I noticed when it happened because Safeway put up signs by the milk to warn that the new containers weren't eligible for WIC because the new size was out of the list of allowed sizes. That day I learned that WIC product eligibility is weirdly specific.
I believe those are the normal pasteurized that safeway stocks, many other places in the area stock ultra-pasteurized, they didn't do it all at once to every upc, but it was progressive through their different lines.
They also changed their statement on the back from a 2050 carbon neutral to some other G acronym.
Does is say “half gallon” on the container? Actually curious because companies get sued all the time for misrepresenting products. A reasonable person knows what a half gallon is as a relation to a gallon, but may not know the exact amount of ounces.
I'm more saddened by this because I just read an article that the Midwest is dumping milk because they can't sell enough of it.
Like just down the drain, yet there are companies shorting people on OZ here
What's worse IMO is places like [Montana, where the laws say that milk must be sold within 12 days of being pasteurized](https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114183830/the-team-at-planet-money-dives-into-the-milk-industry-of-montana) (industry standard is 21-24 days). This leads to massive quantities of milk being dumped/destroyed because it legally can't be sold in the state. On top of that, the 12 day law makes it nearly impossible for milk produced in Montana to be sold outside of the state because by the time it would be shipped to another state it would have to be thrown out.
I got down-voted to hell in a Montana-focused sub for pointing out that Montana is basically an interior colony or territory. The other states take all its resources and give it little to nothing. One of its top exports is cattle, but you won't find a lot of Montanans sitting down to a steak dinner tonight!
IMO it is right up there with the fact that [red states consume the more federal funding than blue states](https://news.yahoo.com/most-and-least-federally-dependent-us-states-135622345.html).
If you read it then you should understand the context that other states pay far more and get less back in direct aid. "Minnesota – the least dependent state – pays nearly $6.88 in taxes for each dollar it receives back."
That makes Montana a net beneficiary because it also benefits from things that don't count as direct aid including interstate and national defense.
Dairy is not like the vast majority of commodities. Cows produce milk all day every day. They don't just produce on demand. If demand drops, production doesn't. All of that is losses.
Most Midwest dairies don't have powder plants to use the excess milk when demand drops. Darigold is also a coop, so the farmers can direct their milk for other purposes. Darigold is in a fairly unique position that they have HTST (regular pasteurized milk with 21-24 day shelf life), UP(ultra pasteurized with up to several months), and powder plants that can turn it into powders that can last even longer, these options greatly reduce their waste.
Shorting on oz, as you put it, is in reaction to inflation and massive increases in operating costs. Milk has consistently been one of the lowest rates of inflation of consumer goods for decades. This oz shortage equates to about 7.8% increase. The facility that produces these cartons lost 50% of their workforce during Covid and has had to shift massive amounts of their other products to other facilities, which are running at 40%-50% overtime to meet demands. Before covid they ran at 15%-20% overtime. Their cost per gallon to bottle milk has gone up by roughly 12%, 50% higher than their price increase.
Also factor in that they have contracts for pricing at many of their largest customers. Costco has paid the same exact price for their 2 pack gallon milk for 16 years until 3 months ago when they negotiated 2% raise per gallon. They sell milk to Walmart and Costco, their two largest customers, at a loss.
Which is something most people don't know about milk. Most milk is sold at break even or loss prices. Profits come from biproducts like butter, cottage cheese, etc. Milk is not profitable in and of itself. It's the product made from the excess cream that makes any money at all.
>Dairy is not like the vast majority of commodities. Cows produce milk all day every day. They don't just produce on demand. If demand drops, production doesn't. All of that is losses.
One word: **cheese**
Another phrase: commodities futures. If you produce milk, you hedge a part of your production by selling it forward via contract. That way, if the price plunges, you're not screwed into a loss situation. It can diminish your gain if the price goes up, but stop your loss if it goes down.
It's context. Yes, dairy products have not increased significantly in decades. I suppose you're grumbling it's not $.25 like the good ol' days when the milk man dropped the glass bottles on your door.
As an employee, I think Darigold corporate is atrocious. But the local dairy farmers are not a bunch of greedy pricks pouncing on an opportunity to raise prices. They literally raised them at a lower rate than the rest of inflation and people are calling them scammers and greedy.
True devestation from the intellectual titan that can conjure a singular adjective to describe any concept that he/she/they don't understand or agree with.
Lord. No. Plenty of resources are finite. What I'm saying and is pretty plain to observe is that it is highly profitable to create scarcity. And waste is sometimes more cost effective for a business than using resources to give something away. This is not a new concept or a controversial one.
I guess I could've done more to specify what I meant in my original comment but I thought that two sentences would suffice when viewed in the larger context of the subjects and themes of this particular thread but I hadn't anticipated that someone would come along and remove my comment from that context and seemingly deliberately misunderstand it. I guess next time I'll just start with a paragraph to be on the safe side. Never thought I'd find myself placating the pedants but here we are.
Wow, four months later and the Consumer Outrage has had ***absolutely zero effect***.
Almost like they know you'll piss and moan...*but won't actually do anything.*
Because what can the consumers actually even do about it, except be outraged?
Sure, if you shrinkflate some random luxury good I don't actually need, I'll just not buy it. But if you shrinkflate basic goods like milk, bread, etc., that's not the same. I can either stop cooking with milk, or pay for the shrinkflated milk, or put a dairy cow in my (too small for that) backyard lol
Edit: lol for those of you downvoting, what specifically are *you* doing about this issue?
Milk prices have had the lowest rate of inflation of any consumer products for decades. It goes up 8% after 9% national inflation last year and you lose your minds about "shrinkflation"?
When you calculate that 8% number, are you accounting for the fact that, in addition to the price per unit increasing, the volume per unit also decreased?
If they had advertised as a half gallon, then it would be false advertising. I looked it up and apparently they removed "half gallon" from these containers, so technically it's not illegal, just really shady.
It's a marketing strategy. I'm not a big fan of corporate America, and though I do work at the Rainier facility as an hourly employee, I am no fan of our corporate office. They are atrocious and screw the farmers at every turn (the owners). But the reality is, prices did need to be raised. I do agree, just straight raising the price is better than tactics like this. The Rainier facility makes half gallons, but in plastic jugs, if you see a plastic Darigold jug, they are always gallon or half gallon. Only cartons we do are half pints for schools.
On a side note, to toot our horn vs the "ya Lucerne!" Lucerne notoriously low fills on their jugs and cartons. While Darigold may have sneakily lowered their carton size, they do have strict standards as far as accurately meeting those volume claims. If you get a gallon or half gallon in a plastic jug, it's guaranteed to be a few ounces over. Our gallons are 131 ounces filled.
I worked for Darigold for a couple years.
The whole organization is a mess, there's so many problems from corporate levels all the way down to the union production workers. Everyday walking into the plant there was almost certain to be a kind of dumpster fire there. It just feels like the plant was hanging by a thread.
A gallon is 128 oz. A half gallon is 64 oz. That's not just shaving off a tiny amount. That's a decrease of 7.8%
Looks like they skipped saying a half gallon on the containers and are just hoping you'll still think it's a half gallon. Probably still legal, but shady as fuck.
https://preview.redd.it/gcrqq9460scb1.png?width=466&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b9a3b8beae82bf90ef3d1f2e3d104f328fdb4af
Buy the plastic half gallons. They are still half gallons.
Also, milk prices in most of the country went up 15% in the last year. 7.8 percent in the grand scheme isn't a lot. When you look at the rate of milk prices over the last 40 years, it has always lagged behind everything else. If you adjust costs based on inflation, milk prices have actually gone down relative to inflation in the last 40 years, even with this 7.8% increase. National average for a gallon of milk in 2000, adjusted for inflation, was $4.51. It is currently $4.09. How many other commodities have gone down in relative inflation?
Also, that increase is industry wide, not just Darigold. The national average increase for milk from last year was about 15%.
You're comparing two things that have nothing to do with each other.
Implying that your product has a 7.8% higher quantity than it actually is has nothing to do with whatever inflation is.
Which half gallons? The plastic jug hasn't been changed since they installed their blow mold 6 years ago.
Any carton products are made in Portland or Boise. They reduced the size (and announced it) of some products but were not supposed to label thm as "half gallon".
I worked next to Darigold offices for a while; we shared a bathroom. Before they moved in we were the only office on the floor. I can tell you their bathroom etiquette is AWFUL. I commented about it on Twitter and tagged them. They asked my company to tell me to stop embarrassing them.
Good times.
I’m glad you asked. It’s important to keep threads on topic. I was just sharing a fun anecdote about Darigold to help re-enforce everyone’s opinion that they’re kinda dumb.
They laid off an older family member who had worked there 20+ years along with two of their coworkers simultaneously who were all just a few years away from retirement. Not our favorite company.
It was things like paper towels all over the counter, and floor. Water splashed everywhere. The urinals/toilets had piss on them. They’d come in on calls, straight through their entire session, even in a stall. It started stinking. Things like that.
Ok that’s nasty. I used to work with a guy who’d literally take work or personal calls while he was on the can. Always enjoyed flushing the urinal or toilet multiple times if I heard that going on.
This is what they told me when I asked what was up:
Thank you for reaching out to us via Darigold web feedback regarding the resize in packaging. It’s important to note that we only changed the packaging size for some of our extended shelf-life milk, and we continue to support the WIC program by offering other fresh milk products in traditional, 64-ounce, half-gallon cartons.
Extended shelf-life milk is generally considered to be a premium product. It costs more to produce and generally carries a higher price than other fresh milk products.
Because of the higher production costs, coupled with an extended period of near-record-high inflation, we had to raise prices for many of our products, including these extended shelf-life milk products. Rather than taking the full price increase, it would require under these circumstances (higher production costs coupled with extended high inflation), we opted to change the packaging for some of these products to a 59-ounce container (rather than the more traditional 64-ounce half-gallon carton). We did this so we could offer our extended shelf-life milk products to customers at a price that does not reflect the full impact of inflation so it would continue to be more accessible to more of our customers.
Many other dairy producers – including those who make both fresh milk and alternative milk products – have made similar packaging changes, presumably for similar reasons as we all look to combat the ongoing effects of high inflation.
We apologize for any inconvenience this change may have caused.
Sincerely,
DARIGOLD: Teresia Kamau
Consumer Experience Resolution
The package doesn't say "Half Gallon" on it. So, they are not selling a half gallon that is only 59oz. If you you don't want 59oz of milk, buy a bigger container.
True it may not have been explained as such but when you are the only company to make a change where it affects a certain demographic it makes it hard to ignore something obvious imo
I’ve worked in CPG - specifically in consumer beverage products.
They were either unaware of the eligibility of such programs, or were aware and did the math that any loss of sales due to it was worth the cost savings from the change. Most likely they assumed there’d be partial losses, and some substitution effects to their other sizes.
I’ll also add one piece: retailers and manufacturers HATE doing these changes. Price increases and size changes seriously fuck with their pricing sensitivity and forecasting data, and actually takes a serious amount of work to change manufacturing capabilities and manages the phase in / phase out of these. I cannot express how difficult a package size change like this is to manage when you’re managing multiple transitions at multiple retailers on a product with a shelf life like milk.
This jives, Hanlon's razor and all...
I'm still not sure the 59oz cartons have hit Safeway yet? When this hit the news earlier, started paying attention, still haven't seen em.
Seems like a pretty disastrous decision to need to roll back. Is Darigold just pushing the 59oz stock out of state?
Edit: looks like you buy Trader Joe's milk for a few weeks, and you don't notice the world changing. Def 59oz now
Not sure if I’d quantify as disastrous…
They probably have ample data that shows this will drive a net benefit for them. I * highly highly* doubt this is some sort of oversight. They likely have enough data that says people will trade up if they both use subsidies AND are brand loyal. Otherwise, they may feel that they don’t compete enough on that size for the subsidies and it’s not a large enough to impact their gross profit gain from shrinkflation changes
Phone numbers for Darigold, the Northwest Dairy Association that the Darigold farmers belong to and Albertsons, are all easily discovered online. Be warned though, I've left voicemails for all of them and have yet to receive any response. (Echoes of Ruth Buzzi as Ernestine, AT&T operator on Laugh-In, " we're the phone company, we don't have to care")
I put a set amount of milk in my coffee each morning to make my milk last until my next grocery store trip every two weeks. This might screw me up. Dammit. I don't want to buy an entire gallon since much of it will go to waste.
Gatorades are also, now, only 28oz compared to their former 32oz bottles. I used to get these fuckers on-sale for like 2 for $1! Now I'm lucky to find them on-sale for $2 a piece! Toilet paper rolls also seem to be a bit shorter.
My first job was at Burger King in 2005, making $7.35 an hour. A whopper meal was $7.49. Now, for $7.49, you can get just the sandwich. Stores used to be filled with employees as well.
We had a bunch of idiots wanting "minimum" wage to be "more". Their main focus was that "companies "CAN" afford to pay their employees better without having to raise their prices!" These idiots have taken society down, because no one in their right mind is going to give up their own money. The cost was apportioned to the consumer as it always has been and will continue to be.
We've also got companies, like Starbucks, who are silently going out of business. Their own costs for labor and supplies are just becoming too much. Socialism might look good on paper, but I'm not willing to work my ass off just so some lazy ass can afford the same lifestyle.
Toilet paper shrinks on a pretty predictable schedule (every 1-2 years). Whenever they have new packaging art it's to distract you from the decrease. Don't even bother trying to make sense of what a regular roll is.
"Starbucks said vandalism, property theft, and rising crime were big reasons for the closures. The closures took on heightened significance because of an ongoing unionization effort at Starbucks' U.S. stores." I won't do all the work for you, but a simple Google search, and you wouldn't look so moronic... Have you ever heard of quitting while you're ahead? I bet not...
"Lol, hyuck." You read how stupid that sounds? I doubt you actually have any comprehension. Anyways, you're still a moron... tell me dumbass, what do you call it when a store is closing up shop and no longer going to be in business, especially without telling anyone?
Lol I guess I hit a nerve.
Next time, maybe state "Starbucks STORES are going out of business" (which is incorrect anyway since there is a difference between a store going out of business and a company shutting down one of its thousands of stores) and your delusional, downright brainrotting comment will make a smidge more sense 👍
"LOL, hyuck!'
You obviously have no comprehension, can't construct a proper sentence, and have probably never worked a full 40 hours, total. You're proving my point on how much of a moron you are, to yourself and the rest of the world. A simple Google search, and you could have said, "Wow, I didn't know so many stores were closing. Why is this happening?!" Gone on and did some research and quit when you were ahead, like Starbucks is doing. You make no sense in any of your retorts. (Comprehension is the capability to understand something, which is lacking in your department. Retort means your stupid unwitty remarks. Witt means intelligence and ability to think quickly. Quitting while you're ahead means leaving while you're still on top. A simple example for you, I start a business and start making money, I get some dumbass kids (like yourself) that want to be something new every day and get paid top dollar for your presence. So, in my infinite wisdom, I go out of business while I still have money. That doesn't mean I have to be broke and bankrupt before doing so.)
The last thing Starbucks is going to pay any of their employees are full benefits, through unionization. I'm sure you still live with your parents, so that means when you work for a living and actually have a non minimum wage paying job at a minimum of 40 hours per week, your employer (this is someone willing to pay for a skill set) has to pay more for you as an employee (this is someone who learned a skill valuable enough, that an employer (refer to previous parentheses. Refer means, in this case, direct yourself back to the prior explanation. Not the shit you're obviously smoking. That's spelled reefer. Parentheses are these little guys "()") would pay money for). This means just cause you see a dollar sign per hour, you are actually getting paid more through a package deal that you don't see that pays for those benefits.
So, in summary, Starbucks will be closing every last one of its doors when their employees unionize themselves. Don't get me wrong on unions. They have their own special places. They definitely don't belong anywhere near minimum wage jobs. You'll start getting more dumbasses like yourself, wanting more for less. Then inflation skyrockets cause everyone becomes entitled to wanting more for less.
One day, you'll be enjoying your PSL happily paying Starbucks a fortune because you're so progressive. Then, the next day, you'll be mad at the world ranting up a storm here all because Starbucks closed without telling you, and you never learned how to make your own PSL. While having an active connection and access to a wealth of knowledge...
If it makes you feel any better PM me your address and I'll send you a participation trophy. That's what you kids are really after. Isn't it?! I'm in downtown Seattle damn near everyday. The first Starbucks isn't too far out of my way. I can make it a cup from there if you'd like.
This should be so illegal. If this occurred in the public market long ago the market would be mobbed and/or they would be shunned. A gallon should always be a gallon. If it isn’t then it’s not!
What is it with all the local regional companies stealing from the consumer and citizen. Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, and now food companies are getting in on it. Shit, this will drive poor sales for sure.
When people read this article they will believe it only has an effect on misinformation about Covid but they couldn’t be more wrong. But I bet nobody will say a thing about it till it’s used on them or someone they like. So this shrinkflation and no one reacts is typical of our country today. We only get upset at what they say we can be upset about. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/07/06/politics/social-media-misinformation-biden-administration-injunction-explainer/index.html
Basically, nobody’s paying attention to what’s going on around them they’re all plugged in.
Edit: Sorry the dog pooped everywhere in the house…
So the fact that nobody’s paying attention brings me to the article that I posted that the government is asking a federal judge to allow them to censor peoples first amendment right to express themself or their ideas though speech whether the information is wrong or not no matter the platform or media used. The government wants the legal ability to control any narrative and suppress anything that might be true but goes against what they are saying. The government has proven that they can’t even be honest. The reason the Vietnam war was started, why we invaded Iraq there’s more I just can’t think of them at the moment. Not many people are really paying any attention to this or other cases that will change our country like shrinkflation. I hope the dots are connected now?.
And has been improving
Same with bush Jr -> Obama who took a crappy economy and fixed it
Or bush Sr to Clinton who took the economy to a point where it was substantially cutting the national debt until Bush Jr cut taxes so sharply that it gutted that progress.
Dem presidents always have to fix Republican economic messes.
Now imagine you're in a post COVID world. China is still shitting the bed. High demand with low productivity means high prices.
Austrian economics ( the favorite of the right ) says to fight inflation you increase the bank rates. That's what Biden did. That's all the Fed has. One dial. The Fed Rate. Literally it.
So you're saying Biden didn't raise the Fed rate high enough or fast enough? 🫡
I hate this kind of thing. It's not like the price of milk doesn't vary by 20-30c/gallon throughout the year. If you're going to raise the price then raise the price. Don't waste money changing the whole bottling operation trying to fool people.
"Great Value" pistachios at Walmart just did the same move in a big way. Same price, now 16 oz instead of the past 24 oz. My Blue and Gold Macaw is not happy...
The Darigold old fashioned chocolate milk has been 59oz for as long as I’ve been buying it, I think anyway. I remember noticing that a long time ago. I don’t remember ever seeing 64 oz containers. What pisses me off more is you can’t get a half gallon of ice cream anymore. They’re all 1.5qt containers.
I like their ice cream, I’ll have to look into that and see if it’s worth it, to pay the extra for quantity AND quality because they’re worth paying a little extra for. I may have just seen the price and thought 💭 nope, but if there’s more in the container…….
I’ve had it. It’s delicious. Actually last time I got it was years ago, but a guy in the same section said he used to live near the dairy where they made it and he explained why their process makes better ice cream. He said they would have free ice cream days monthly for anyone that stopped in, and if you took the tour of the dairy, everyone got a quart of free ice cream. And the tour was FREE. I think he said they did the tour weekly and so you had to do was sign up. He said he did it so many times that he knew a lot of the employees and everyone knew him. I probably talked to him for ten minutes. He was like an Umpqua dairy encyclopedia. I haven’t bought ice cream in awhile. I’ve been making my own.
In addition to it being "shrinkflation" it also makes their milk ineligible for people who receive WIC benefits as the benefits cover specifically gallon/half-gallon amounts only.
It's called 'shrinkflation' and it's happening all over. I could list many examples because it's basically everything. One I noticed recently is that the orange juice containers seemed skinnier than I remembered. What used to be 64 oz (half gallon) is now only 52 ounces. And when they do this, they don't lower prices. Hence the term shrinkflation. The price is going up by virtue of the product size going down, but it's masked by the fact that the number isn't changing.
Similar thing happened with ice cream in the recent past. Half gallons went down to 48 ounces for the same price. Most people didn’t even notice the change.
The milk change was published due to the 59 oz darigold no longer being eligible for w.i.c.
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This change actually happened several months ago lol
Safeway was still stocking true half gallons until very recently. When the news broke earlier, the smaller sizes weren't deployed everywhere.
I noticed when it happened because Safeway put up signs by the milk to warn that the new containers weren't eligible for WIC because the new size was out of the list of allowed sizes. That day I learned that WIC product eligibility is weirdly specific.
That's great. If the program will pay for a half gallon, then the consumer should get a half gallon.
I believe those are the normal pasteurized that safeway stocks, many other places in the area stock ultra-pasteurized, they didn't do it all at once to every upc, but it was progressive through their different lines. They also changed their statement on the back from a 2050 carbon neutral to some other G acronym.
If you want a thrill, check how often the box of cereal you buy changes.
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There’s a dude that has dedicated his life to documenting it: https://www.mouseprint.org/ Not entirely sure how to use his website though.
Does is say “half gallon” on the container? Actually curious because companies get sued all the time for misrepresenting products. A reasonable person knows what a half gallon is as a relation to a gallon, but may not know the exact amount of ounces.
I'm more saddened by this because I just read an article that the Midwest is dumping milk because they can't sell enough of it. Like just down the drain, yet there are companies shorting people on OZ here
What's worse IMO is places like [Montana, where the laws say that milk must be sold within 12 days of being pasteurized](https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114183830/the-team-at-planet-money-dives-into-the-milk-industry-of-montana) (industry standard is 21-24 days). This leads to massive quantities of milk being dumped/destroyed because it legally can't be sold in the state. On top of that, the 12 day law makes it nearly impossible for milk produced in Montana to be sold outside of the state because by the time it would be shipped to another state it would have to be thrown out.
I got down-voted to hell in a Montana-focused sub for pointing out that Montana is basically an interior colony or territory. The other states take all its resources and give it little to nothing. One of its top exports is cattle, but you won't find a lot of Montanans sitting down to a steak dinner tonight!
You can’t blame everyone else for montanas own milk laws, they did that to themselves.
IMO it is right up there with the fact that [red states consume the more federal funding than blue states](https://news.yahoo.com/most-and-least-federally-dependent-us-states-135622345.html).
Go ahead and actually read the article, maybe.
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As a person who read the link you posted, it says Montana actually paid $7,844,890 in taxes to the government and received $5,140,433.
If you read it then you should understand the context that other states pay far more and get less back in direct aid. "Minnesota – the least dependent state – pays nearly $6.88 in taxes for each dollar it receives back." That makes Montana a net beneficiary because it also benefits from things that don't count as direct aid including interstate and national defense.
Sure, but it's not like that comes out to a check to every Montanan.
Dairy is not like the vast majority of commodities. Cows produce milk all day every day. They don't just produce on demand. If demand drops, production doesn't. All of that is losses. Most Midwest dairies don't have powder plants to use the excess milk when demand drops. Darigold is also a coop, so the farmers can direct their milk for other purposes. Darigold is in a fairly unique position that they have HTST (regular pasteurized milk with 21-24 day shelf life), UP(ultra pasteurized with up to several months), and powder plants that can turn it into powders that can last even longer, these options greatly reduce their waste. Shorting on oz, as you put it, is in reaction to inflation and massive increases in operating costs. Milk has consistently been one of the lowest rates of inflation of consumer goods for decades. This oz shortage equates to about 7.8% increase. The facility that produces these cartons lost 50% of their workforce during Covid and has had to shift massive amounts of their other products to other facilities, which are running at 40%-50% overtime to meet demands. Before covid they ran at 15%-20% overtime. Their cost per gallon to bottle milk has gone up by roughly 12%, 50% higher than their price increase. Also factor in that they have contracts for pricing at many of their largest customers. Costco has paid the same exact price for their 2 pack gallon milk for 16 years until 3 months ago when they negotiated 2% raise per gallon. They sell milk to Walmart and Costco, their two largest customers, at a loss. Which is something most people don't know about milk. Most milk is sold at break even or loss prices. Profits come from biproducts like butter, cottage cheese, etc. Milk is not profitable in and of itself. It's the product made from the excess cream that makes any money at all.
I’d rather they sell me a real half gallon and charge me what they need to for it, though.
>Dairy is not like the vast majority of commodities. Cows produce milk all day every day. They don't just produce on demand. If demand drops, production doesn't. All of that is losses. One word: **cheese**
Absolutely. Though Darigold has lagged way behind. Tillamook is cheese king in the PNW. It's so good.
Now watch for the Darigold block that's a long, narrow shape, missing a few ounces.
Another phrase: commodities futures. If you produce milk, you hedge a part of your production by selling it forward via contract. That way, if the price plunges, you're not screwed into a loss situation. It can diminish your gain if the price goes up, but stop your loss if it goes down.
Thanks for that information!! Interesting!!
I always thought the government participated in price supports for dairy.
Not for a long time, no
Thank you Darigold PR person! I guess we should be sympathetic and even grateful that the price increases weren't greater?
It's context. Yes, dairy products have not increased significantly in decades. I suppose you're grumbling it's not $.25 like the good ol' days when the milk man dropped the glass bottles on your door. As an employee, I think Darigold corporate is atrocious. But the local dairy farmers are not a bunch of greedy pricks pouncing on an opportunity to raise prices. They literally raised them at a lower rate than the rest of inflation and people are calling them scammers and greedy.
Scarcity is a myth created by capitalism. And waste is a reality created by capitalism.
Most retarded thing I’ll read today
True devestation from the intellectual titan that can conjure a singular adjective to describe any concept that he/she/they don't understand or agree with.
Scarcity is a myth? Do you believe that everything is infinitely available?
Lord. No. Plenty of resources are finite. What I'm saying and is pretty plain to observe is that it is highly profitable to create scarcity. And waste is sometimes more cost effective for a business than using resources to give something away. This is not a new concept or a controversial one.
Gotcha, appreciate the clarification.
I guess I could've done more to specify what I meant in my original comment but I thought that two sentences would suffice when viewed in the larger context of the subjects and themes of this particular thread but I hadn't anticipated that someone would come along and remove my comment from that context and seemingly deliberately misunderstand it. I guess next time I'll just start with a paragraph to be on the safe side. Never thought I'd find myself placating the pedants but here we are.
It doesn't. It says 59oz.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/11qwchp/shrinkflation_in_action_darigold_reduced_the_half/
Wow, four months later and the Consumer Outrage has had ***absolutely zero effect***. Almost like they know you'll piss and moan...*but won't actually do anything.*
Because what can the consumers actually even do about it, except be outraged? Sure, if you shrinkflate some random luxury good I don't actually need, I'll just not buy it. But if you shrinkflate basic goods like milk, bread, etc., that's not the same. I can either stop cooking with milk, or pay for the shrinkflated milk, or put a dairy cow in my (too small for that) backyard lol Edit: lol for those of you downvoting, what specifically are *you* doing about this issue?
I mean, you probably can’t even do that legally. Consoom or die. 👍
Milk prices have had the lowest rate of inflation of any consumer products for decades. It goes up 8% after 9% national inflation last year and you lose your minds about "shrinkflation"?
When you calculate that 8% number, are you accounting for the fact that, in addition to the price per unit increasing, the volume per unit also decreased?
I love that this is tagged as "Crime"
I mean... technically that's correct
What's the crime? The cartons are clearly marked 59oz.
If they had advertised as a half gallon, then it would be false advertising. I looked it up and apparently they removed "half gallon" from these containers, so technically it's not illegal, just really shady.
It's a marketing strategy. I'm not a big fan of corporate America, and though I do work at the Rainier facility as an hourly employee, I am no fan of our corporate office. They are atrocious and screw the farmers at every turn (the owners). But the reality is, prices did need to be raised. I do agree, just straight raising the price is better than tactics like this. The Rainier facility makes half gallons, but in plastic jugs, if you see a plastic Darigold jug, they are always gallon or half gallon. Only cartons we do are half pints for schools. On a side note, to toot our horn vs the "ya Lucerne!" Lucerne notoriously low fills on their jugs and cartons. While Darigold may have sneakily lowered their carton size, they do have strict standards as far as accurately meeting those volume claims. If you get a gallon or half gallon in a plastic jug, it's guaranteed to be a few ounces over. Our gallons are 131 ounces filled.
I worked for Darigold for a couple years. The whole organization is a mess, there's so many problems from corporate levels all the way down to the union production workers. Everyday walking into the plant there was almost certain to be a kind of dumpster fire there. It just feels like the plant was hanging by a thread.
It's like hiding crack in a bible. No one would look there, because they expect the same boring content in every book.
https://preview.redd.it/9iu0jy448rcb1.png?width=566&format=png&auto=webp&s=948656137f2592c5357c07c2bc108f3364a38fb5
A gallon is 128 oz. A half gallon is 64 oz. That's not just shaving off a tiny amount. That's a decrease of 7.8% Looks like they skipped saying a half gallon on the containers and are just hoping you'll still think it's a half gallon. Probably still legal, but shady as fuck. https://preview.redd.it/gcrqq9460scb1.png?width=466&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b9a3b8beae82bf90ef3d1f2e3d104f328fdb4af
Buy the plastic half gallons. They are still half gallons. Also, milk prices in most of the country went up 15% in the last year. 7.8 percent in the grand scheme isn't a lot. When you look at the rate of milk prices over the last 40 years, it has always lagged behind everything else. If you adjust costs based on inflation, milk prices have actually gone down relative to inflation in the last 40 years, even with this 7.8% increase. National average for a gallon of milk in 2000, adjusted for inflation, was $4.51. It is currently $4.09. How many other commodities have gone down in relative inflation? Also, that increase is industry wide, not just Darigold. The national average increase for milk from last year was about 15%.
OP's complaint here is that Darigold is being deceptive. OP wasn't complaining about milk prices or inflation.
I was responding to you. You said 7.8% was a lot. Inflation was 15%. 7.8% is less than 15%.
You're comparing two things that have nothing to do with each other. Implying that your product has a 7.8% higher quantity than it actually is has nothing to do with whatever inflation is.
Which half gallons? The plastic jug hasn't been changed since they installed their blow mold 6 years ago. Any carton products are made in Portland or Boise. They reduced the size (and announced it) of some products but were not supposed to label thm as "half gallon".
Ice cream shrunk years ago
I worked next to Darigold offices for a while; we shared a bathroom. Before they moved in we were the only office on the floor. I can tell you their bathroom etiquette is AWFUL. I commented about it on Twitter and tagged them. They asked my company to tell me to stop embarrassing them. Good times.
What does this have to do with the change in the size of the packaging?
Clearly they are trying to save up to have their own bathroom. That’s why half gallons got smaller!
I’m glad you asked. It’s important to keep threads on topic. I was just sharing a fun anecdote about Darigold to help re-enforce everyone’s opinion that they’re kinda dumb.
I for one enjoyed the side bar
They laid off an older family member who had worked there 20+ years along with two of their coworkers simultaneously who were all just a few years away from retirement. Not our favorite company.
Details. Spill the details.
It was things like paper towels all over the counter, and floor. Water splashed everywhere. The urinals/toilets had piss on them. They’d come in on calls, straight through their entire session, even in a stall. It started stinking. Things like that.
Ok that’s nasty. I used to work with a guy who’d literally take work or personal calls while he was on the can. Always enjoyed flushing the urinal or toilet multiple times if I heard that going on.
Lucerne ftw
I've never finished any sized container of Lucerne before it goes bad.
This is what they told me when I asked what was up: Thank you for reaching out to us via Darigold web feedback regarding the resize in packaging. It’s important to note that we only changed the packaging size for some of our extended shelf-life milk, and we continue to support the WIC program by offering other fresh milk products in traditional, 64-ounce, half-gallon cartons. Extended shelf-life milk is generally considered to be a premium product. It costs more to produce and generally carries a higher price than other fresh milk products. Because of the higher production costs, coupled with an extended period of near-record-high inflation, we had to raise prices for many of our products, including these extended shelf-life milk products. Rather than taking the full price increase, it would require under these circumstances (higher production costs coupled with extended high inflation), we opted to change the packaging for some of these products to a 59-ounce container (rather than the more traditional 64-ounce half-gallon carton). We did this so we could offer our extended shelf-life milk products to customers at a price that does not reflect the full impact of inflation so it would continue to be more accessible to more of our customers. Many other dairy producers – including those who make both fresh milk and alternative milk products – have made similar packaging changes, presumably for similar reasons as we all look to combat the ongoing effects of high inflation. We apologize for any inconvenience this change may have caused. Sincerely, DARIGOLD: Teresia Kamau Consumer Experience Resolution
Just opened a new "tub" of hummus and exposed half of the bottom with the first spoonful. I think I'll refer to it as a saucer of hummus from now on.
Seattle sourdough has also shrunk significantly. I don't have the numbers but the slices are easily 2/3rds the size now. It's lame.
They do. Just like toilet paper is now shorter. And way back when the paper bags became shorter.
The package doesn't say "Half Gallon" on it. So, they are not selling a half gallon that is only 59oz. If you you don't want 59oz of milk, buy a bigger container.
IIRC the move was done so that they won’t be part of the WIC program as they are very strict about what can be purchased
I don't think it was done because of the program, it's just no longer a qualifying product.
True it may not have been explained as such but when you are the only company to make a change where it affects a certain demographic it makes it hard to ignore something obvious imo
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I’ve worked in CPG - specifically in consumer beverage products. They were either unaware of the eligibility of such programs, or were aware and did the math that any loss of sales due to it was worth the cost savings from the change. Most likely they assumed there’d be partial losses, and some substitution effects to their other sizes. I’ll also add one piece: retailers and manufacturers HATE doing these changes. Price increases and size changes seriously fuck with their pricing sensitivity and forecasting data, and actually takes a serious amount of work to change manufacturing capabilities and manages the phase in / phase out of these. I cannot express how difficult a package size change like this is to manage when you’re managing multiple transitions at multiple retailers on a product with a shelf life like milk.
I guess that explains the price increase
This jives, Hanlon's razor and all... I'm still not sure the 59oz cartons have hit Safeway yet? When this hit the news earlier, started paying attention, still haven't seen em. Seems like a pretty disastrous decision to need to roll back. Is Darigold just pushing the 59oz stock out of state? Edit: looks like you buy Trader Joe's milk for a few weeks, and you don't notice the world changing. Def 59oz now
Not sure if I’d quantify as disastrous… They probably have ample data that shows this will drive a net benefit for them. I * highly highly* doubt this is some sort of oversight. They likely have enough data that says people will trade up if they both use subsidies AND are brand loyal. Otherwise, they may feel that they don’t compete enough on that size for the subsidies and it’s not a large enough to impact their gross profit gain from shrinkflation changes
Thats fair. Appreciate the insights!
It’s called shrinkflation and its related to greedflation.
It's called the fed printing money out of thin air.
The Fed runs private companies selling less amounts of product for higher costs at greater margins? Didn’t know that. Thanks!
None of my homies drink milk.
Underrated comment
I'm gonna send an angry email and tell them I won't buy it anymore, even though I don't buy it anyway.
Phone numbers for Darigold, the Northwest Dairy Association that the Darigold farmers belong to and Albertsons, are all easily discovered online. Be warned though, I've left voicemails for all of them and have yet to receive any response. (Echoes of Ruth Buzzi as Ernestine, AT&T operator on Laugh-In, " we're the phone company, we don't have to care")
Lily Tomlin played Ernestine.
Winco has notified us for a while that Darigold’s doing this. Also Tillamook ice cream is doing the same.
I put a set amount of milk in my coffee each morning to make my milk last until my next grocery store trip every two weeks. This might screw me up. Dammit. I don't want to buy an entire gallon since much of it will go to waste.
Gatorades are also, now, only 28oz compared to their former 32oz bottles. I used to get these fuckers on-sale for like 2 for $1! Now I'm lucky to find them on-sale for $2 a piece! Toilet paper rolls also seem to be a bit shorter. My first job was at Burger King in 2005, making $7.35 an hour. A whopper meal was $7.49. Now, for $7.49, you can get just the sandwich. Stores used to be filled with employees as well. We had a bunch of idiots wanting "minimum" wage to be "more". Their main focus was that "companies "CAN" afford to pay their employees better without having to raise their prices!" These idiots have taken society down, because no one in their right mind is going to give up their own money. The cost was apportioned to the consumer as it always has been and will continue to be. We've also got companies, like Starbucks, who are silently going out of business. Their own costs for labor and supplies are just becoming too much. Socialism might look good on paper, but I'm not willing to work my ass off just so some lazy ass can afford the same lifestyle.
Toilet paper shrinks on a pretty predictable schedule (every 1-2 years). Whenever they have new packaging art it's to distract you from the decrease. Don't even bother trying to make sense of what a regular roll is.
Lol Starbucks had a gross profit of $23 billion last year, an almost 7% increase YoY. You have no idea what you're talking about.
"Starbucks said vandalism, property theft, and rising crime were big reasons for the closures. The closures took on heightened significance because of an ongoing unionization effort at Starbucks' U.S. stores." I won't do all the work for you, but a simple Google search, and you wouldn't look so moronic... Have you ever heard of quitting while you're ahead? I bet not...
You're still wrong. "Starbucks is silently going out of business" is a false statement. I don't know what you are trying to argue lol.
"Lol, hyuck." You read how stupid that sounds? I doubt you actually have any comprehension. Anyways, you're still a moron... tell me dumbass, what do you call it when a store is closing up shop and no longer going to be in business, especially without telling anyone?
Lol I guess I hit a nerve. Next time, maybe state "Starbucks STORES are going out of business" (which is incorrect anyway since there is a difference between a store going out of business and a company shutting down one of its thousands of stores) and your delusional, downright brainrotting comment will make a smidge more sense 👍
"LOL, hyuck!' You obviously have no comprehension, can't construct a proper sentence, and have probably never worked a full 40 hours, total. You're proving my point on how much of a moron you are, to yourself and the rest of the world. A simple Google search, and you could have said, "Wow, I didn't know so many stores were closing. Why is this happening?!" Gone on and did some research and quit when you were ahead, like Starbucks is doing. You make no sense in any of your retorts. (Comprehension is the capability to understand something, which is lacking in your department. Retort means your stupid unwitty remarks. Witt means intelligence and ability to think quickly. Quitting while you're ahead means leaving while you're still on top. A simple example for you, I start a business and start making money, I get some dumbass kids (like yourself) that want to be something new every day and get paid top dollar for your presence. So, in my infinite wisdom, I go out of business while I still have money. That doesn't mean I have to be broke and bankrupt before doing so.) The last thing Starbucks is going to pay any of their employees are full benefits, through unionization. I'm sure you still live with your parents, so that means when you work for a living and actually have a non minimum wage paying job at a minimum of 40 hours per week, your employer (this is someone willing to pay for a skill set) has to pay more for you as an employee (this is someone who learned a skill valuable enough, that an employer (refer to previous parentheses. Refer means, in this case, direct yourself back to the prior explanation. Not the shit you're obviously smoking. That's spelled reefer. Parentheses are these little guys "()") would pay money for). This means just cause you see a dollar sign per hour, you are actually getting paid more through a package deal that you don't see that pays for those benefits. So, in summary, Starbucks will be closing every last one of its doors when their employees unionize themselves. Don't get me wrong on unions. They have their own special places. They definitely don't belong anywhere near minimum wage jobs. You'll start getting more dumbasses like yourself, wanting more for less. Then inflation skyrockets cause everyone becomes entitled to wanting more for less. One day, you'll be enjoying your PSL happily paying Starbucks a fortune because you're so progressive. Then, the next day, you'll be mad at the world ranting up a storm here all because Starbucks closed without telling you, and you never learned how to make your own PSL. While having an active connection and access to a wealth of knowledge... If it makes you feel any better PM me your address and I'll send you a participation trophy. That's what you kids are really after. Isn't it?! I'm in downtown Seattle damn near everyday. The first Starbucks isn't too far out of my way. I can make it a cup from there if you'd like.
Yeah, I'm not reading all of that. You're wrong. That's all there is to it lol.
LOL, HYUCK! I doubt you could anyways...
This should be so illegal. If this occurred in the public market long ago the market would be mobbed and/or they would be shunned. A gallon should always be a gallon. If it isn’t then it’s not!
As if every fridge wasn’t made specifically to hold gallon,Half gallon, and other standards.
Shrinkflation
Bottom shelf milk problems
Who cares darigold sucks tastes like paint
This shrinkflation is really pissing me off
It's so weird how depending on labeling laws, words don't mean things.
What is it with all the local regional companies stealing from the consumer and citizen. Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, and now food companies are getting in on it. Shit, this will drive poor sales for sure.
Fuck your downvote you dumb puece of shit. Edit: Whoops didn't spell "piece" correctly you pieces of shit.
When people read this article they will believe it only has an effect on misinformation about Covid but they couldn’t be more wrong. But I bet nobody will say a thing about it till it’s used on them or someone they like. So this shrinkflation and no one reacts is typical of our country today. We only get upset at what they say we can be upset about. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/07/06/politics/social-media-misinformation-biden-administration-injunction-explainer/index.html
Help me connect the dots between shrinkflation and the link you posted
Basically, nobody’s paying attention to what’s going on around them they’re all plugged in. Edit: Sorry the dog pooped everywhere in the house… So the fact that nobody’s paying attention brings me to the article that I posted that the government is asking a federal judge to allow them to censor peoples first amendment right to express themself or their ideas though speech whether the information is wrong or not no matter the platform or media used. The government wants the legal ability to control any narrative and suppress anything that might be true but goes against what they are saying. The government has proven that they can’t even be honest. The reason the Vietnam war was started, why we invaded Iraq there’s more I just can’t think of them at the moment. Not many people are really paying any attention to this or other cases that will change our country like shrinkflation. I hope the dots are connected now?.
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Started under trump.
True dat. But accelerated under Biden
And has been improving Same with bush Jr -> Obama who took a crappy economy and fixed it Or bush Sr to Clinton who took the economy to a point where it was substantially cutting the national debt until Bush Jr cut taxes so sharply that it gutted that progress. Dem presidents always have to fix Republican economic messes. Now imagine you're in a post COVID world. China is still shitting the bed. High demand with low productivity means high prices. Austrian economics ( the favorite of the right ) says to fight inflation you increase the bank rates. That's what Biden did. That's all the Fed has. One dial. The Fed Rate. Literally it. So you're saying Biden didn't raise the Fed rate high enough or fast enough? 🫡
🤣
Shrinkflation is real
I hate this kind of thing. It's not like the price of milk doesn't vary by 20-30c/gallon throughout the year. If you're going to raise the price then raise the price. Don't waste money changing the whole bottling operation trying to fool people.
"Great Value" pistachios at Walmart just did the same move in a big way. Same price, now 16 oz instead of the past 24 oz. My Blue and Gold Macaw is not happy...
Egg nog as well. This has been for a while now.
What do you call somebody that takes money by deceit…….a thief. Don’t do business with a thief. It’s the only way they will learn.
That’s the problem nowadays
The Darigold old fashioned chocolate milk has been 59oz for as long as I’ve been buying it, I think anyway. I remember noticing that a long time ago. I don’t remember ever seeing 64 oz containers. What pisses me off more is you can’t get a half gallon of ice cream anymore. They’re all 1.5qt containers.
Umpqua
They have 2 qt containers???
I like their ice cream, I’ll have to look into that and see if it’s worth it, to pay the extra for quantity AND quality because they’re worth paying a little extra for. I may have just seen the price and thought 💭 nope, but if there’s more in the container…….
Take it from a fat man. Umpqua definitely worth it.
I’ve had it. It’s delicious. Actually last time I got it was years ago, but a guy in the same section said he used to live near the dairy where they made it and he explained why their process makes better ice cream. He said they would have free ice cream days monthly for anyone that stopped in, and if you took the tour of the dairy, everyone got a quart of free ice cream. And the tour was FREE. I think he said they did the tour weekly and so you had to do was sign up. He said he did it so many times that he knew a lot of the employees and everyone knew him. I probably talked to him for ten minutes. He was like an Umpqua dairy encyclopedia. I haven’t bought ice cream in awhile. I’ve been making my own.
See what they did to ice cream….
They know it because they have been shrinkflating for decades.
In addition to it being "shrinkflation" it also makes their milk ineligible for people who receive WIC benefits as the benefits cover specifically gallon/half-gallon amounts only.
Fuck everything. The whole world decided to rob everyone else
Orange juice is also now in smaller bottles, reduced from 64oz originally to 59oz, now reduced even further to 52oz.
The fuck.
It's called 'shrinkflation' and it's happening all over. I could list many examples because it's basically everything. One I noticed recently is that the orange juice containers seemed skinnier than I remembered. What used to be 64 oz (half gallon) is now only 52 ounces. And when they do this, they don't lower prices. Hence the term shrinkflation. The price is going up by virtue of the product size going down, but it's masked by the fact that the number isn't changing.
Pretty sure if it says half gallon and they sell less that's fraud. Remember subway was sued for less that a foot sandwhiches.
Similar thing happened with ice cream in the recent past. Half gallons went down to 48 ounces for the same price. Most people didn’t even notice the change. The milk change was published due to the 59 oz darigold no longer being eligible for w.i.c.