Peppy and I have talked about shrinkflation for a while now. He was an economics major and I am a conspiracy realist, so price increases coinciding with volume decreases was something that was quickly noticed in our household. And this is not only happening in America. It has become a worldwide phenomenon.
Shrinkflation is hidden inflation, although I'd argue that it isn't very hidden. Hidden in plain sight, but does everyone even notice that their products are shrinking in not only size, but quality as well? The narrative is that shrinkflation is caused by rising production costs, and this may be true, but it didn't organically happen. Everything that you are experiencing is manufactured inflation and has been planned for quite some time.
Check out some of your favorite chocolate products. Due to lacking actual chocolate content, they have been forced by the FDA to change their descriptions to 'chocolatey' or 'chocolate flavored.' Same with many ice creams suddenly being referred to as 'frozen desserts.' Someone in Sweden mentioned that their cheese is basically no longer real cheese and is now referred to as 'sandwich slices.' Sometimes I will eat a candy bar or I'll get a wild hair and eat a Little Debbie cookie and I'm instantly repulsed. I know Little Debbie is not the bastion of healthy eating, but I promise this stuff tasted better as a kid. I don't think it is my imagination. I think the ingredient quality was probably a little better 25 years ago. There was even a post written by a cat owner who said his two cats had suddenly refused to eat the same wet food they had eaten for five years, and many commenters agreed with this anecdote.
I got sucked into r/shrinkflation yesterday. It was incredible seeing all the changes compiled in one place. Someone posted their Burger King chicken sandwich that was 70% breading. Another person posted their 'extra large' orange that was mostly peel once it was cut open. I can see this coming on strong with GMO fruits and vegetables. Market them as 'extra large' but keep the edible portion the same previous size while increasing the volume of the skin and peel. (Evil) genius! While some products are rebranding, many companies are continuing to keep the original packaging and just not filling the product up to its usual amount.
I know I've mentioned how the quality of fresh beef and chicken has declined. And I'm pretty sure I've mentioned how the same brand of gluten free chicken tenders went from needing to be cooked 10 minutes at 400 degrees to 15 minutes at 450, and sometimes they were slimy. We went to Chickfila after my grandmother's visitation a few weeks ago. Chickfila is one of the places that usually has good quality control. You can go to any one in America and expect to get the same thing. This time around the chicken seemed super flat and half the normal size. Peppy even had to swap his out because it was hard and gristley.
Someone might think, "well, just don't buy this garbage." For many people without the resources to grow their own produce or have chicken houses and livestock, this is not an option. We are slaves to this economy. I would also argue that many of us were raised at at time where we were taught to consume anything and everything, and that can be a hard mindset to break away from. Consumption provides us with that tiny kick of dopamine to keep us going until we consume our next thing. Although the best thing for every human would be to cut out the processed crap.
Even though I've always known deep down that one day I would live through something like this, it is still pretty surreal to witness everything playing out in real time. It is also weird to see the large sized product on clearance right next to the smaller, more expensive 'new' product. It is almost like instead of being distracted, we are noticing the magician's sleight of hand, but there isn't anything we can do about it.
Reminds of in Revelation where is says that the price of a loaf of bread will be the equivalent of a day's wages. I'm also feeling Snowpiercer energy, where we will all end up being fed bugs. I mean, we already don't know everything that's in what we are consuming. We've probably eaten bugs and worse. We've probably eaten people.
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