My latest rant on gouging at the supermerket.... So I buy distilled water

[cantstandbush]

which last week was $0.99 per full gallon. Today I went to pick up a couple of gallons and the price was 2 gallons for $3.00. Fifty fucking cents in 7 days!!! Well, i guess I shouldn't complain; at least the containers were still full gallons (128 0z). This was at the Giant in Bethesda, MD. So now, let's take stock: packages made to look like half gallons (like in icecream) are now selling for $0.75 more in containers that are only 56 oz instead of 64 (in other words a pint short of a half gallon), and other stuff like mayo is now being sold in 30-oz jars that look like the old 32-oz jars at prices at least $0.50 higher than the full quart that sold only weeks ago.
1-lb cans are no longer 1-lb, they just look that way, having gone from 16 ozs, to 14 ozs, to 12 1/2 ozs, and some to 10 1/2 ozs and all costing substantially more---not even the same as--- but more than the previous larger size container. And what are consumer groups doing about informing the public or the FDA or Agriculture Dept.? Nothing that I can tell cause Congress probably doesn't even know about it if their constitutents haven't written to tell them about it. So no wonder there isn't much of cry about oil prices. Americans just don't give a shit and if they do, they will be flamed and told to stop whining cause we are at war!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. I have learned to hate Giant

Ever since they sold out to Athold, their service, products, cleanliness, everything has deteriorated. I know some people who work at my local Giant, and they're miserable. They want out, but there's nowhere to go.

You're right about the prices, too, and how they're shrinking the sizes.

I gave up and now just get what we need at Trader Joe's and Costco.

[cantstandbush]

3. But it's not Giant that packages the foods that have been repackaged and

priced higher. It's the food companies. For example, Turkey Hill, Breyers, Edy's, Friendly's, Greens, all have cut back on their half-gallon containers of ice cream and raised their prices. Hellmmans just recently did it with their mayo. Giant-brand mayo is still 32 oz but their ice cream did as the name brands.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

4. Oh, I know,

but they're selling them, and pricing them as if they were still the larger sizes.

Sleazy. Izzy Cohen would spin in his grave if he knew about this.

Giant used to be beautiful. Now, the entrance to my Giant - and this is in a nice neighborhood - is just filthy.

[partylessinOhio]

8. Ahold is foreign owned -

Ahold is owed by the Royal Dutch. I refuse to give my limited food dollars directly to a foreign owned company.

Foreign ownership is another one of my gripes, it should never have been approved by our Congress.

Ahold owns Tops here which used to be a series of other buyouts all the way back to Fisher Foods. Our other main supermarket is Giant Eagle which is owned by a company in Pittsburgh, Pa. These two companies came in, bought up our local grocers and raised all prices to "increase their profits." It is so unfair and difficult for anyone on a fixed income whether they are poor, disabled or retired.

My nearest Giant Eagle is closing on the 29th. It was the next nearest market available to me after Giant Eagle bought my Reider's StopNShop where I had shopped for about 30 years. Giant Eagle immediately closed the Reiders which was a wonderful store that had everything a shopper needed and was of manageable size to walk for anyone elderly or who had difficulty walking.

I will now have to go a further distance to the newly built giant Giant Eagle that will open on the 30th. I don't need to travel further to a larger store that will again raise prices to pay for the construction costs and the higher utilities and taxes it will incur.

Bigger is not better. Larger profits do not benefit the consumer. I long for the good old days.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

13. It's not getting better, that's for sure,

and you stated it purely and articulately. Thank you for this, thank you for putting into words what I've been seeing, too.

Welcome to DU, friend. Stay a long time.

[partylessinOhio]

20. Thanks for the welcome.

:hi:

[acmavm]

2. Anybody who hasn't noticed that the packaging has stayed the same

but the amount inside has shrunk has not been paying attention. There were articles in the newspapers years ago that used coffee and cereal as examples.

The American people are brain dead. They have to be. What else can explain their love of being ripped off?

[tammywammy]

6. I remember years ago

my mom talking about how sugar used to be 5 lb pkgs and now it's 4 lbs and the price stayed the same. This was years and years ago, but I always look at stuff like that now.

[knitter4democracy]

9. It's not love, it's just being resigned.

People complain, and it goes nowhere. People still need to buy food, though, so they do and grumble every time.

[FlaGranny]

5. The only way

to save any money is if you have a discount or warehouse store very near by. The trouble is, if you have to travel any distance to get to one, you're not saving any money, as you're burning up your gas to get there.

[cantstandbush]

16. My heart goes out to poor working families. The cost of milk, cereal,

mayo, catsup, and bread alone will keep them poor if they are feeding more than one child.

[bluerum]

7. Transportation costs - water is heavy - gas is expensive. A rising

tide floats all boats. I am still waiting for my wages to keep up though.

[etherealtruth]

14. Don't hold your breath (wages)

I expect ALL consumer goods to rise, reflecting the increasing cost of transportation.

[Greyhound]

10. Between Trader Joe's and Costco, I rarely set foot inside the local

"supermarkets" anymore. Out here we have Safeway, Fry's, Albertson's, and Bashsa's. They all suck about the same.

[partylessinOhio]

12. Who owns Trader Joes?

I do love to shop there but have to travel about four times as far as my closest market. Trader Joes' prices are very fair and I have been more than satisfied with every product I have bought there. I especially like the pizzas from Italy and the frozen green beans from France. The apple strudel from Germany was wonderful but the last time I shopped it was out of stock. The clerk told me they took it out of the freezer case until a new packaging was made. I hope that is true.

[Greyhound]

18. Trader Joe's is, as far as I've known, is a privately held chain

that started in California (of course) and is not affiliated with any of the mega-corp owned stores that dominate the industry. They make their own deals with independent suppliers and have a strict business model and pricing structure that ensures its profitability without the excesses of the amerikan corporate model. I've had the opportunity to visit TJ's all across the country and the model is self evident, and the prices and quality prove its effectiveness.

Try the cheesecake in the blue box (not the larger one in the white box, it is fine but the small ones are really exceptional), it is astoundingly good, better than Eli's or the Cheesecake Factory's, IMO.

[partylessinOhio]

21. Thanks for the cheesecake tip.

I don't feel that you could buy anything bad at Trader Joes. Since it is privately held we cannot be sure they don't have foreign partners. But I will continue to buy there whenever I have the money and the gas to get there. :thumbsup:

[Gormy Cuss]

23. You can buy something not very good at Trader's but it's rare.

I've tried some products that I thought were dreadful. It's so rare and the quality and prices are so good that I don't mind the occasional stinker.

Another great part of their business model is the staff are trained to pay attention to the little things like bunching the frozen items into the same bag. I've also noticed that it's rare to see staff with the "I hate this job" attitude. Whatever they do to create that environment, it seems to work well.

[Greyhound]

26. I understand that they pay their employees fairly well and have decent

benefits. It is an integral part of the model in that it greatly reduces shrink.

[napi21]

11. Don't you realize WHY this is al happening?

Manufacturing costs go up all the time, but THIS time, it's primarily because of oil prices. Think about that deeper than just the cost of operating the trucks that more EVERYTHING from raw materials, to finished goods, but the fact that plastics are made from petrolium, diesel fuel is used to operate the farming equipment to plant and harvest the vegetables that are packaged. That same increase that is driving you insane when you fill up your tank is seriously affecting everything that is purchased.

The manufacturers know that the consumer HATES price increases, so theytry to figure out a way to enable you to still buy that Ice Cream that you love, without dramatically increasing the price and losing a customer. You'd be surprised at how many people never notice that the ice cream box weighs a little less, or the cereal only lasted 6 days when it used to always last a week.

The main reason the smaller package costs you more is directly linked to the price of oil! If they hadn'treduced the sizes slightly, you'd REALLY be screaming!!!!

[cantstandbush]

15. My rants have been since BEFORE this huge increase in oil...over three

years.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

17. Do You Have A Walmart By You?

Stuff like that is pretty cheap there.


:P

[mcar]

19. Unfortunately, WalMart

is the best place to buy water, particularly distilled water (which my family drinks too). At my local grocery stores, a gallon is always $1.50 or higher. At WalMart it's 0.64 a gallon.

We go once a month and buy 20+ gallons. That way, we don't have to go to WalMart that often.

[partylessinOhio]

22. Our tap water smells so awful that I am considering bottled water too.

[Vinca]

25. Try a water filter like Brita. Our well water has a slight metallic smell

and taste - safe to drink, but much better tasting and smelling after being filtered. I bought one of the Brita pitchers and buy the filters whenever they go on sale. We use about 1 filter a month.

[Ilsa]

24. Do those filtering stations make a difference in the taste of the

water where you live? It usually does enough to make our water pretty okay. That way, it only costs about 25 cents for a gallon versus a dollar for a new one.