from Walmart for $5, 5 lbs of potatoes for $3-5 and a large bag of frozen veggies for varying prices depending on the brand and location.
Get yourself some soup stock and corn starch and you can make this in large batches you can freeze and then either take it out of the freezer in the morning to defrost and microwave when you come home or reheat on the stove top.
You’ll have TONS of other meals you can make from these basics and will cost you what three cans of this canned meat, starch and sodium goop will get ya.
Ground meat, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of corn (I used to love creamed corn as a kid and it’s sweet but I opt for kernels), and mashed potatoes is incredibly satisfying, tasty and easy on the wallet.
Just don’t buy condensed soup from Loblaws who want three dollars for it. Walmart will do just fine in a pinch!
Where and what brand is the 4lbs for $5.00 frozen ground chicken in Walmart? I'd be all over that! What part of the country do you live in? Good idea on the homemade soup!
It’s at Walmart in the bigger freezers where the whole frozen turkeys and fish are!
My bad, it’s Turkey
https://preview.redd.it/ayq3nqrosbyc1.jpeg?width=2990&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a748850e97aac1742eca5945831f6fb6bf50e72
As a student poverty meal, my wife used to make this or chicken a la king mixed with elbow macaroni.
Cook the pasta, drain, add soup and heat up. Add a lot of black pepper to taste.
After we met, we'd do it on occasion but "splurge" by added grated cheese to top it like a fancy casserole. I don't miss being poor but I do miss those days with my wife.
Can literally cook up a pot of whatever stew you desire for cheaper and a superior quality. How the price of these types of products continue to climb after they’ve obtained a market-share with their initial mass advertising campaign is beyond me.
I used to buy these on sale for $1.50. They are on sale for @.49 regular $3.49 at my local Superstore. I make my own soup now. Cheaper and better from scratch.
Jesus Christ... at the point the "law" of economics and demand has to kick in right? When people stop being this shit, prices has to come down.... right?
I understand the sentiment, but if you still can't afford a can of soup: your spending (or just personal habits) might be a part of the reason 🤷 (it's not only that you're a student, unless you're an unemployed student, because plenty of other students (myself included) manage to make it work
Chunky has never really been relatively affordable, I remember when I lived in abject poverty as a kid and my mother would have rice and a can of Salisbury Steak and that was for special occasions
Soup is one of the easiest and most economical foods you can definitely make at home. You could make an entire pot of that soup for $7-8. I’m all for making Loblaws rethink their grocery prices but people, come on! Learn how to cook for yourself. It’s way healthier, tastier AND cheaper!
Last year Campbells said in the WSJ that they were going to keep raising their prices until people stopped buying their products. It looks like they have kept that promise.
If you have $15, you can get a bag of rice, a can of beans, a can of coconut milk, a box of chicken broth, and a jar of jerk spice.
The rice should last months, the spice should last years. The beans, coconut milk and chicken broth are enough to make 1 week's worth of meals. You just make rice, but throw all that other shit in there while the rice is cooking.
It's the rice and peas from jerk chicken, but without the chicken.
It's filling, high in fat, savoury, high in fiber and vitamins, and dirt cheap.
Stop buy. It is not really that good as the quality has gone down dramatically over the year. I stopped buy when I got a can of beef... "Something" with zero beef in it. 90% potatoes. Last straw.
I’m realizing being at the mercy of suppliers and retailers is one risk when people gave up feeding themselves. I don’t necessarily want to grow my own food, but here we are. Such is life at the moment.
Those were on special last week at Food Basics for $1.88.
If the store is charging $6.99, they are telling you they don't want you to buy any. Prices are signals of how desperate a store is to sell their product.
chicken corn chowder:
1 can corn $1-2 + chicken bone pieces/trimmings ($1.99/lb) or free from a local butcher (I find the back pieces give the best flavour)
Boil chicken (add salt, thyme, sage, chilli flakes, paprika, black pepper, bay leaves etc or what ever you want to flavour with). peel chicken off bones. Add corn to remaining water you boiled the chicken in (aka chicken stock), blend slighlty, add chicken back. Total price <$5 and 1 hr of cooking time + 15mins of shopping and prep. Total volume \~1.5L.
It's 3.50 at walmart , if that helps you out. But it's a great example of loblaws and metro price gouging, selling this for $6+
https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Campbell-s-R-Chunky-R-Chicken-Corn-Chowder-Ready-to-Serve-Soup/6000205206579?from=/search
This used to be mine too. Instant noodles feel more pricey too everythings pricey, i just bit the bullet and started buying frozen veggies in bulk and just stir fry those for dinner every night save a lot of money that way
Shrinkflation happens on the manufacturing side also. With more expensive ingredients being swapped out for cheaper variants. So not only are the portions smaller, they are also less nutritious- to the point where the calorific count on the packaging needs to be changed.
This is all following American Airlines decision in 1987 to remove one olive from every passengers plate as a cost saving measure.
Like how small will stuff get, it shrinks and costs go up, to what end? Is this what they call late stage capitalism?
Let's fucking bankrupt the big boys while we still have options, someone will fill their shoes.
__MOD NOTE__: PLEASE REVIEW OUR [STICKIED POSTS](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1cae7ai/community_announcements_apr_2224/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) WHICH PROVIDE STATEMENTS ON RECENT EVENTS. Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
So just a question, is literally EVERYTHING shrinking now ? Why now ? I don’t think this was a thing until now …unless I don’t think it was this much
I remember the first time I heard of shrinkflation (I don't think it was named that yet) It was in (iirc) the early 2000's. Tampax removed 2 tampons from their boxes. Lots of *very* angry women wrote many, very strongly worded letters to the company until it was changed back
Oh good for you ! Seriously I don’t even understand how these things are not free . PS , I am a man . The fact that women have to pay for these things is ridiculous in my mind. Like what if you can’t afford it ?
I sew so I made my own washable pads, along with buying a reusable Diva cup (about 40$). I sold washable pads to friends and coworker and it paid the material used (Zorb, flannel, coton and softshell) My biggest regret is not going the reusable way sooner. I saved so much money in the last 5 years. The biggest downside is having to clean. It can be unpractical at time and gross. I totally understand why some women are reluctant to go try the ''green'' way.
Well good on you . Leave it to women it get resourceful and clever 😉
Period underwear saves my life when I am too poor, but they also cost a ridiculous amount and I still prefer disposables.
These necessary items used to be taxed, too, up until a few years ago, so there was another 15% added on to the price. And most of the cheaper brands aren't that good, so I'd need to buy the expensive name brands...for four of us..it gets very expensive.
And they are taxed because they are not considered a necessity…
Not a necessity my ass …
And back in the day we paid tax, too.
I've witnessed shrinkflation in the '90's when I went to the store to buy my fav kit-kat and the size kept reducing from 53 grams to 50 grams to 48 grams to 43 grams in the span of less than 5 yrs! I had kept the wrappers at the time when I was a teen and was going to make a collage or something... Maybe even write an essay about them... But things got lost when I grew up and moved out after high school!
Cause we’re in the “fuck you” stage of capitalism
It's not just a recent thing. I noticed it 20 years ago
This has been happening for years. Long ago, it wasn't as noticeable but corporations are taking liberties now. The practice is widely known as "shrinkflation" but I prefer my own term: deflationary gouging. I really started to notice the trend when I worked at Superstore. We knew when a product was changing because the price would end in some weird number like .44¢. When I first noticed it, there was hardly any change in the size of the container, but the label would be different, say "new and improved" or some shit like that. As time went on, I noticed some huge discrepancies. The worst was a box of David's Tea. The original box was 60 grams. The new box looked exactly the same, but it only contained 5 grams and was exactly the same price. They're not even hiding it anymore. Almost everything has been reduced in one way or another. Here's one example... https://preview.redd.it/dwksy5kht5yc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7990858778111e6351aef8148c2d96297f73308 Same price, 10 less bags per.
Deflationary gouging - I like it !!!
I complained about the can size change a couple years ago at Campbell's Twitter account and they deflected to say the new cans were the new industry standard. Funny how everyone else hasn't changed their can sizes like they did yet.
Their packaging is Industry standard in the USA not Canada. Campbell soup and Chunky were made in three Campbell plants in Canada for Canadians. They shut down every one of their Canadian plants, the last one to close was in Toronto. Campbells doesn't make anything in Canada now. Everything Campbells makes is now made in the USA and trucked back to Canada. They blame fuel cost for a lot of their increases.
Inflation, everything is going up. A company can either charge you more or they can shrink the product. Most people won't notice the product shrinking but they will notice the price going up. Products could stay the same size, but you'd need to deal with increased prices on the sticker.
Yeah but the products are shrinking AND we are being charged more at the same time for a decreased size
New package! (It's smaller) New price! (It costs more) Improved recipe! (The ingredients are cheaper)
and they are changing the quality so that cheaper fillers and ingredients can be added too. I've noticed that pretty much all at once they will add inferior ingredients, make it smaller, and charge more. It's been happening in a few spots now. They study how much they can do this without catching people's attention so you subconsciously don't even know it's happening unless you purposefully pay attention.
[удалено]
There’s a bit more to it with loblaws . I’ve done some digging when it comes to the court cases with them , the supply chain , and their contracts . Of course people will have their opinions . Mine is that it is warranted based on their behaviour towards their customers . If wages are now decreasing for its employees since the pandemic and the profits year over year are at an all time high at 10 % , all the while they feed customers lies then they shouldn’t be surprised people are upset because they only have themselves to blame that their reputation is shot . It’s actually that simple . It’s not about , everyone else is feeling it , so should we as you pointed out above , it’s we will continue to lie to you and then make it worse by engaging in further lies . This whole thing about standing up against suppliers makes me laugh . . Europe just did so successfully against Pepsi whereas Loblaws just increased the price of Pepsi so they actually are not standing up for us . Pepsi is a behemoth and if a European grocer could do it with ease , so could Loblaws but they decided not to . So why would I believe them ? Why would I believe they even stood up to any of the suppliers ? They just passed all the costs down to us and then included their own mark up on top of that , clearly . This is why people are upset . I mean this is one example . The list goes on and on . So there’s more to it than just “everyone” is experiencing this . Canada is SO not experiencing this like other countries . It’s worse here . I’ve asked all my others friends all over the world. It’s also clear , the grocers are just colluding with each other ( the main chains ) and I mean it is what is , that’s what happens when you have a monopoly right ? The proof is in the pudding . Look at the bread fixing scandal . Need I say more ?
Thank you for this. It goes with my own research.
I guess you missed the news on loblaws record profits.
You can catch it on this one guy's law blog, I think his name is Bob.
It’s global but the rates aren’t globally the same. Food inflation seemed to hit Canada first and is now hitting the US; most places in Europe have cheaper groceries. Different chains in the same cities can have wildly cheaper prices, fresher produce, etc. Global inflation doesn’t explain any of these things but profiteering provides the most clear explanation. There are also countless other examples of capitalistic gouging in unrelated industries, so we can’t just naively ignore those as well. I’m an open minded person, I’m happy to be proven wrong, keyword proven, not this ‘Trust us bro’ response from the grocery giants.
That’s been going on for decades
Canadian grocers learned they can just do both! Lol. I noticed the chocolate bars I usually got were suddenly shrinkflated, then went up in price a few weeks after. Thanks Loblaws!
I saw a 250ml bottle of Coke yesterday that was $3. Absolutely ludicrous.
Lol I can still get a 500ml bottle from the vending machines at work for $2.75. It really is crazy.
It's become noticeable with cheap boxed meals and canned food, though. Used to feed an adult and child off one container comfortably, now forget it.
Don't forget skimping on the ingredients (less chicken, more water, cheaper ingredients, ...). Skimpflation's the most nefarious of these, IMO. Many or most people will notice a price increase. Smaller packaging is a bit harder to catch but I think a lot of us are paying closer attention to this these days. But you can hardly tell cheaper ingredients were used until you open the product up at home and, if they do it carefully enough, many may never notice.
Or they do both
There's a podcast called Stuff You Should Know and they recently did an episode called Greed-flation. All the big food producing companies used covid and inflation to jack up their prices big time. Grocery stores aren't entirely to blame.
You’re right , I’m equally as disgusted as both of them. Corporations taking advantage of people during a crisis sickens me
I remember working in food manufacturing in the '00's. Shrinkflation was absolutely a thing back then. In my years we went through a few different packaging sizes for the same class of product. There was once when the size went up, but I think they changed its class to a 'family share' and the personal size got smaller.
Shrinkflation used to work a little differently. I remember in the early 2000s, coke made their bottles a little bit smaller, and then a few months later put them back to their original size but raised the price (I was in high school at the time and a friend and I used to drink coke daily, we kept track this as it was happening). Then our Econ teacher talked about it in class, how corporations made their product a bit smaller for a while, then went back to the original size while raising their price to trick consumers into thinking they were getting a better deal with the higher price because the “product was bigger” even though it was the original size. Now they just jack up the price and shrink the package simultaneously because fuck the consumer. Corporate greed has really become a big issue
It’s happening now because shrinkflation happens when a brand is secure in their market and they begin lowering the volume to save money and people won’t notice. If they notice they just shrug and say.. “huh, 15 ml is nothing, still tastes good”. On the other side, if they start off with small volume it is less likely to secure a following, brand loyalty, and secure their product as something someone can go-to… poor brand and memory imprint.
It's literally called "shrinkflation" where the producing companies maximize price while providing minimal product to squeeze greater profit from the people.
I learned about shrinkflation when soda bottles went from 600ml to 591ml. This had to be late 90s/early 2000s.
It's been going on for a long time. I first heard about it 20 years ago. The idea is, that instead of raising the price, give people less for the same price. I think I first noticed it on chocolate bars and more recently on deodorant.
It’s been happening for years. Bacon used to be 1 lb axis/454g now they are between 340/375g
In what fucking world is this worth 7$?
3 for 9 at Walmart
Used to be $1.99 each though. Considering how much worse the quality has gotten, $3 each is still way too much.
Last time I got a tin, there were like 4 pieces of 1x1x1cm cube of meat in there...
I saw someone else uploaded all the meat they found in a can of this- there was literally 4 tiny bites in the whole can.
Seems like that's how Campbell's is screwing us as well.
Campbells canned soup broth lol last time I bought chicken noodle it had like two noodles and no chicken
Oh man last time I got it it was all noodle
You’re lucky at 4. My last one had 1…I’m finishing up the stock and never buying again. The recipe for my favorite one changed too…it looks different and has much less flavour.
It should be called potato and pepper steak rather than the other way around.
I actually question where OP got this lol. As far as I can tell 3.99 Metro $3.50 Shoppers $3.27 Walmart (Ontario).
$3.49 at my Loblaws (checking online).
The most expensive I could find was Shoppers at $5.29. Any actual grocery store (including Loblaws!) is in the $3.27-$3.69 range. OP is full of it, but facts don't matter here. 99% upvoted post with flat out lies in it 🤦♂️
I feel like the only place I see these for $6 is local corner store lol.
When I left Superstore last year, a can was going for $3.49, when I could go next door to Walmart and get 4 cans for $10. OP is not wrong about the size getting smaller though.
To be fair, even that is expensive for food of this quality.
To be blunt, shoppers is loblaws and if he is in a more rural location or another province prices can be wildly higher
$4.39 last I checked in NB at superstore.
OP is lying
Idk where op found that price but I've looked it up quickly and I found it to be 2.99 at Super C (so discount Metro) and 3.29 Metro, 3.49 Loblaws and at Walmart (Qc) it is at 3.47
Stay away from RobLaws. A total rip-off
That's still not a good price for food
Where is this 7 dollars? Nunavut? I don't doubt they are expensive. Usually 4 or so at discount grocery stores in rural areas but 7 needs a citation.
It was 3 for $12 at the Superstore in Halifax recently
$2.75 Dollarama (515ml)
Might be different in different stores, last time I checked they were 2.50 near me.
And there's almost no meat in it anymore, and the broth is like water. I used to eat these soups all the time. It's been years since I could stand one.
Yeah I don’t think I’ve eaten a canned soup since like 2016… anyone with the ability to make their own should just do a big ass pot and freeze individual portions.
Those prices are insane, even the cheapest one. I can't fathom paying more than 1.75$ for a can of that overly salted junk.
I thought it was bad that they were over $3. I had no idea they can be $7
Probably in Yellowknife or another remote area. I'd love to see OP post the location.
I’ve definitely seen them for $6.99 in Shoppers here in Montreal
It must be. [Toronto pricing has this sitting at $3.49.](https://www.loblaws.ca/chunky-chicken-corn-chowder/p/21480497_EA)
So sad, in the 90s these were 650ml and we built displays of them at $1.00 a can....
just don’t be poor…. /S
just don't live up north
Gee, thanks. I’ll just use my extravagant wealth and unlimited connections to uproot my entire career and family so I can afford a can of soup that costs more than a restaurant side soup.
Pick a day youre home for the weekend. Buy a whole precooked rotisserie chicken. Chuck it in a pot with water. Boil with chopped carrots and celery (whatever is left chop up for weekday snacks). Simmer for 6 hours while you study or game or something. Pick bones out and add whatever spices you want. Chuck pasta and potato cubes in. Simmer for like 1 more hour. For the same cost of 2 chunky cans you got homemade chicken soup that will last the entire week bare minimum. Just chuck servings into baggies and into your freezer when youre done dinner. Trust me, it's a lifesaver.
I throw it all in a slowcooker and go to bed. It’s perfect by the time I wake up.
There's the ubiquitous $7.99 chicken at Costco. Less than $3/lb. But chicken should be frozen after a couple of days, so divvy it up, freeze it, and you have instant meals. Extenders can also include fresh tomatoes, celery, mushrioms, carrots.....
Celery and carrots along with potatoes! I knew I was forgetting something
Dogfood for humans.
This should be illegal and be regulated but what do I know? I just basically go to work and pay taxes. What do I do for fun? Pay taxes. Canada is such a scam.
It’s $4.50 at the convenience store across the street.
You are shopping at the wrong store my friend.
$3.49 at the Independent, N.S.
Go to the food bank like the rest of them 😐
I just bought this at metro last week for $3.95 not on sale.
Loblaws doesn't make the food though? Should we be boycotting Campbell's soup?
I'm curious about the price you claim as the online Real Canadian Superstore price is $2.49. Are you just inflating the price to try and make a point or do you live in a really remote location?
I want to support stuff but its not 7$ Its 3$
"If we make the can bigger, maybe they won't notice"
Notice how they made the can taller? I bet that is by design in the shrinkflation scam.
Hey everyone, thanks for all the comments, I don't use reddit much and sorry if I can't reply to everyone, there's lots of good discussion here. I want to thank you guys for the suggestions, but I unfortunately do not live close to any walmart or dollararma and do not have access to a vehicle. I try my best to cook for myself now, as I try to avoid shoppers drug mart, the only thing near me. As for the price, I apologize if I misremembered the price, but I'm fairly certain I recall seeing it and audibly groaned out loud in the store. It's definitely over $5 and closer to $6 I just wanted to vent when I discovered an old unopened can from before in the back of the cabinet and compared it to the new one. Thanks for reading.
So make it yourself…? It’ll be so much cheaper. The problem isn’t the prices, the problem is no body knows how to shop anymore. Look for deals… if it isn’t on sale don’t buy it. Common sense. 💁🏻♂️💁🏻♂️💁🏻♂️
Where you paying $7 , I'm guessing Loblaw's ? It's $3.29 @ Wal mart.
Try dollarama
https://preview.redd.it/23vuewah25yc1.png?width=1372&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf2cbcc87504612c9be9721c6044d515682017d6 Why lie though
“capitalism bad” is an extremely popular genre of posting and many capitalise on it
I highly doubt these are $6.99. If they are, you’re shopping at the wrong store
You don't do all your grocery shopping at the local Shopper Drug Mart, like the rest of us?
lol no The only food I’ve bought at Shoppers was several cans of Stagg chili, back when I could eat it. It was on sale for less than Food Basics. Quite cheap actually. I severed ties with Shoppers yesterday
Just make a big pot of soup? If you really want to stick it to these grifters, learn to cook. I haven’t bought bread in over a year https://preview.redd.it/2qf9qmu744yc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb8412f0f31911f2667e6dc246904d5f71727474 The more you make from home, the less power you give their monopoly on your nutrition.
Campbells change the can size like a year ago. Also, no one is selling for 6.99. You made that up.
Picked some up at RCSS for $2.69 a can on Wednesday
Please show where this is 6.99
I know where it’s $3.50
A can of chunky soup is 7$ now?…. Wtf
6.99 is a joke, there's no way. I remember these things being 2.50.
6.99???????? WTF
7$ for a can of soup. Time to make guillotines great again
It’s 7$!? I thought it was like 2$ or smt
3.50 in Nova Scotia right now.
Now it smells and looks like dog food.
Are you fucking serious they sell them for $6.99 ????
Just make your own stews and soups in an instant pot. You can make a whole week's worth for $7 in about 30 minutes.
You can buy 4lbs of frozen ground chicken from Walmart for $5, 5 lbs of potatoes for $3-5 and a large bag of frozen veggies for varying prices depending on the brand and location. Get yourself some soup stock and corn starch and you can make this in large batches you can freeze and then either take it out of the freezer in the morning to defrost and microwave when you come home or reheat on the stove top. You’ll have TONS of other meals you can make from these basics and will cost you what three cans of this canned meat, starch and sodium goop will get ya. Ground meat, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of corn (I used to love creamed corn as a kid and it’s sweet but I opt for kernels), and mashed potatoes is incredibly satisfying, tasty and easy on the wallet. Just don’t buy condensed soup from Loblaws who want three dollars for it. Walmart will do just fine in a pinch!
Where and what brand is the 4lbs for $5.00 frozen ground chicken in Walmart? I'd be all over that! What part of the country do you live in? Good idea on the homemade soup!
Please tell us more about the $5 chicken.
It’s at Walmart in the bigger freezers where the whole frozen turkeys and fish are! My bad, it’s Turkey https://preview.redd.it/ayq3nqrosbyc1.jpeg?width=2990&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a748850e97aac1742eca5945831f6fb6bf50e72
Still in the $3 range at the dollar store - though might be a different flavour.
They add more water and less food
I can almost guarantee that there is less beef and vegetables and more filler as well.
Insane still 2.99 at walmart
Wait. ONE can is $6.99?!? Thats fucking criminal
2.50 at Dollarama.
You can buy a whole frigging chicken for like 3$ /lb and you are looking at pre made cans of soup. Shop smarter next time
I can get a won ton soup from my favourite Chinese place for $4.75 and it's better than anything in a can.
Did you buy this at a gas station??
As a student poverty meal, my wife used to make this or chicken a la king mixed with elbow macaroni. Cook the pasta, drain, add soup and heat up. Add a lot of black pepper to taste. After we met, we'd do it on occasion but "splurge" by added grated cheese to top it like a fancy casserole. I don't miss being poor but I do miss those days with my wife.
Damn... Dollarama in downtown Victoria, BC has this for I think $2.50. Do you have a Dollarama near you?
We need to also boycott brands that do this. Hoping that there will still be something left to eat. 🤷
At seven dollars a meal you might as well eat at McDonald's or Tim Hortons.
Shrinkflation used to be when prices stayed the same while quantities went down. We need a whole new word for what Loblaws is doing.
Can literally cook up a pot of whatever stew you desire for cheaper and a superior quality. How the price of these types of products continue to climb after they’ve obtained a market-share with their initial mass advertising campaign is beyond me.
$6.99 for 1 can?? Please tell me that’s a typo
I used to buy these on sale for $1.50. They are on sale for @.49 regular $3.49 at my local Superstore. I make my own soup now. Cheaper and better from scratch.
Well not anymore but it was $1.88 at food basics few days ago.
Jesus Christ... at the point the "law" of economics and demand has to kick in right? When people stop being this shit, prices has to come down.... right?
I used to add a cup of water and bread to make it last longer.
The clam chowder is just potatoes
Where are you buying your soup? 7-11?
It's called Right Sizing. Less for more
boycott!
$2.39 a can where I live, just checked several stores.
F'n "shrinkflation!" Less, for more.
I understand the sentiment, but if you still can't afford a can of soup: your spending (or just personal habits) might be a part of the reason 🤷 (it's not only that you're a student, unless you're an unemployed student, because plenty of other students (myself included) manage to make it work
6.99 for a can of soup?!?!?!?!
Chunky has never really been relatively affordable, I remember when I lived in abject poverty as a kid and my mother would have rice and a can of Salisbury Steak and that was for special occasions
It’s discounted every month or so in my store at 2.50/3$. That’s when I buy 10 of them.
$6.99? where!
Ramen, frozen veg, in egg drop soup. Cheap and yummy
They also got rid of all the best flavours, though that's a Cambells thing and not a Loblaws thing.
These cans are 7 dollars a piece now???
I just saw them for $1.99 to start shopping better
If you pay in gold it costs roughly the same?
I wonder what the markup is on a can of Chunky is at Loblaws.
How do you even eat this gross
Soup is one of the easiest and most economical foods you can definitely make at home. You could make an entire pot of that soup for $7-8. I’m all for making Loblaws rethink their grocery prices but people, come on! Learn how to cook for yourself. It’s way healthier, tastier AND cheaper!
Remember when crappy Campbell soup used to be .69c a few years ago and it is $2.49 now.
One day i want to go into walmart and be able to pick anything without worrying about it breaking my daily budget 🥲
It wasn’t worth it when it was 2.99
It's just salt water.
Last year Campbells said in the WSJ that they were going to keep raising their prices until people stopped buying their products. It looks like they have kept that promise.
If you have $15, you can get a bag of rice, a can of beans, a can of coconut milk, a box of chicken broth, and a jar of jerk spice. The rice should last months, the spice should last years. The beans, coconut milk and chicken broth are enough to make 1 week's worth of meals. You just make rice, but throw all that other shit in there while the rice is cooking. It's the rice and peas from jerk chicken, but without the chicken. It's filling, high in fat, savoury, high in fiber and vitamins, and dirt cheap.
Make a big batch and freeze it. It will be cheaper in the long run.
They also used to taste so good and now they are kinda bland.
Stop buy. It is not really that good as the quality has gone down dramatically over the year. I stopped buy when I got a can of beef... "Something" with zero beef in it. 90% potatoes. Last straw.
$6.99 for a fucking can of stew? Is this real? That’s one step up from dog food ffs.
Is it seriously $6.99 for one can of soup? Where are you? They are still $2.99-$3.49 here in Winnipeg, I think.
I’m realizing being at the mercy of suppliers and retailers is one risk when people gave up feeding themselves. I don’t necessarily want to grow my own food, but here we are. Such is life at the moment.
Why do you’ll buy this shit anyways, make your own, it’s much healthier and cheaper. Plus you can freeze it.
Those were on special last week at Food Basics for $1.88. If the store is charging $6.99, they are telling you they don't want you to buy any. Prices are signals of how desperate a store is to sell their product.
If you have access to a kitchen, you could try finding a good recipe and freezing the leftovers portions
Campbells has been one of the absolute worst offenders in inflation
Learn to cook with basic ingredients, like a soup. Much cheaper.
6.99 for that sodium slop. Ridiculous. I’m not hating on you for eating it. But damn
The easiest way to avoid this is to shop at real stores. This is obviously fake
chicken corn chowder: 1 can corn $1-2 + chicken bone pieces/trimmings ($1.99/lb) or free from a local butcher (I find the back pieces give the best flavour) Boil chicken (add salt, thyme, sage, chilli flakes, paprika, black pepper, bay leaves etc or what ever you want to flavour with). peel chicken off bones. Add corn to remaining water you boiled the chicken in (aka chicken stock), blend slighlty, add chicken back. Total price <$5 and 1 hr of cooking time + 15mins of shopping and prep. Total volume \~1.5L.
It cost real money to be poor now
It's 3.50 at walmart , if that helps you out. But it's a great example of loblaws and metro price gouging, selling this for $6+ https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Campbell-s-R-Chunky-R-Chicken-Corn-Chowder-Ready-to-Serve-Soup/6000205206579?from=/search
Roblaws
This used to be mine too. Instant noodles feel more pricey too everythings pricey, i just bit the bullet and started buying frozen veggies in bulk and just stir fry those for dinner every night save a lot of money that way
Shrinkflation happens on the manufacturing side also. With more expensive ingredients being swapped out for cheaper variants. So not only are the portions smaller, they are also less nutritious- to the point where the calorific count on the packaging needs to be changed. This is all following American Airlines decision in 1987 to remove one olive from every passengers plate as a cost saving measure.
I miss their big cans and chilli I haven’t seen it since they shrinkflated
Chunky soup is not $6.99 anywhere. Lol.
Price aside, why do people love these can foods ? It's so terrible I prefer to have noodles with frozen veggies over it.
stopped buying individual cans until there's a deal where i can stock up in bulk, i hate how thats the way things are
Like how small will stuff get, it shrinks and costs go up, to what end? Is this what they call late stage capitalism? Let's fucking bankrupt the big boys while we still have options, someone will fill their shoes.
Nothing for something. It'll have to come to that, inevitably. Right?