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Downgrading the Ingredients in our Food Items: 'Skimpflation' Hits Grocery Stores in Canada [Op-Ed] (retail-insider.com)
submitted 1 year ago by sik0fewl@kbin.social to c/canada@lemmy.ca
45 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Sylvain Charlebois discusses the subtle alteration in the nutritional composition of some products as manufacturing costs soar in the industry.

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[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 64 points 1 year ago

Why does it always have to be the consumer’s job to watch out for this crap? It’s exhausting going through everything looking for allergens, imagine doing so just to make sure the product you’ve been buying for years hasn’t changed to lower quality without warning.

Better solution - require that products have a front label stating their recipe has changed, and including a list of changes to it on the back. Quicker reference, easy as hell to tell when something changed.

Consumer protection really needs to be more robust. We shouldn’t let these companies have all the power to mess with our bodies on a whim without warning.

[-] Peanutbjelly@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 year ago

Especially when they have the money and ability to perfectly read the limits of public attention, or necessary severity of distress before drastic reaction. The general public are too focused on surviving and living to compete with companies who focus entire groups and technologies into finding people's blind spots and weaknesses.

It's a battle of minds and margins, where only one side has resources and power to affect change. Where the fuck are our representatives?

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 year ago

Yeah, that’s why we have government regulations in the first place. Because we don’t have the same level of resources or power to do anything about it that companies do.

We just need way better regulations. And really strong enforcement. Oh and fines that actually matter, like 10% of yearly profits for each infraction, no upper limit. If they can’t be pro-social, fine them into bankruptcy.

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Have you already written a proposal ready for submission to your clerical government employee you hired a few years ago exactly to have someone to submit such things to in order get things in motion?

Or is this need like when someone says they need a private jet, but then quickly scurry away because they don't want to put in the work it takes to actually acquire one?

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah you’re right, totally entirely my job to do literally all of it, and talking to people to raise awareness of something that would currently be a non-starter does absolutely nothing.

Thanks for the help! -.-

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

and talking to people to raise awareness of something

People are most commonly found outside.

And yet you choose a venue that, if other people are involved at all, goes to great lengths to hide that fact. And if there are indeed other people listening in, there is little reason to believe they are located in the same jurisdiction, making your movement rather pointless. Furthermore, if what you have to say really does start to grain traction with people who live near you, a good first step is to start to take note of who is in support. But since it is not even clear if you are communicating with other people at all, and if they are people they have chosen to be anonymous... This is not a well considered plan.

But we get it. You're really looking to entertain yourself while you have some free time to kill.

[-] smoof@artemis.camp 6 points 1 year ago

You know they will find a loophole like creating a new product and discontinuing the old one.

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

That’s fine, because it’s not sneaky changes to an existing product you’ve already vetted. It’s very obvious that it changed if it’s a whole new product.

[-] joshhsoj1902@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

That still works for me. It's usually allergens I'm looking for so if the product changes I know I have to confirm the new product it's not going to try to kill me like I do with any new product.

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Why does it always have to be the consumer’s job to watch out for this crap?

It doesn't have to be. You are quite welcome to hire a professional to take over the task.

We shouldn’t let these companies have all the power to mess with our bodies on a whim without warning.

Likewise, you don't have to hire a professional to grow and prepare your meals for you. It is not that hard to do yourself.

Consumer protection really needs to be more robust.

Fair enough, but one thing you cannot hire away is democracy. If you really want this you need to put your boots to the ground to ensure it happens. It won't magically happen.

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 year ago

If I’m welcome to do all those things, that still makes it my responsibility as a consumer. So…

And the rest of what you wrote is just unnecessary. Of course shit takes work. Part of that work is talking to people to raise awareness, and gosh golly it’s almost like I’m already doing that.

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

If I’m welcome to do all those things, that still makes it my responsibility as a consumer.

If you want to hold that view then there is no escaping the responsibility. Government too is just a collection of employees you hired to help you out with certain things. There is no removing you from being the man in charge.

Well, maybe if you move to North Korea. It might be happy to take responsibility off your hands. But I mean in Canada. Here, you have accepted the role as the leader. As the top boss, everything is your responsibility.

Part of that work is talking to people to raise awareness

If you hired a paid lobbyist, to save your own efforts, would you be happy if they spent their day chatting on anonymous internet forums?

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago

Having it done as an automatic thing due to government regulation is hardly the same as needing to seek out a specific service, entirely on my own, to have the thing done.

I don’t care if it “still needs to be done by a person”, that was never even a question. This straw man is boring.

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Nothing about government is automatic. It is just people. People you literally hired, typically on a four year contract, to work for you.

And even then, those people filing your demands as regulation requires enforcement, else regulation means nothing. And so your direct reports have to hire even more people to do that, and you have to keep on top of them to make sure they are doing their job.

Or you could just hire someone else to do it directly – or work with your own food you produced yourself. It's all the same at the end of the day. It's just people, no matter how you slice it.

This magic you seem to be envisioning certainly isn't as boring, but no more than passive entertainment and of no relevance to reality.

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago

Your straw man argument is boring.

I’m not saying any of what you are arguing against, so I’m done interacting with you. You clearly aren’t conversing in good faith.

Have a nice day.

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’m done interacting with you.

An interesting contradiction. If you were done interacting with me you would not be in a position to tell me.

Is your intent here simply to say silly things so that we can laugh at them? If so, I apologize for assuming you were attempt to speak rationally, in good faith, and not as a comedy performer.

[-] MisterD@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 year ago

Restaurants too. you need 2 subs at Subway to feel full. you can eat an entire pizza at Dominos.

WTF did they do to the bread?

[-] Echo71Niner@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

What's the matter? Do you find it displeasing when Subway counts the olives, lettuce pieces, and rotten frozen tomatoes? Why anyone would choose to eat at that filthy Subway store is beyond me. In Toronto, a cold cut sandwich now costs $13 before tip.

[-] Smoogy@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Sure.

Though tbf sandwiches are the easiest thing to make. Why people are getting something that costs under 4 dollars to make at home in under ten minutes and instead pay to have it made for 13$ and then complain about it but then keep going back is very bizarre to me. You’re paying a buck a minute for someone to slap separate, non cooked ingredients together for you. That’s 60 dollars a minute to just throw pieces of food into another form.
And you’re not even staying at subway to eat it. People get it to go and eat it anywhere else they could bring their home sandwiches to.

[-] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Gotta use the app, between bogo's and 6.99 footlongs paying full price is ridiculous.

[-] MisterD@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

They can count all they want. It won't fill anybody.

I can get sub at a supermarket for 6-8$ and it's way more filling.

[-] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

It's carbohydrate foam now. It used to be you mixed water, flour and yeast and let it sit for hours. Time is money, so now they force it to happen faster and the result is less flour and more bubbles = more profit.

[-] zesty@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 year ago

This is encouraging me to eat less food products and focus more on just raw ingredients where there is no ingredients to skimp out on.

[-] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

Until you go to Loblaws and find the overpriced overripe and expired produce they try to sell.

[-] ultratiem@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

And that’s why they jacked up the price of every vegetable and fruit. A bushel of green options 3 years ago here was $0.79. It’s now $2.49. And they look meagre af.

They have every angle sewn up at this point.

[-] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 year ago

The thing that always boggles my mind is seeing cheap materials in Canada. This is one of the highest cost of living places on Earth. We should expect that anything involving manual labour will be stupid expensive here... But materials? Basic ingredients? The minimum hourly wage in Canada higher than the average daily wage in a country like India. If raw materials really cost what people charge us, most of the world would suddenly become corpses laying unsheltered in the sun.

If I'm paying you over $20/hr, use the good stuff because the cost of ingredients or materials is going to be a rounding error on the bottom line!

[-] Dearche@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 year ago

A lot of people I know have noticed this. Not just in typical groceries, but in a lot of food products.

Usually they don't know what's going on, but I've heard plenty of complaints about the taste of things they buy. Even weird ones like one beer tasting like a cheaper brand.

[-] jcrm@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago

If only we had some kind of organization to protect consumers from harmful corporate practices.

I'm getting so fucking tired of corporations running this country.

[-] argv_minus_one@beehaw.org 12 points 1 year ago

As greed soars in the industry, I think you mean.

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Is greed a long-term symptom of COVID, or what has caused it to soar?

[-] PaganDude@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

Grocery chains are literally posting record profits year after year. Prices are up, and profits are up. What other explanation do you need?

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So what you are saying is that when people shifted from eating in restaurants to eating at home with food sourced from grocery stores since COVID hit the streets, operating a grocery store became more profitable, while operating a restaurant became less profitable?

I agree. I work in a restaurant and our prices haven't risen since before COVID. Profitability has cratered. There isn't the customer base accepting of higher prices anymore. They'd rather eat at home. The food delivery guy claims that he has been in the industry for a long time and has never seen so little food being delivered to the restaurants on his route.

Although I'm surprised as it is clearly cheaper to eat in restaurants than it is to eat at home nowadays. Admittedly, it is hard to beat food cooked by your own hand.

[-] argv_minus_one@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

There isn’t the customer base accepting of higher prices anymore.

Because we're being robbed by their grocery stores and landlords, and cannot afford to eat out like we used to. You suffer from the same problem as we do, just indirectly.

Although I’m surprised as it is clearly cheaper to eat in restaurants than it is to eat at home nowadays.

Not around here, it isn't. Most restaurants have jacked up their prices as well. Eating at home is expensive, but eating out is even more so.

Admittedly, it is hard to beat food cooked by your own hand.

It's very easy to beat food cooked by my hand. I'm a horrible cook. I sorely miss being able to afford to eat out frequently.

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Because we’re being robbed by their grocery stores

So, there was a short period of time during the height of COVID where some restaurants tried leveraging their wholesale networks to sell groceries to those cooking at home. It wasn't tried at my job, so I have no personal experience, but I'm assuming it never really caught on as I don't hear about it anymore (and if you can trust the food delivery guy, he's not seeing it either).

But, that was when the grocery stores were still cheap, comparatively speaking – That questions if you've tried knocking on restaurant doors to express your interest in starting that (back) up? They might be keen to expand into new opportunities, not realizing that people are growing fed up with the traditional grocery stores and are excited to try alternatives. It is not like grocery stores are the only place to get food.

That said, perhaps you actually prefer to be voluntarily robbed? I don't judge.

[-] argv_minus_one@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

No, COVID just gave the rich an excuse to rob us even more than they did before.

[-] Echo71Niner@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The Canadian government's engagement in the inflation of prices for Canadians is linked to the ownership of stocks in grocery companies, like Loblaws, by numerous Canadian politicians – a verifiable fact.

[-] Frederic@beehaw.org 8 points 1 year ago

WTF are those price? 11$ for cheezwiz? 9$ for jam?

[-] Echo71Niner@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

Welcome to canada.

[-] gaydarless@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

Corporate CEOs have taken the adage of shooting for the stars way too literally. At this point I believe they are trying to find the maximum possible price point people will pay for their products. Like seemingly everyone else in this country, they want their pound of flesh $$$.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

as manufacturing costs soar

Yeah fucking right. More like "as corporations begin running out of valid strategies for increasing profit margins literally every quarter for eternity". Those companies are making record profits. Hell, they probably used some of those record profits to pay for that title.

[-] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

We have words for this already. Corporate greed, price gouging and lying come to mind. No need to dress it up as an inflation thing. X-flation is the x-gate of the 2020s

[-] EhForumUser@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Normally corporate greed is met with "Fuck you. Don't be so greedy. You will accept this [lower] price or else."

Inflation is when that turns into "I know you are being greedy, but that is one stylish hat you are wearing, and for that reason I will gladly accept your [high] price!"

this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
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