A pint is a pint, dammit... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Da Nag · #1 03-25-2009, 04:07 PM

Want some discounted Häagen-Dazs? Read on...

I popped into a 7-11 the other day...whenever my wife is out of town, the Häagen-Dazs weakness seems to kick in.

As I dug through the freezer, something didn't look quite right...sure enough, those greedy ba$tards shrunk a pint to 14 oz. I noticed the same behavior a while back with Dreyers, when they shrunk their half gallon containers to something less as well.

Now...losing 2oz of ice cream ain't something I'm fond of, but what really gits my goat, is that HD thought they could get away with it, and nobody would notice. Truly sleazy...keeping the price the same, and sneaking in a reduction in quantity.

So, I went to their web site, and dropped a flame-o-gram in their inbox. Told them how long I've been buying their goods, and what I though of their company. Mentioned I could care less what a pint of top quality ice cream costs...and that I wouldn't even have noticed, had they increased the cost of a "real pint" by 10-15% to cover expenses. Told them I'd be buying from Ben and Jerry from now on...who I found out this morning, are playing up the "pint is a pint" angle to woo in pissed of HD customers.

Heh...look what arrived in my inbox today. I'll certainly use their stinkin' coupons, but beyond that, they're still on my ***** list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Häagen-Dazs

Thank you for your email regarding the change to the size of our Häagen-Dazs cartons. We understand your concern and appreciate your giving us the opportunity to explain.

Over the past few years, the cost of all-natural ingredients, like fresh eggs, top-quality raspberries, and Madagascar vanilla, has increased by an average of 25%. The energy required to make and deliver our products has risen in cost as well, despite the recent dip in gasoline prices.

By slightly reducing the size of some of our cartons, we're balancing our need to cover our increased costs with the realization that our country is in an economic recession. We wanted to avoid a price increase that could put Häagen-Dazs out of reach for consumers. Given the quality of our ingredients, the time and craftsmanship that goes into the creation of each unique flavor and the fact that we deliver our ice cream fresh directly to store shelves, we continue to believe our product is a great value for consumers seeking the best that ice cream has to offer.

This was a difficult decision. But we hope you'll agree that our promise to never sacrifice the quality of our ice cream - what we put in as well as what we leave out - is what the Häagen-Dazs brand is all about. The carton may have changed slightly, but your Häagen-Dazs ice cream has not. You can count on that.

Please watch for our follow up response to arrive shortly by U.S. Mail, along with two Gift Certificates to be used toward future purchases of Haagen-Dazs, with our hope that you will continue to enjoy your favorite Häagen-Dazs flavors.

cmbdiesel · #2 03-25-2009, 04:15 PM

Had the same experience years ago with Glacier Bay beer.
11.5 oz per bottle. I mean sure it was cheap, but you just never know when that extra 0.5 is going to be mission critical!

cmac2012 · #3 03-25-2009, 04:34 PM

I didn't like it that much when I first saw it but, oh well, might not hurt me to cut down on the stuff. Like WAY down on the stuff.

The quart is still full sized and is a way better buy. Safeway has it here for $5.99 -- they call it a special but it's been that way for a long time.

connerm · #4 03-25-2009, 04:44 PM

The coffee companies switched from one pound cans to 13 oz cans many years ago.

SwampYankee · #5 03-25-2009, 04:46 PM

The caliber of the cheese slug in my Cheddar/Pretzel Combos has shrunk as well! Noticibly more pretzel now.

cmbdiesel · #6 03-25-2009, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwampYankee

The caliber of the cheese slug in my Cheddar/Pretzel Combos has shrunk as well! Noticibly more pretzel now.

LOL

SirNik84 · #7 03-25-2009, 05:08 PM

The Girl Scouts did it too, on there cookies. reducing the size of each cookie not the number in the pack or raising the price. Sneaky little.......

I saw Dryers do it a while back. I went to the WinCo where they have a section for Dryers, and they had all the cartons that were an inch shorter mixed in with the taller ones. You could see where people had dug out the taller ones because the price was the same.

Talk about downsizing!

Kuan · #8 03-25-2009, 05:11 PM

Can't blame them. Consumers still shop by price. I'm done with Ben and Jerry's because the ratio of marshmallow to ice cream in their Phish food has changed considerably. For the worse of course.

Skid Row Joe · #9 03-25-2009, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da Nag

Want some discounted Häagen-Dazs? Read on...

I popped into a 7-11 the other day...whenever my wife is out of town, the Häagen-Dazs weakness seems to kick in.

As I dug through the freezer, something didn't look quite right...sure enough, those greedy ba$tards shrunk a pint to 14 oz. I noticed the same behavior a while back with Dreyers, when they shrunk their half gallon containers to something less as well.

Now...losing 2oz of ice cream ain't something I'm fond of, but what really gits my goat, is that HD thought they could get away with it, and nobody would notice. Truly sleazy...keeping the price the same, and sneaking in a reduction in quantity.

So, I went to their web site, and dropped a flame-o-gram in their inbox. Told them how long I've been buying their goods, and what I though of their company. Mentioned I could care less what a pint of top quality ice cream costs...and that I wouldn't even have noticed, had they increased the cost of a "real pint" by 10-15% to cover expenses. Told them I'd be buying from Ben and Jerry from now on...who I found out this morning, are playing up the "pint is a pint" angle to woo in pissed of HD customers.

Heh...look what arrived in my inbox today. I'll certainly use their stinkin' coupons, but beyond that, they're still on my ***** list.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Häagen-Dazs
Thank you for your email regarding the change to the size of our Häagen-Dazs cartons. We understand your concern and appreciate your giving us the opportunity to explain.

Over the past few years, the cost of all-natural ingredients, like fresh eggs, top-quality raspberries, and Madagascar vanilla, has increased by an average of 25%. The energy required to make and deliver our products has risen in cost as well, despite the recent dip in gasoline prices.

By slightly reducing the size of some of our cartons, we're balancing our need to cover our increased costs with the realization that our country is in an economic recession. We wanted to avoid a price increase that could put Häagen-Dazs out of reach for consumers. Given the quality of our ingredients, the time and craftsmanship that goes into the creation of each unique flavor and the fact that we deliver our ice cream fresh directly to store shelves, we continue to believe our product is a great value for consumers seeking the best that ice cream has to offer.

This was a difficult decision. But we hope you'll agree that our promise to never sacrifice the quality of our ice cream - what we put in as well as what we leave out - is what the Häagen-Dazs brand is all about. The carton may have changed slightly, but your Häagen-Dazs ice cream has not. You can count on that.

Please watch for our follow up response to arrive shortly by U.S. Mail, along with two Gift Certificates to be used toward future purchases of Haagen-Dazs, with our hope that you will continue to enjoy your favorite Häagen-Dazs flavors.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______

Their response was pure bull*****. Very similar to Husein's "snooze" conference last night. Exactly as I would expect the jackazzes to handle your e-mail.

Switch to DQ, if they have a location near you.

Da Nag · #10 03-25-2009, 05:30 PM

Holy crap...

Pissed of ice cream eaters aren't too scary, but what the hell is Jack Daniels thinking?

Kuan · #11 03-25-2009, 05:33 PM

Haagen Dazs is a no nonsense ice cream. Their current push is for fewer and fewer ingredients. The company took a <edit sorry wrong number> 9% inflation hit over the last year. They're doing all they can. What would you do?

mgburg · #12 03-25-2009, 05:34 PM

Look carefully kiddies...it's a'changin' all around...

General Mills and some of the other ceral giants did the same thing last fall, just in time to "sugar-up" the kiddies for a day at school...shrunk the box by 2-5 oz. and kept the price the same...and you see it everyday...

They've even gone so far as to "up-size" the container for a period of time and place it along side the newer, compact size and then, when the expiration date of the "up-sized" container closes on in, they re-price the up-sized unit, and bring the compact unit within a penny or two of cost/oz., then the fun at the shelves begins...

All the while, you forgot that the product used to come in a simpler, easier-to-remember size...like pound, 16 oz., quart, pint, whatever...

I don't go to the store anymore to pick up the "lady's personals" without some sort of label that will help me identify the damn product on the shelf!!! Colors/Pictures/Pcs-per-package don't mean squat anymore...

If she needs the "Super-Slurper-Overnight-Flood-Preventer" pad, it better say that on the label, or she's puttin' slippers and gown on and comin' on down to the store...I ain't buying the wrong thing and hoping for death cause I did.

You JUST DON'T SCREW UP in that area of packaging mis-reading...

Period!!! (Pun intended!)

Da Nag · #13 03-25-2009, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuan

Haagen Dazs is a no nonsense ice cream. Their current push is for fewer and fewer ingredients. The company took a 19% inflation hit over the last year. They're doing all they can. What would you do?

The honest thing - raise the price.

A pint at 7-11 was around $4, or 25 cents/ounce.

Sneaking in the 2 oz. shrinkage, raised the price to about 28.6 cents/ounce.

Keeping the pint, would have raised the cost to about $4.57/pint.

Big deal...the stoners never would have noticed, and the ice cream snobs are the same people paying $4/latte - they couldn't care less about a <15% price increase.

tyl604 · #14 03-25-2009, 06:00 PM

You may not have noticed but about six months ago all the ice cream makers, it seemed to be in concert, reduced their half-gallon cartons to 1.75 quarts. There was a warning in the news that same was about to happen about a month in advance.

Take a look at the half-gallon cartons regardless of maker. They are no longer 2 quarts.

catmandoo62 · #15 03-25-2009, 06:01 PM

they did it with my beer.used to buy a case(24 cans)then they decided to try metric i guess,so then it was a 20 pack,but same price.then 18 pack yet same price.then they went 30 pack and really upped the price,now its back to a case(24 cans) and price is just a hair under what the 30 pack was.a'holes.