- Many products have a reduced weight, and the packaging itself is also smaller
- Producers use various methods to increase the price unnoticed. One way is to put less product content in the package or the so-called selling air
- Already 1 g less in the package can bring the producer huge savings
- On the other hand, visual price downsizing consists in indicating the price not for 1 kg, but for 100 g
- In the current economic situation, you can expect newer and newer ideas for keeping customers despite the drastically rising costs
- CMR data shows that Poles are buying more and more expensive products, but they are spending less and less on them
- You can find more such information on the Onet homepage
Less product in the product
Many Poles do not realize that they have encountered this phenomenon in their lives downsizing. In commerce, this term is defined deliberately reducing the weight of the product sold or reducing the weight of the products contained in the package.
How does it look in practice? It is enough to go to the first grocery store that you find. It is not even about large supermarkets, but also about ordinary local stores. We went to the nearest grocery store in Warsaw’s Praga district.
A perfect example of downsizing is, for example, cheese. We found packaging from two manufacturers on the shelf. The first ones, sold at a promotional price of PLN 6.49, had a lot of weight 135 g – is a Western producer. Second weight pack 150 g it cost PLN 5.99 and it was a product of a Polish manufacturer. The question then arises – why do we pay more for less? Of course, you can always answer them that we pay for the brand, for the manufacturer.
The cheese slices are packed in packages of 150 and 135 g
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The situation is similar with dry Krakowska sausagewhere different manufacturers offer different weights. This also happens with natural yoghurts.
Joanna Wosińska from the Pro-Test Foundation points out that manufacturers use various methods to almost imperceptibly increase the price or persuade consumers to spend more. One way is to put less product content in the package or the so-called selling air.
– In many packages it is so much air that even more than 50 percent could fit in its place. more product. But not only the empty space in the package can confuse us as to the actual content of the product. Also raised or thick bottom, as well as double-walled packaging. For such deceptive packaging we can most often hit when we buy household chemicals, food and cosmetics. Interestingly, it seems that Polish cosmetic producers are the most outdated in terms of packaging sizes, he says.
One gram and big savings
He adds that even 1 g less in the package can bring the producer huge savings, although for an individual consumer this amount may seem small.
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Andrzej Piętka and his Akademia Wypieków deals with market research and consulting for the bakery industry, both for producers and retail chains. In an interview with Business Insider Polska, he emphasizes that today the situation on the raw materials market (high dynamics of price changes) and, above all, a very large increase in electricity and gas costs, are a great challenge for everyone.
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– Companies are looking for cost optimization wherever only any changes can be made. However, it is energy and gas prices that are of greatest concern to bakery managers. Bakers make sure that the consumer does not experience a drop in the quality and volume of bakery products. They must take care of the highest quality of bread, because if they do not do it, they will simply lose customers. Theoretically Downsizing in bakery may consist in reducing the grammage or selecting cheaper substitutes for components in recipes (we can then speak of qualitative downsizing). The recipes of the products are the secret of every bakery and the raw materials used in production may change – says Andrzej Piętka.
He adds that bakeries with an implemented certification system, such as IFS, ISO, BRC, cannot do this, unless they implement a new product similar to the original one. This can happen in local bakeries where the priority is to maintain sales volume and customer satisfaction.
– Then a small bakery like this can reduce the packet of cookies, say from 400g to 300g, but it says on the label. However, he keeps the current selling price in his store for this product. Sometimes a visually smaller bread or roll can happen, but this could be the result of a technological error at the time of production. Bakeries and confectioneries with their own chain of stores have introduced visual price downsizing. This procedure consists in changing the price indication not for 1 kg, but for 100 g, sold by pieces or in whole packages of less weight. When considering the current economic situation, You should expect major changes in the industry and the emergence of newer and newer ideas for keeping customers despite the drastically rising costs – says.
Poles buy less, but pay more
It turns out that in the era of high prices, Poles look at the zloty twice before spending it. The CMR data shows that in July 2022, the value of sales in small-format stores up to 300 sq m was 7.8 percent. higher, while the number of transactions fell by 3 percent. compared to July 2021
The increase in the value of sales is the effect of only higher prices, as both the number of transactions and the number of product packages sold were lower than in the previous year. In July 2022, the average number of packages in a basket in small-format stores was 6 percent. lower than a year ago, but due to rising prices, the average value of the receipt increased by as much as 11% compared to July 2021, to PLN 20.19
– writes CMR.
“Due to the cooling down in the first half of the month, the sales of weather-sensitive categories, such as beer, ice cream, water or beverages, in terms of volume, were lower than in the previous year. In July 2022, small-format stores sold by 15 percent. fewer liters of pure water, by 6 percent fewer liters of carbonated drinks and 6 percent. less liters of beer (due to higher prices, expenses in this category were slightly higher than in the previous year). Lower temperatures translated into a large decrease in ice cream sales – in total in July 2022 the number of receipts on which these products appeared was by 18%. lower than last year and by 13 percent. lower than in June “- we read further.
See also: Inflation hits not only wallets. A disturbing poll among Poles
The Market Monitoring Center also points out that in July 2022, customers of small-format stores spent 50 percent on oil. more than a year earlier, although the number of packages sold decreased by 13 percent during that time. The value of flour sales increased by 32 percent compared to July 2021, while the number of packages decreased by 11 percent. It was similar with milk – despite the fact that in terms of liters, it was sold by 10 percent. less, expenses for this category were nearly 20 percent. higher.
On the other hand, sugar recorded record increases not only in value but also in volume. Reports on shortages of the product on the shelves of discount stores translated into increased purchases made for stock, also in smaller establishments. As a result, in July, the value of sugar sales in small-format stores increased by over 200 percent. compared to the same period a year earlier, while sales per kilograms were up 80 percent. higher.
Author: Paweł Bednarz, journalist at Business Insider Polska