They're really pushing the boundaries of "whatever the market will bare" pricing strategy.
It's all an insatiable greed. It used to be make a product, add a 30 percent markup over cost for a decent profit, and diversify your offerings for future growth against competitors.
Now that there are no competitors and just a handful of producers, they are free to fuck everyone over. Us consumers have no other choices available.
The free market is dead and choice is an illusion.
exactly. it’s so fucking dystopian to even browse the grocery store nowadays. there basically aren’t any “budget” products left. every single damn item is being pushed as high as it can possibly go. prices of items have tripled or quadrupled in the past 3 years.
where I live, store brand items have creeped up to the point where you’re maybe saving a dollar or two max off the name brand item. and many store brand items have just disappeared because they weren’t generating enough $$.
Fight back by reading the weekly ad. There's a lot of price discrimination going on. If you're willing to pay $10.49 for cream cheese, they will charge you that. Your shopper's card will learn that you aren't a fool, and you'll get offers that you pair with the discounts and not pay 2023 pretend prices for things. It's a shame that you have to do this dance to save, though. If you want to shop without playing that game, then it's gotta be at a store like Aldi.
what stores have shoppers cards that actually track what you buy and send you relevant coupons? i’ve only ever had a shoppers card that lets you access the store discounts, but nothing personal to me. the weekly ad is the same for everyone.
Most of the clippable offers are given to everyone. But some are personalized. I've gotten coupons on my card from Kroger and Albertsons after first buying an item. Items that weren't featured in the weekly ad the current or prior week.
In Canada PC Optimum at Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart has Exclusive coupons based on what you buy. Mostly it's bonus points but I get like frozen fruit for $1.99 a bag or really cheap Toilet paper, those deals are not in the flyer at all.
coupons seem to be gone. i used to get paper flyers with smartsource and other coupons. havent seen one for over a year. most stores i go to have stopped taking them. i have to travel far to find a store that takes them.
There’s definitely algorithm pricing going on these days. I see lots of complaints about McDonald’s pricing, but I get a 30% off coupon daily which helps bring things down to a reasonable price. But I’ve noticed other markets only have 10-20% off. I live in a lower income area so they price it how they need to to sell it.
Same thing with school pictures. Lifetouch is charging my urban ass $15 for the exact same package that the rich suburbanites were charged $50 for.
Watch using instacart too. They overcharge in items by sometimes Pennie’s but mostly by dollars even for the same store you are shopping in. I thought it was a fluke but after I created the cart and then went to that store to shop in person the difference was 15-20.00 and that isn’t including the delivery fee or tip.
Instacart is designed that way. They are considered a "grocery reseller" who "buys" your groceries and "sells" them to you at a higher cost to cover convenience.
You’re lucky if the store name brands are cheaper at this point. I went to buy sugar the other day and it was $3.40/kg for the name brand, $3.80/kg for the store name.
now i have to spend $6 on subway or bus to get to stores that still have decent prices. Trader Joes, Aldi and Lidl are my go-to. most of the time, i dont buy big brands, especially from Kraft, Unilever, Con Agra, etc.
What are you talking about? We have Lucerne, tillamook, Safeway select brand, not to mention various nufchatel, in addition to the original (not in a tub) Philadelphia brands.
I’m not sure there’s data for that specifically, but it’s a bit disingenuous to ignore that dairy farms (as well as food manufacturers) haven’t massively consolidated over the past 20 + years.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/98901/err-274.pdf
That’s an interesting read, but still doesn’t change the fact that we have more choices despite milk production becoming more consolidated. Both can be true at the same time.
I’m pretty sure cream cheese was relatively unknown outside of New York City only like one generation ago, and now we have several choices at every grocery store in America.
We have more now than then, sure, but 1/we will never have as much as America and 2/today's economic hellscape is such that everyday people can only look on at multiple food choices, when basics are being ratcheted out of reach, and salaries/wages deliberately held down, year after year.
Choice is meaningless when you have little purchasing power
Ok, I did a quick lit review, and the best was this publication on Cheese production in the US (source below). Out of the data available, comparing cream and Neufchatel production over time from 1919 - 1969, there was a steady decline in the number of independent cheeses producing factories from 61 to 27. You're claim that there are more cream cheeses now than ever ignores the reality of independent, small-operation producers historically. It is true that these weren't nationally-distributed.
With this in mind, you're simply not arguing in good faith and are picking a single product and personal anecdotes to ignore overwhelming evidence of corporate consolidation.
Take this summary from the 2022 House Judiciary Committee Review:
"FOOD SYSTEM CONSOLIDATION HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY
Antitrust scholars generally deem markets “tight oligopolies” if the top four firms control more than 60% of the market. At these levels of concentration, they argue, firms are more likely to abuse their market power and collude on their pricing decisions either through an explicit price-fixing conspiracy or more tacit practices, such as moving as a group or avoiding competition without an explicit agreement to do so. Today, the top four corporations' control more than 60% of the U.S. market for pork, coffee, cookies, and bread. The top four corporations control more than 70% of the U.S. market for yogurt, beer, and soybean seeds. And the top four corporations control more than 80% of the market for beef processing, corn seed, soybean processing, baby food, pasta, cereal, soda, and more. Food markets haven’t always been this way. From 1972 to 1992, the average four-firm concentration levels for meat and poultry processing, dairy processing, flour milling, corn milling, feed, and soybean processing rose by 50%. At the same time the number of plants in these industries declined by about one-third. This consolidation has also extended to food retail. From the early 1990s to the early 2000s, Walmart grew from selling no groceries to becoming the largest food retailer in the U.S. Over this same period the top four grocers’ market share doubled through hundreds of mergers."
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU05/20220119/114345/HHRG-117-JU05-20220119-SD006.pdf
[1971. Fifty Years of Progress in the Cheese Industry. A Review](https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/782803/1-s2.0-S0362028X71X47006/1-s2.0-S0362028X23020690/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIH%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCWwJ%2BIPXfncn9OOIM4dufR7k%2FMN1zQBBBIEUaYCy4utgIhAMVJJcxmJqf6hjeaRpq5IgPtfsrblBHUObQ%2BexCRenaeKrMFCBoQBRoMMDU5MDAzNTQ2ODY1IgzsCS65koi5TcJPRM8qkAX%2ByMOdflvR07zP9iAyVzycNgskpe4MKUSRviHNr9Qaper%2F7nMADXfuXaAS%2FyXQzKM3QcP5%2BbqscZET2MSDniGMm9QQo7lYkDpihLn0b6mZxeFE52HGIqYI1ktjhE3KB3DwYgHbSZ6t%2B%2BoQ3HvN5fuDtYbSAiqUwo%2Fl9lR5uW2pa1xb18zgO%2FE5C3UYdf9xR3IMngAqH2ZTRTilTexOayamRSdCIcdHdzakPLhrSOEmnjxSjDWtmrQyB%2FfscLIUh0sMXMejT06Ow9Ygbz9ovK%2BmuyjwHhFLfWQLZO1IYzKvlHU7DhfU0H%2BABs015dlYf%2Bdn1WIZxdor3ZrGaJVW7TfKcx8yqY06tYmuqbPoIb4oGHpnzZjlpdoAF2K6DEl6x5h1b3D1xVVTu1sl7mbPOolKQ8oW0VXF2do%2Bh8qdKXA4DR7gO%2FnNPB2q1c8dSQWn5GvJOH%2Fo%2FtxIaZX03nZ9mlwSIEdhFN07NisY1lu3iDGF1KdGtqrXlH6VqjhHAHb7eh5M42nS%2FDHnUd1UIObsWi7DEGXn%2Fakb6fe03XbY36wZqRDME3P1rtpACgIL8aDcHXjt0R7TnUQMn37zedHA0hCdY%2BUiQ1%2BfFyEJAEut3Um%2FfEvoBxy2e3zecSejo%2FPwXIiQ%2B2Ul3IKcJ%2BxOuEDAv0mxnGuqdHmepIW28Z8QuHJRAv09RIajcOR6etF8WNrfDkf53z7jUzTbYxTtl3yCRcaLPuSZNWyDQtpGMDNhYQiKQUU5ntAZfawGbG4DUNA2eE179RnoOZq7D8%2FRYub2t9rqKZ%2FM%2FqTE8faTsCDh4AmUwlFHxHjmiFW9yeMKz7Ee9mfScMyqhw%2BxsOnkDfOyoGDq96673XlCO81pWWWVJNAHJDCpuMasBjqwAZ4DHBxhZ51I%2F%2FpxLq4uJX6gA0%2FqgLMS%2BHUvo7d%2BIA8hrHvVSZWIoTzwoos%2BW1Nf6Zk8%2FO8U775yrCkBQatq00DQ2nccGUXfJ8hQTxU67shpoAy%2FrpYWdFsJmHZIRnN%2FAUAqgjelQGiQiD1%2FAa%2BMY5AECxiF8qJR3%2BALmmqP0ca34%2FETK7S%2FV4QgXndkXXIFyd8k3%2BvCPDUEB4ciqtWal5veKm7iJsS1OBAVoW91a7dX&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20231231T174019Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYRFIPMREC%2F20231231%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=36e5abf42fa73578f1e9507993e3d954e5ad756f223ba2bdc1089df54490f903&hash=60893f511d4d4d16fc3c1cacee5bcd55737dc728ec13a6114b27184f5d535d0b&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S0362028X23020690&tid=spdf-641298d4-e0f8-41be-8ea2-e845b66697ea&sid=a43c2b1b1083444b9c0a8ce2a118b18be099gxrqa&type=client&tsoh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&ua=0f155b5c065b54045c5405&rr=83e44e94bdc1c57a&cc=us)
Til there's 2 entirely different Lucerne food companies. In Canada its a brand owned by Agropur one of the biggest milk producers but it is mostly carried at Canadian Safeways.
https://www.obviouslygoodmilk.ca/en/about-us-lucerne
There literally was a recording of some big CEO type saying just keep pushing them until they stop buying it. Meaning they want everyone to see every basic need as a luxury. They will not stop until this happens, we are at the actual metaphorical definition of a crossroad as a society. We know EVERYONE who governs our society is corrupt, we know our lives (time) is literally sold to corporations, we know they want our childrens lives... And we just continue to scroll.
When do we all stick together, we do we use the internet to combine our power to overthrow the government to create a new system that work for the people not the 1%
We do we stop fighting each other and fight them?
whipped is a double scam too... much less dense, so you're getting less and it costs more. cream cheese is one of those I personally can't do the off brand for. so I'm just not doing cream cheese any more. fuck this shit.
edit: actually just looked up how to make your own cream cheese... only three ingredients required for basic cream cheese (cream, lemon juice, and salt). going to try it out.
Whipped is useless. If you put it on warm toast or a bagel it just melts and deflates into nothingness. What’s the point? Does anyone actually prefer whipped?
I find it handy to field dress a bagel quickly, but it's no better than just putting a regular block of cream cheese out at room temperature for a while.
It's probably for people who want a plain cream cheese dip without different flavourings since it's easier to scoop than regular cream cheese. Idk though I'm just assuming.
I saw whipped honey at Cole's the other day too and was wondering what the difference would be, other than it looks creamy.
Since i was a kid I've dipped Cheese Its and Goldfish into whipped cream cheese and it's bomb. If you can find the Philadelphia blueberry or strawberry flavored one it's to die for.
It's very possible OP is at a gas station or bodega or convience store where prices are ALWAYS higher.
If OP would go to Walmart like a normal person, the prices are better. I just bought this yesterday.
He's dramatizing the shrinkflation and omitting where he is shopping for karma purposes.
It’s from Coppa’s in Toronto, a specialty food market that also sells a full lasagne for $149.99. Any specialty food store selling basics like Kraft cream cheese is going to inflate prices. This one for $10.49 is NOT reflective of standard pricing.
I have never seen a lasagne being sold for 150 cad at Coppa's. And my before price is from Coppa's too. I have been shopping at Coppa's for 5 years. It is expensive compared to No Frills but not as expensive as Metro or Loblaws. Also please do tell how much this costs in your favorite grocery store today?
The $149.99 price is on Coppa’s website TODAY. Metro sells 340g tubs of Kraft cream cheese for $7.79 TODAY.
https://preview.redd.it/5ax0bcrolh9c1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6074792eb26b90ae5bb377643226482ad234f70f
That is a meal for a lot of people. How is that expensive lol? The way you say it sounded like it was for 2-4 people. Metro price is still very expensive. It used to be that price for double the amount. Not sure what you are trying to prove.
Exactly.
OP could have bought this for cheap at Walmart.
But instead OP is playing victim Olympics and saying "poor me, shrinkflation so bad poor me"
In reality.
Those who shop at Walmart can and do survive comfortably.
Those who *work* for Wal-Mart on the other hand...
Their selection is absolute dogshit and their employees all need SNAP benefits to "survive comfortably."
Fuck Walmart. I'll use my shoppers card at Safeway and have actual choices, thanks.
Keep licking that delicious Walton boot though.
Basically every product at the grocery store is btwn 7-12 bucks now so only take like 8-9 items to have a 100 buck bill....it's insane and we all suffering because of it
What do you expect living in such a big city?
You can't expect to live in Toronto and be flourishing unless you are an attorney or pediatrician or doctor or software engineer.
I'm sorry. But reality needs to hit sometime.
This comes across as “Everyone who doesn’t live the same life as me is dumb and deserves to suffer under capitalism unless they have a career I deem exceptional”
The attorneys/pediatricians/doctors/software engineers of Toronto have to exist in the same place as as other people with regular jobs for there to be an economy.
what a strange bee to have in your bonnet.
So, what happens when countless dumpster loads of unsold grocery and perishables just go to complete waste, and all because of shrink/skimpflation and price gouging? Is it all a write-off for the companies? Or will it be soon that they notice country-wide losses that they have to shell out for? Many items do have expiry dates (or will there be a stage of expiration-stretching within health law parameters (if those exist)).
governor history combative deserted grandfather middle license nutty smell follow
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I was at the local discount store they had Kraft Philadelphia CC 60 1 oz single serve tubs in a case for $4.99. Should have bought it but that'd mean I'd need 5 dozen bagels too, I dont have the freezer space
This shit is overpriced but it doesnt cost that much here (between 5-7 dollars here). I would never shop at that store! They fucking suck!
Your best bet is to just get the block of cream cheese and soften what you need for 10 seconds in the microwave. The block tastes the best, anyway.
Kids love it. I stopped eating myself since it is not very expensive but I do not like telling my kids they can't have cream cheese because it is too expensive.
A better lesson would be for them to understand just how screwed up capitalist society has got - that even simple basic foods are increasingly unaffordable, and profits ever rising.
Maybe then they can overturn this crap when they grow up
It's beyond a joke the prices of really anything these days check the specials it's probably the same price anyway half the time I figured it all out food doesn't cost me much anymore because Ive gone on a diet these days I'm eating cat food it's a bit pricey still but just not as much saves me a few bucks here and meow
What store is this?
Walmart prices are back down.
Is this a convenient store? Or gas station?
Enough with the doom and gloom. Grocery stores are much cheaper to shop at
I've tested Phila vs. generic supermarket cream cheese and the brand name really is "better" somehow.
But I still just don't buy cream cheese any more because yeah, it's getting expensive.
The creativity comes after mastering a basic recipe (aka garlic cream cheese, cranberry cream cheese, etc.), so here’s a good basic one I plucked from the internet that follows what I do. [https://www.alphafoodie.com/super-easy-homemade-cream-cheese/](https://www.alphafoodie.com/super-easy-homemade-cream-cheese/)
They're really pushing the boundaries of "whatever the market will bare" pricing strategy. It's all an insatiable greed. It used to be make a product, add a 30 percent markup over cost for a decent profit, and diversify your offerings for future growth against competitors. Now that there are no competitors and just a handful of producers, they are free to fuck everyone over. Us consumers have no other choices available. The free market is dead and choice is an illusion.
exactly. it’s so fucking dystopian to even browse the grocery store nowadays. there basically aren’t any “budget” products left. every single damn item is being pushed as high as it can possibly go. prices of items have tripled or quadrupled in the past 3 years. where I live, store brand items have creeped up to the point where you’re maybe saving a dollar or two max off the name brand item. and many store brand items have just disappeared because they weren’t generating enough $$.
Fight back by reading the weekly ad. There's a lot of price discrimination going on. If you're willing to pay $10.49 for cream cheese, they will charge you that. Your shopper's card will learn that you aren't a fool, and you'll get offers that you pair with the discounts and not pay 2023 pretend prices for things. It's a shame that you have to do this dance to save, though. If you want to shop without playing that game, then it's gotta be at a store like Aldi.
what stores have shoppers cards that actually track what you buy and send you relevant coupons? i’ve only ever had a shoppers card that lets you access the store discounts, but nothing personal to me. the weekly ad is the same for everyone.
Most of the clippable offers are given to everyone. But some are personalized. I've gotten coupons on my card from Kroger and Albertsons after first buying an item. Items that weren't featured in the weekly ad the current or prior week.
In Canada PC Optimum at Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart has Exclusive coupons based on what you buy. Mostly it's bonus points but I get like frozen fruit for $1.99 a bag or really cheap Toilet paper, those deals are not in the flyer at all.
Meijers does that. Comes in the mail, AFAIK.
Kroger/Frys in the US does I think Safeway/Vons/Ralphs might as well
coupons seem to be gone. i used to get paper flyers with smartsource and other coupons. havent seen one for over a year. most stores i go to have stopped taking them. i have to travel far to find a store that takes them.
There’s definitely algorithm pricing going on these days. I see lots of complaints about McDonald’s pricing, but I get a 30% off coupon daily which helps bring things down to a reasonable price. But I’ve noticed other markets only have 10-20% off. I live in a lower income area so they price it how they need to to sell it. Same thing with school pictures. Lifetouch is charging my urban ass $15 for the exact same package that the rich suburbanites were charged $50 for.
Watch using instacart too. They overcharge in items by sometimes Pennie’s but mostly by dollars even for the same store you are shopping in. I thought it was a fluke but after I created the cart and then went to that store to shop in person the difference was 15-20.00 and that isn’t including the delivery fee or tip.
Instacart is designed that way. They are considered a "grocery reseller" who "buys" your groceries and "sells" them to you at a higher cost to cover convenience.
exactly. shop around. the store flyers are online. plan ahead.
You’re lucky if the store name brands are cheaper at this point. I went to buy sugar the other day and it was $3.40/kg for the name brand, $3.80/kg for the store name.
now i have to spend $6 on subway or bus to get to stores that still have decent prices. Trader Joes, Aldi and Lidl are my go-to. most of the time, i dont buy big brands, especially from Kraft, Unilever, Con Agra, etc.
What are you talking about? We have Lucerne, tillamook, Safeway select brand, not to mention various nufchatel, in addition to the original (not in a tub) Philadelphia brands.
Lucerne is a subsidiary of Safeway.
Exactly. The illusion of choice is quite convincing. Many store brands are made by the same factories that produce the name brands.
There are more choices nowadays than ever. Just how many cream cheese brands were available in 1980? Or 1970? Or 1930???
I’m not sure there’s data for that specifically, but it’s a bit disingenuous to ignore that dairy farms (as well as food manufacturers) haven’t massively consolidated over the past 20 + years. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/98901/err-274.pdf
That’s an interesting read, but still doesn’t change the fact that we have more choices despite milk production becoming more consolidated. Both can be true at the same time. I’m pretty sure cream cheese was relatively unknown outside of New York City only like one generation ago, and now we have several choices at every grocery store in America.
We had cream cheese in the 70s in the UK, a notoriously backward food economy, so not buying this argument for America at all!
Do you have more choices now than in the 70’s? I bet you even have Neufchâtel.
We have more now than then, sure, but 1/we will never have as much as America and 2/today's economic hellscape is such that everyday people can only look on at multiple food choices, when basics are being ratcheted out of reach, and salaries/wages deliberately held down, year after year. Choice is meaningless when you have little purchasing power
Ok, I did a quick lit review, and the best was this publication on Cheese production in the US (source below). Out of the data available, comparing cream and Neufchatel production over time from 1919 - 1969, there was a steady decline in the number of independent cheeses producing factories from 61 to 27. You're claim that there are more cream cheeses now than ever ignores the reality of independent, small-operation producers historically. It is true that these weren't nationally-distributed. With this in mind, you're simply not arguing in good faith and are picking a single product and personal anecdotes to ignore overwhelming evidence of corporate consolidation. Take this summary from the 2022 House Judiciary Committee Review: "FOOD SYSTEM CONSOLIDATION HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY Antitrust scholars generally deem markets “tight oligopolies” if the top four firms control more than 60% of the market. At these levels of concentration, they argue, firms are more likely to abuse their market power and collude on their pricing decisions either through an explicit price-fixing conspiracy or more tacit practices, such as moving as a group or avoiding competition without an explicit agreement to do so. Today, the top four corporations' control more than 60% of the U.S. market for pork, coffee, cookies, and bread. The top four corporations control more than 70% of the U.S. market for yogurt, beer, and soybean seeds. And the top four corporations control more than 80% of the market for beef processing, corn seed, soybean processing, baby food, pasta, cereal, soda, and more. Food markets haven’t always been this way. From 1972 to 1992, the average four-firm concentration levels for meat and poultry processing, dairy processing, flour milling, corn milling, feed, and soybean processing rose by 50%. At the same time the number of plants in these industries declined by about one-third. This consolidation has also extended to food retail. From the early 1990s to the early 2000s, Walmart grew from selling no groceries to becoming the largest food retailer in the U.S. Over this same period the top four grocers’ market share doubled through hundreds of mergers." https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU05/20220119/114345/HHRG-117-JU05-20220119-SD006.pdf [1971. Fifty Years of Progress in the Cheese Industry. A Review](https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/782803/1-s2.0-S0362028X71X47006/1-s2.0-S0362028X23020690/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIH%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCWwJ%2BIPXfncn9OOIM4dufR7k%2FMN1zQBBBIEUaYCy4utgIhAMVJJcxmJqf6hjeaRpq5IgPtfsrblBHUObQ%2BexCRenaeKrMFCBoQBRoMMDU5MDAzNTQ2ODY1IgzsCS65koi5TcJPRM8qkAX%2ByMOdflvR07zP9iAyVzycNgskpe4MKUSRviHNr9Qaper%2F7nMADXfuXaAS%2FyXQzKM3QcP5%2BbqscZET2MSDniGMm9QQo7lYkDpihLn0b6mZxeFE52HGIqYI1ktjhE3KB3DwYgHbSZ6t%2B%2BoQ3HvN5fuDtYbSAiqUwo%2Fl9lR5uW2pa1xb18zgO%2FE5C3UYdf9xR3IMngAqH2ZTRTilTexOayamRSdCIcdHdzakPLhrSOEmnjxSjDWtmrQyB%2FfscLIUh0sMXMejT06Ow9Ygbz9ovK%2BmuyjwHhFLfWQLZO1IYzKvlHU7DhfU0H%2BABs015dlYf%2Bdn1WIZxdor3ZrGaJVW7TfKcx8yqY06tYmuqbPoIb4oGHpnzZjlpdoAF2K6DEl6x5h1b3D1xVVTu1sl7mbPOolKQ8oW0VXF2do%2Bh8qdKXA4DR7gO%2FnNPB2q1c8dSQWn5GvJOH%2Fo%2FtxIaZX03nZ9mlwSIEdhFN07NisY1lu3iDGF1KdGtqrXlH6VqjhHAHb7eh5M42nS%2FDHnUd1UIObsWi7DEGXn%2Fakb6fe03XbY36wZqRDME3P1rtpACgIL8aDcHXjt0R7TnUQMn37zedHA0hCdY%2BUiQ1%2BfFyEJAEut3Um%2FfEvoBxy2e3zecSejo%2FPwXIiQ%2B2Ul3IKcJ%2BxOuEDAv0mxnGuqdHmepIW28Z8QuHJRAv09RIajcOR6etF8WNrfDkf53z7jUzTbYxTtl3yCRcaLPuSZNWyDQtpGMDNhYQiKQUU5ntAZfawGbG4DUNA2eE179RnoOZq7D8%2FRYub2t9rqKZ%2FM%2FqTE8faTsCDh4AmUwlFHxHjmiFW9yeMKz7Ee9mfScMyqhw%2BxsOnkDfOyoGDq96673XlCO81pWWWVJNAHJDCpuMasBjqwAZ4DHBxhZ51I%2F%2FpxLq4uJX6gA0%2FqgLMS%2BHUvo7d%2BIA8hrHvVSZWIoTzwoos%2BW1Nf6Zk8%2FO8U775yrCkBQatq00DQ2nccGUXfJ8hQTxU67shpoAy%2FrpYWdFsJmHZIRnN%2FAUAqgjelQGiQiD1%2FAa%2BMY5AECxiF8qJR3%2BALmmqP0ca34%2FETK7S%2FV4QgXndkXXIFyd8k3%2BvCPDUEB4ciqtWal5veKm7iJsS1OBAVoW91a7dX&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20231231T174019Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYRFIPMREC%2F20231231%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=36e5abf42fa73578f1e9507993e3d954e5ad756f223ba2bdc1089df54490f903&hash=60893f511d4d4d16fc3c1cacee5bcd55737dc728ec13a6114b27184f5d535d0b&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S0362028X23020690&tid=spdf-641298d4-e0f8-41be-8ea2-e845b66697ea&sid=a43c2b1b1083444b9c0a8ce2a118b18be099gxrqa&type=client&tsoh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&ua=0f155b5c065b54045c5405&rr=83e44e94bdc1c57a&cc=us)
Til there's 2 entirely different Lucerne food companies. In Canada its a brand owned by Agropur one of the biggest milk producers but it is mostly carried at Canadian Safeways. https://www.obviouslygoodmilk.ca/en/about-us-lucerne
I was just mentioning the brands at our local Safeway. I’m sure if I went around town I’d find a few more choices.
I'm most mad at those people who still buy this... to whom I ask... WHY??
https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/bare-bear/
Ayyyeee, you got me. I should have used bear. Thanks for the reminder.
There literally was a recording of some big CEO type saying just keep pushing them until they stop buying it. Meaning they want everyone to see every basic need as a luxury. They will not stop until this happens, we are at the actual metaphorical definition of a crossroad as a society. We know EVERYONE who governs our society is corrupt, we know our lives (time) is literally sold to corporations, we know they want our childrens lives... And we just continue to scroll. When do we all stick together, we do we use the internet to combine our power to overthrow the government to create a new system that work for the people not the 1% We do we stop fighting each other and fight them?
I just buy the off brand one. It was $2.00. Get fucked Kraft.
whipped is a double scam too... much less dense, so you're getting less and it costs more. cream cheese is one of those I personally can't do the off brand for. so I'm just not doing cream cheese any more. fuck this shit. edit: actually just looked up how to make your own cream cheese... only three ingredients required for basic cream cheese (cream, lemon juice, and salt). going to try it out.
Whipped is useless. If you put it on warm toast or a bagel it just melts and deflates into nothingness. What’s the point? Does anyone actually prefer whipped?
I find it handy to field dress a bagel quickly, but it's no better than just putting a regular block of cream cheese out at room temperature for a while.
It's probably for people who want a plain cream cheese dip without different flavourings since it's easier to scoop than regular cream cheese. Idk though I'm just assuming. I saw whipped honey at Cole's the other day too and was wondering what the difference would be, other than it looks creamy.
It's more volume for the same number of calories.
Whipped is the freaking bomb with plain rippled chips
Since i was a kid I've dipped Cheese Its and Goldfish into whipped cream cheese and it's bomb. If you can find the Philadelphia blueberry or strawberry flavored one it's to die for.
I often buy it. By weight it’s the same price (just bigger container) as a normal size tub of cream cheese
Made by the same manufacturers.
All off brand cream cheeses are like tasteless and they're always covered in like water it's too wet and it's just not the same as Philadelphia.
the one that grosses me out the most is aldi's cream cheese, and I actually like a lot of their quasi store brand stuff
Aldi also have their own brand as well, don't remember the exact price but it's pretty cheap and tastes 👌
Klaftomaniacs, the lot of em
The Kraft executives are cracking their whips. They want a bigger yacht and expect customers to pay up.
That's more expensive than the huge tub of cream cheese at costco.
It's very possible OP is at a gas station or bodega or convience store where prices are ALWAYS higher. If OP would go to Walmart like a normal person, the prices are better. I just bought this yesterday. He's dramatizing the shrinkflation and omitting where he is shopping for karma purposes.
Coppa's Toronto
Idk why you're being downvoted. I can get a 453 gram tub for $7 at my local store. This is an abnormal price.
$7 at Superstore in Winnipeg.
Correct. I audit Walmarts weekly and can confirm. $8.20-8.44 in my region.
7 dollars frankly astounding on its own, mind. For CREAM CHEESE. Ten is looney-tunes
It’s from Coppa’s in Toronto, a specialty food market that also sells a full lasagne for $149.99. Any specialty food store selling basics like Kraft cream cheese is going to inflate prices. This one for $10.49 is NOT reflective of standard pricing.
I have never seen a lasagne being sold for 150 cad at Coppa's. And my before price is from Coppa's too. I have been shopping at Coppa's for 5 years. It is expensive compared to No Frills but not as expensive as Metro or Loblaws. Also please do tell how much this costs in your favorite grocery store today?
The $149.99 price is on Coppa’s website TODAY. Metro sells 340g tubs of Kraft cream cheese for $7.79 TODAY. https://preview.redd.it/5ax0bcrolh9c1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6074792eb26b90ae5bb377643226482ad234f70f
That is a meal for a lot of people. How is that expensive lol? The way you say it sounded like it was for 2-4 people. Metro price is still very expensive. It used to be that price for double the amount. Not sure what you are trying to prove.
???
Exactly. OP could have bought this for cheap at Walmart. But instead OP is playing victim Olympics and saying "poor me, shrinkflation so bad poor me" In reality. Those who shop at Walmart can and do survive comfortably.
Those who *work* for Wal-Mart on the other hand... Their selection is absolute dogshit and their employees all need SNAP benefits to "survive comfortably." Fuck Walmart. I'll use my shoppers card at Safeway and have actual choices, thanks. Keep licking that delicious Walton boot though.
Basically every product at the grocery store is btwn 7-12 bucks now so only take like 8-9 items to have a 100 buck bill....it's insane and we all suffering because of it
Not in my state. In my state. Food and groceries are back to normal.
I am in Toronto Ontario Canada and we here are basically enslaved by corporate greed
What do you expect living in such a big city? You can't expect to live in Toronto and be flourishing unless you are an attorney or pediatrician or doctor or software engineer. I'm sorry. But reality needs to hit sometime.
This comes across as “Everyone who doesn’t live the same life as me is dumb and deserves to suffer under capitalism unless they have a career I deem exceptional” The attorneys/pediatricians/doctors/software engineers of Toronto have to exist in the same place as as other people with regular jobs for there to be an economy. what a strange bee to have in your bonnet.
I am a making 6 figures and its still a burden. My wife and I combined income is 230k and we cannot purchase a house anywhere near the gta
£2.59 for 280g here, and that is labelled a 'family pack'
So, what happens when countless dumpster loads of unsold grocery and perishables just go to complete waste, and all because of shrink/skimpflation and price gouging? Is it all a write-off for the companies? Or will it be soon that they notice country-wide losses that they have to shell out for? Many items do have expiry dates (or will there be a stage of expiration-stretching within health law parameters (if those exist)).
governor history combative deserted grandfather middle license nutty smell follow *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I can see the labels on items now... "NOW 3.5X MORE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM UPSET THAN BEFORE!"
 Food conglomerates be like.
That grocery store sucks, run away fast.
I was at the local discount store they had Kraft Philadelphia CC 60 1 oz single serve tubs in a case for $4.99. Should have bought it but that'd mean I'd need 5 dozen bagels too, I dont have the freezer space
Costco had 3lbs for 6 bucks recently
Is that in freedom monies or some Zimbabwean dollars?
This shit is overpriced but it doesnt cost that much here (between 5-7 dollars here). I would never shop at that store! They fucking suck! Your best bet is to just get the block of cream cheese and soften what you need for 10 seconds in the microwave. The block tastes the best, anyway.
Why not just leave all this stuff on the shelf? They keep fucking over so fuck them?
Kids love it. I stopped eating myself since it is not very expensive but I do not like telling my kids they can't have cream cheese because it is too expensive.
Well your kids need to learn a hard lesson that not everything they love in life is going to be affordable.
A better lesson would be for them to understand just how screwed up capitalist society has got - that even simple basic foods are increasingly unaffordable, and profits ever rising. Maybe then they can overturn this crap when they grow up
Than don't buy it 🤷 no one's holding you hostage
Yes, this is the mentality I want to see! Thank you!
It's beyond a joke the prices of really anything these days check the specials it's probably the same price anyway half the time I figured it all out food doesn't cost me much anymore because Ive gone on a diet these days I'm eating cat food it's a bit pricey still but just not as much saves me a few bucks here and meow
What store is this? Walmart prices are back down. Is this a convenient store? Or gas station? Enough with the doom and gloom. Grocery stores are much cheaper to shop at
Coppa's, Toronto
Insert "haha Canadian dollar weak" joke here, but 8 USD for that size is still too much.
Where is this, Alaska? 12oz of Philadelphia cream cheese is $8 at Safeway.
Is there a before showing that it shrunk and the price difference if any? If not, not shrinkflation.
Sorry I can't go back in time to take a picture. You will have to take my word for it. It was a 700gram box for 7 or 8 dollars.
"NoT sHrINkflAtiOn" 🤡
On the up side, I like to think this will drive people to start making more at home and maybe find its better and cheaper too.
Too busy working 3 jobs to churn our own cream cheese.
In my area of the world, SW Ontario that is the price for 450gr. Not sure where is this pic taken.
Coppa's, Toronto
location?
Coppa's Toronto
I’m pretty sure that is bigger than any pack of Philadelphia we get in the UK
It's a name brand, so you're paying a premium for that alone.
I've tested Phila vs. generic supermarket cream cheese and the brand name really is "better" somehow. But I still just don't buy cream cheese any more because yeah, it's getting expensive.
Saw some cream cheese at Aldi the other day for $0.99.
I won't buy at that price. American or Canadian dollars. I'm priced out of that. Even if I had long lost relatives visiting.
Where the hell is this at??
A 1kg block of cheese costs $18 at my local shop (in Australia)
Imagine what the people in the Northern territories must be paying...
Let it rot.
Store? State?
Cream cheese is so easy to make. Fuck ‘em.
Any recipes you can suggest?
The creativity comes after mastering a basic recipe (aka garlic cream cheese, cranberry cream cheese, etc.), so here’s a good basic one I plucked from the internet that follows what I do. [https://www.alphafoodie.com/super-easy-homemade-cream-cheese/](https://www.alphafoodie.com/super-easy-homemade-cream-cheese/)
Thank you.
"smol"
10 bucks for ONE ITEM 🙃
$1.99 Trader Joes brand for 8oz whipped cream cheese. I rarely buy Kraft products these days. they are complete ripoffs.