Short-sizing is the practice of reducing the amount of product sold at the established retail price to avoid raising prices. It involves changing the packaging size of popular items, such as breakfast cereals and ice cream. Food manufacturers are not required to disclose this practice, so consumers should compare weights and dimensions to determine if a product has been short-sized. While short-sizing is not illegal, it can be problematic if product sizes become noticeably smaller as the price continues to rise.
When food manufacturers face price hikes in essential ingredients such as wheat, sugar or rice, they essentially have two methods of passing these higher food costs on to retailers and customers. One way is to raise the price of current products, which may not be a popular choice among consumers, and the other way is to reduce the amount of product sold at the established retail price. This practice of shrinking packages to avoid price increases is known as short-sizing.
Cutting short involves changing the packaging size of popular items such as breakfast cereals, ice cream, coffee and laundry detergents in order to avoid a substantial increase in retail prices. A traditional half-gallon container of ice cream, for example, can be redesigned to hold only 1 1/2 liters of actual ice cream, even though the carton size may not change noticeably. The only outward sign of a smaller sized carton of ice cream might be a slightly thinner profile than an older carton.
One of the first products subject to short sizing was canned coffee. A can of coffee bought in the 1970s would most likely have weighed a whopping 16 ounces. By the 2000s, the size of an average can of coffee could easily reach 10 ounces. As coffee prices have risen sharply in the intervening years, it is easier for coffee producers to cut short instead of charging an exorbitant price for a full pound of coffee.
However, reduced sizing doesn’t work for all consumer products on store shelves. Cooks who depend on standard measurements for raw materials can still find containers of flour, sugar, pasta and other staples in full-size containers. Other consumables like canned foods and snacks, however, may appear to come in full-size packages, but the weight has been reduced by a few grams. Food manufacturers are not required to disclose the practice of cutting short; it’s the consumer’s responsibility to compare weights and dimensions to see if a pound bag of chips actually contains a full pound of product.
One way to determine if there has been a short cut in a familiar product is to look at the pricing information provided by the grocer. The unit price should reflect the relative amount of money a consumer would pay for similar product amounts. An increase in unit price without a comparable increase in pack size would indicate that scaling has occurred. A national brand of potato chips may be priced the same as a store brand, for example, but the unit price would reveal if the national brand contained only 12 ounces of chips compared to the store brand’s 16 ounces.
Short haircutting is not considered an illegal practice, even without full disclosure, but it can be problematic if product sizes become noticeably smaller as the price continues to rise. Raising the price for a full-size container may be seen as more honest, but it also increases the possibility of an economic panic if every food company stops downsizing altogether. Some products, such as candy or snacks, can usually be sold in smaller formats without causing much discomfort to consumers.
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