By TheWedge.LIVE

“Why are you charging 15 cents for paper bags if plastic bags are the enemy?” asked a customer of the cashier. Eye-rolling followed in quiet agreement. Apparently a lot of customers are asking the same redundant question.

“You can buy this reusable synthetic bag made from oil for $1.79,” the clerk followed as she pursed her lips.

Containerflation

It is important to note that almost every product in grocery stores is packaged in plastic. So the narrative “single-use plastic is bad” loses all rational feasability. If we did not have the advent of plastic we would be thrown back a few centuries, and most products would have to be retired. This plastics embezzlement is an insult to the intelligence of a public too exhausted to start a revolution while just running errands.

This ‘bagflation’ or ‘containerflation’ has been missed by the old subsidized media; but, people have noticed.

GLASS ANECDOTE : Why are we charged for plastic containers for water or beverages when there is little to no alternative like glass? Box containers like Tetrapak, made from paper, are also charged recycling fees. WHAT? Isn’t plastic made from “big bad oil” solely punishable?

NO FRILLS : $3.29 for 24 bottles of spring water + 2.40 Recycling fee + a deposit of $2.19

Shrinkflation

Shoppers are increasingly aware of the tricks food and dry goods manufacturers have employed incrementally over time. Containers have shrunk, weights have dropped, and reduced contents float in empty space.

The famous long Toblerone bars are now shorter, and lighter; it is conceivably the poster-child for shrinkflation.

Toilet paper, toothpaste, paper towels, laundry detergent, there a few product SKUs that have not been visited by the sequel, “Honey, I shrunk the groceries!” mad Chief Financial Officer. If this trend continues, we may need a magnifying glass with our shopping carts.

Kidding aside, because it’s not funny, how much buying power have people lost with this stealth shrinking?

People are noticing.

Skimpflation

In many edible products the taste also has changed as ingredients are swapped for cheaper ones.

President’s Choice Key Lime pie was a family favorite; suddenly, it was devoid of its full creamy rich flavor balanced with the tartness of lime. It came off our shopping list forever.

Caramilk does not taste the same as it did a few years ago. Woot! In fact, most chocolate treats are swapping ingredients for cheaper ones like palm oil. Tastebuds do not lie; but, producers do. They are making Herculean efforts to keep the prices stable with this illusion.

That’s skimping on the heels of shrinking. Sadly, one of the joys of life, taste, is disappearing from our tables.

Producers are testing market elasticity to its limits. Smaller, tasteless foods at the same price, or higher, will likely reap them what they sowed as families cut back on purchases to basics in the midst of hockey-stick inflation.

Don’t ask the government to regulate them if you believe in free-market capitalism and less government. Contact the manufacturers and complain. Or vote with your wallet.

Again, people are catching on.

DIYflation came first

It all started in the 80s, this drive to reduce costs.

This event primed this disappearance of promised value, the shifting of retail labour to the consumer on the promise of savings. Do you remember the shift to “self-serve”?

Now, we all work for retailers by taking on their labour costs.

It started at the fuel pumps, then spread to bagging your own groceries, returning your carts in snow blizzards, collecting plastic bottles to recover usurious fees, cleaning your tables at the fast-food restaurants, walking in inclement weather to your mailbox on the road, etc…

Boomers will remember the milkman who made life simpler by delivering staples like milk, bread and eggs to your door. He also took the glass empties–no fee, just product replacement. What a charming era was erased by the illusion of modernity.

Evidently, self-serve savings cannot be measured today.

Service was always included up to 80s. Now tired , hard-working customers, must line-up, pack-up, pay-up, clean-up, pump-up, carry-out on their own.

That’s Do-it-yourself-flation.

Imagine how many jobs have been eliminated–not by technology, just corporate cost accounting. The quest for higher profits on the backs of consumers will move forward until the burden is optimized to the buyer, not the seller.

Those of you who think robotics will run stores are misled.

Are we there yet?

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