"maxine in ri" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Apr 26, 12:10 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Dave Smith" wrote in message

...

Karen AKA Kajikit wrote:

How come the more 'healthy' a cereal is supposed to be, the more it
tastes like you're eating the box? I just tried the Post 'organics'
apple and cinnamon and it wasn't nearly as nice as it sounded...

What cereal do you eat for brekky?

I used to buy Shredded Wheat. It is pretty basic stuff, but tastes
great
with a little honey or some dark brown sugar and fruit. I stopped
getting
it recently because they employed a marketing gimmick recently to screw
their customers. They box large format appears to be the same height
but
it
is skinner and holds only 18 biscuits instead of the 24 they used to
sell
for the same price.

If a product gets cheaper, what are your initial thoughts about it?

Depends on what you refer to when you say cheaper. The price never
goes down. The quality may go down, the quantity may go down, but the
price stays the same (until they raise it, of course).

And never fear, soon they will cut their costs again by compacting the
box.

maxine in ri


Other than an attempt to "fool you", or rake in obscene profits, can you
think of any other reasons why a food company might shrink a package or
raise the price (which is really the same thing)? This is basic economics,
and the reasons are in the news constantly.

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:


I asked the following question earlier, but you didn't respond, so I'll
ask again: If a product gets cheaper, what are your initial thoughts
about it?
I am not Dave, but...

I have never in my lifetime seen a product get cheaper - as in less
expensive. I have seen plenty of products get 'cheaper' as in 'blech' -
because they have fiddled with the ingredients and made it 'yukky'.
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy


Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

If a product gets cheaper, what are your initial thoughts about it?

Depends on what you refer to when you say cheaper. The price never
goes down. The quality may go down, the quantity may go down, but the
price stays the same (until they raise it, of course).

And never fear, soon they will cut their costs again by compacting the
box.

maxine in ri


Other than an attempt to "fool you", or rake in obscene profits, can you
think of any other reasons why a food company might shrink a package or
raise the price (which is really the same thing)? This is basic economics,
and the reasons are in the news constantly.

Sorry, but economics and marketing a little more complicated that just a
simple matter of supply and demand. They spend a lot of money on packaging
advertising. I pointed out in one of the posts that the new skinnier boxes
were marked as new format. There is no doubt in my mind that the "new
format" boxes of 18 were intended to take the place of the old 24 size box
and become the large size, but they hold only 3/4 as much and are being
sold for the same price as the 24s. I commented on the same thing a month
or so ago about seeing cases of pop on sale with an attraction price, but
the cases were 18, not 24.

Packaging is part of marketing and there has long been a pattern of lower
price per unit for larger volumes. There appears to be a trend towards
reducing that bulk advantage by reducing the size.


And to answer your question about lowering price..... It encourages me to
buy more. If I see prices going up I tend to avoid them. When I see
marketing that is an obvious trick to fool me I boycott the product.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?


??????

Welcome to the age of electronics. Televisions are cheaper now than they
were years ago. That is not just factored for inflation. They are cheaper.
Computers are much better than they used to be, and a fraction of the
cost. Music CDs are cheaper now. Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me. Salmon and shrimp are affordable now. Soft drinks are
relatively cheap now compared to years ago.

"The Cook" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:39:00 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:


I asked the following question earlier, but you didn't respond, so I'll
ask again: If a product gets cheaper, what are your initial thoughts
about it?
I am not Dave, but...

I have never in my lifetime seen a product get cheaper - as in less
expensive. I have seen plenty of products get 'cheaper' as in 'blech' -
because they have fiddled with the ingredients and made it 'yukky'.
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy


Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?



Yes, computers.
--
Susan N.

Power tools, clothing....the list goes on and on. Why do they get cheaper?
Because many things are being made in Asia or Central America. But, not
cereal. Would you like to finish this thought?

"Dave Smith" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?


??????

Welcome to the age of electronics. Televisions are cheaper now than they
were years ago. That is not just factored for inflation. They are cheaper.
Computers are much better than they used to be, and a fraction of the
cost. Music CDs are cheaper now. Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me. Salmon and shrimp are affordable now. Soft drinks are
relatively cheap now compared to years ago.


In your other message, you mentioned supply and demand, which aren't the
primary factor affecting the price of groceries. And, the list of products
you mentioned here - their prices have varied for reasons which can't
necessarily be applied to each other (CDs vs seafood), nor can they be
compared to something like cereal. But, here's something which affects
cereal: Freight. If you don't believe me, let me know, and I'll look up what
it cost my company to ship food 10 years ago, 5 years ago, and yesterday.

If a manufacturer kept package size consistent, but raised the price
proportional to freigh costs, you'd probably be paying $6.00 for a product
that sold for $3.75 in the year 2000. You'd be complaining loudly.

Dave Smith wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?


??????

Welcome to the age of electronics. Televisions are cheaper now than they
were years ago. That is not just factored for inflation. They are cheaper.
Computers are much better than they used to be, and a fraction of the
cost. Music CDs are cheaper now. Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me. Salmon and shrimp are affordable now. Soft drinks are
relatively cheap now compared to years ago.

Ahem. Silly me, I was thinking about *food* - not other products - as I
assumed that's what we were discussing.

And as for salmon and shrimp - never seen their prices go down in the
20-odd years that I have been buying them. Soft drinks (which is sorta
food-related) haven't got cheaper here either. Maybe I should move to
the USA?
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:06:13 GMT, "Gabby" wrote:


"Karen AKA Kajikit" wrote in message
.. .
How come the more 'healthy' a cereal is supposed to be, the more it
tastes like you're eating the box? I just tried the Post 'organics'
apple and cinnamon and it wasn't nearly as nice as it sounded...

What cereal do you eat for brekky?


Oatmeal - big bowl with half a stick of butter cut into pat sized pieces, four
tablespoons of sugar and sometimes a bit of milk over it all.

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:39:00 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:


I asked the following question earlier, but you didn't respond, so I'll
ask again: If a product gets cheaper, what are your initial thoughts
about it?
I am not Dave, but...

I have never in my lifetime seen a product get cheaper - as in less
expensive. I have seen plenty of products get 'cheaper' as in 'blech' -
because they have fiddled with the ingredients and made it 'yukky'.
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy


Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?



Yes, computers.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

wrote:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2

of rice krispie treats but no other way. Cheerios, blecch!


Let me guess you poured them into a bowl and poured milk on them...

You missed a step.. open sugar jar, take one scoop, pour over bowl of
cheeiros/rice crispies/plain corn flakes/chex/shredded wheat (non frosted)

Nope, I would never, ever in a million years eat any kind
of cereal without brown sugar!!!!! So that's not it. I just
don't care for Cheerios any more. As a kid they were my
absolute favorite. Now, when I think cold cereal they only
thing that comes to mind is corn flakes.

I wouldn't eat any of the above with out being properly covered first.

Plain cheerios is "blecch!"

I agree. I guess with enough sugar it's less blecch! :-)

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
Dave Smith wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?


??????

Welcome to the age of electronics. Televisions are cheaper now than they
were years ago. That is not just factored for inflation. They are
cheaper. Computers are much better than they used to be, and a fraction
of the
cost. Music CDs are cheaper now. Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me. Salmon and shrimp are affordable now. Soft drinks are
relatively cheap now compared to years ago.

Ahem. Silly me, I was thinking about *food* - not other products - as I
assumed that's what we were discussing.

And as for salmon and shrimp - never seen their prices go down in the
20-odd years that I have been buying them. Soft drinks (which is sorta
food-related) haven't got cheaper here either. Maybe I should move to the
USA?
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy


My point is this: Cereal is a good example of a product which is made here
in the U.S., so at least at this point in history, it is not going to get
cheaper because the manufacturers move production to China or some other
country where workers are paid very little. The only other way cereal could
get cheaper is if the manufacturers lower the quality, and that won't go
over well with retail customers for very long.

The price of cereal will absolutely be affected by two things: The cost of
shipping it, and the cost of manufacturing it. I'm not privy to the labor
costs which food manufacturers have to deal with, but I can tell you this:
The cost per mile for trucking has almost doubled in the past 7-8 years.
That affects every step in the chain of events required to produce and
deliver your food.

You could respond by saying that the manufacturer could absorb some of this
cost, because you pretend to have inside knowledge of their financial
situation, but that would be a silly thing for you to think (this is
directed more at Dave, really). Or, you could say the manufacturer could
raise prices to deal with rising costs, and keep the package size the same.
But, that would be faulty reasoning, in some cases. Manufacturers (and
efficient grocery stores) know what price customers will accept. Raise the
price of an item from $3.25 to $3.75, and it might not affect sales very
much. Move the price to $4.50, and maybe the product stops moving off the
shelves. Perhaps there's something about the $4.00 threshold that turns
people off. Nobody really knows, but we *do* see lots of things priced a
penny shy of the whole dollar amount ($24.99 instead of $25.00). The
psychology's absurd, but there it is.

So, manufacturers decide that raising the price won't work, and they shrink
the package, instead. I'm not saying that a quest for higher profits might
not also be a motive, but it's definitely NOT as simple as just that.

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:48:42 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
Dave Smith wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?


??????

Welcome to the age of electronics. Televisions are cheaper now than they
were years ago. That is not just factored for inflation. They are
cheaper. Computers are much better than they used to be, and a fraction
of the
cost. Music CDs are cheaper now. Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me. Salmon and shrimp are affordable now. Soft drinks are
relatively cheap now compared to years ago.

Ahem. Silly me, I was thinking about *food* - not other products - as I
assumed that's what we were discussing.

And as for salmon and shrimp - never seen their prices go down in the
20-odd years that I have been buying them. Soft drinks (which is sorta
food-related) haven't got cheaper here either. Maybe I should move to the
USA?
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy


My point is this: Cereal is a good example of a product which is made here
in the U.S., so at least at this point in history, it is not going to get
cheaper because the manufacturers move production to China or some other
country where workers are paid very little. The only other way cereal could
get cheaper is if the manufacturers lower the quality, and that won't go
over well with retail customers for very long.

The price of cereal will absolutely be affected by two things: The cost of
shipping it, and the cost of manufacturing it. I'm not privy to the labor
costs which food manufacturers have to deal with, but I can tell you this:
The cost per mile for trucking has almost doubled in the past 7-8 years.
That affects every step in the chain of events required to produce and
deliver your food.

You could respond by saying that the manufacturer could absorb some of this
cost, because you pretend to have inside knowledge of their financial
situation, but that would be a silly thing for you to think (this is
directed more at Dave, really). Or, you could say the manufacturer could
raise prices to deal with rising costs, and keep the package size the same.
But, that would be faulty reasoning, in some cases. Manufacturers (and
efficient grocery stores) know what price customers will accept. Raise the
price of an item from $3.25 to $3.75, and it might not affect sales very
much. Move the price to $4.50, and maybe the product stops moving off the
shelves. Perhaps there's something about the $4.00 threshold that turns
people off. Nobody really knows, but we *do* see lots of things priced a
penny shy of the whole dollar amount ($24.99 instead of $25.00). The
psychology's absurd, but there it is.

So, manufacturers decide that raising the price won't work, and they shrink
the package, instead. I'm not saying that a quest for higher profits might
not also be a motive, but it's definitely NOT as simple as just that.


And one can hope that the farmer is getting more for the grain since
it now costs him more to produce it.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

On Apr 26, 10:22 am, Karen AKA Kajikit wrote:
How come the more 'healthy' a cereal is supposed to be, the more it
tastes like you're eating the box? I just tried the Post 'organics'
apple and cinnamon and it wasn't nearly as nice as it sounded...

What cereal do you eat for brekky?

cereal offenders?

a bug just landed and disappeared in my bowl of cereal
I ate it anyway. it was my last bowl.. but he was a cereal offender

On Apr 27, 9:25�am, Chatty Cathy wrote:
Dave Smith wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've never
seen the prices on anything go down?

??????

Welcome to the age of electronics. Televisions are cheaper now than they
were years ago. That is not just factored for inflation. They are cheaper.
Computers are much better than they used to be, and a fraction of the
cost. *Music CDs are cheaper now. *Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me. Salmon and shrimp are affordable now. *Soft drinks are
relatively cheap now compared to years ago.

Ahem. Silly me, I was thinking about *food* - not other products - as I
assumed that's what we were discussing.

And as for salmon and shrimp - never seen their prices go down in the
20-odd years that I have been buying them. Soft drinks (which is sorta
food-related) haven't got cheaper here either. Maybe I should move to
the USA?
--

All seafood prices (especially shrimp) in the US have risen
dramatically over the past 50-60 years, up until the '60s seafood was
considered the food of the poor... fresh caught shrimp, never frozen
was about 10cents/lb, in fact if you were a regular patron and bought
say a hunk of halibut, a slab of cod, and a couple pounds of whitfish
the fishmonger tossed in a few pounds of shrimp for free, and plenty
of fish heads and trimmings to make a delicious stock... young
housewives with cleavage got a package of fresh roe too.

Soft drink prices here (US) have more than quadrupled since the '50s,
and that's in real dollars accounting for inflation (a cold bottle of
Coke was a nickel), even worse for hard drinks (I still remember the 5
cent bar beer on tap - 12oz glass, every 4th on the house - could get
truly shit faced for a buck... and they fed you real food all you
could eat, free).

The prices of lot of hard/durable goods have dropped significantly,
but food and services have risen dramatically.

The Cook wrote:
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:48:42 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"

The price of cereal will absolutely be affected by two things: The cost of
shipping it, and the cost of manufacturing it. I'm not privy to the labor

And one can hope that the farmer is getting more for the grain since
it now costs him more to produce it.

Without knowing, I'm willing to bet that the cost of the raw grain
is essentially a non-issue. In other words, too small to make much
difference in the end comsumer price.

I know when I was doing high volume computer printer work that the
cost of paper was so small that it made no difference if people used
1 sided or 2 sided printing. The cost per page image was determined
by other costs. It always bothered the enviromentalists, and it
bothered me a bit, but the paper was essentially free.

Simarlily, grain is a very large scale commodity such that its cost
compared to the processing, factory overhead, packaging, etc. is
probably almost zero on a per-box basis. The farmer could suddenly
be getting twice the price for grain in the field and I bet it would
not cause even a blip in cereal prices at the store.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.