Packaging that does not change, a price that does not change, but a price per kilo that increases: this is the technique for passing the pill of inflation on to consumers.
Real savings?
As to whether this technique represents real savings, that’s another question Times magazine tried to answer.
If we consider that five Doritos weigh around 14 grams, so removing them from a pack would save Lay’s £0.20. However, the brand sells 200 million packets of crisps per year, as the magazine explains. With the big ladle, this would therefore represent 40 million euros in savings per year for the manufacturer. A sum far from negligible.
A legal scheme
In addition to the savings it represents, this technique is legal.
“Obviously, it is necessary to modify the indication of weight on the packaging, the number of milliliters or the number of doses. But when the information is compliant on the package, then yes, it’s legal“, explains Simon Bourgeois.
It is therefore the customer’s responsibility to watch what he is buying. “Then pTo properly compare the prices of one product to another, nothing beats paying attention to the price per kilo. Because indeed, the products are not standardized, as one might expect. And despite the packaging that does not change, the quantities can change.“