Wholesale tissue paper prices are climbing to an all-time high, indicating inflationary pressures are still on the rise.
Meanwhile, TP rolls are slimming down via “shrinkflation” as producers attempt to charge the same amount or more for the same product made smaller.
Paying the same amount for a smaller package, dubbed “shrinkflation,” is inflation you’re not supposed to see. The trend has accelerated amid high inflation rates, which hit 8.5% in July.
“Finally, the downsizing angels pulled a double-whammy on your fanny,” Boston-area consumer advocate Ed Dworsky told USA TODAY Wednesday.
What to know about ‘shrinkflation’:As prices climb, some grocery items get smaller
Rolls are getting smaller with ‘shrinkflation’
Dworsky publishes packaging changes on his website, MousePrint.org. A majority of them are collected from reader tips. His site highlights recent downsizing by Sparkle paper towels and other products including Chobani yogurt, Dove body wash and Post Cocoa Pebbles.
See this:Cottonelle Ultra Clean Toilet Paper with Active CleaningRipples Texture, Strong Bath Tissue, 24 Family Mega Rolls (24 Family Mega Rolls = 132 Regular Rolls) (4 Packs of 6 Rolls) 388 Sheets per Roll
It also shows Angel Soft cut the number of its sheets by almost 25% from 425 to 320 per roll. Each square sheet was also trimmed down to 3.8 inches wide instead of 4 inches.
“It is unusual to see a product downsize so dramatically in a single revision,” Dworsky told USA TODAY. “Cutting over 100 sheets per roll is almost unheard of. In a six-roll pack, that’s like losing almost two of the new size rolls.”
Dworsky noted that brands, including Angel Soft, have reduced sizes more incrementally in the past. At the end of 2019 or beginning of 2020, Angel Soft downsized their double rolls by only 30 sheets from 264 to 234, Dworsky said.
Angel Soft maker Georgia Pacific told USA TODAY that it does not believe the changes made to its bath tissue qualify as “shrinkflation” and were made to make the sheets thicker.
Some Angel Soft packaging had more rolls added to offer consumers “a similar number of sheets at a similar value.” The company reduced the suggested retail price for other packages where the number of rolls remained consistent, spokeswoman Anna Umphress said.
“These new package configurations make our production process more efficient, enabling us to continue to offer similar price points and sheets to the consumer,” Umphress said via email. “Our goal is to maintain – not reduce – the value we provide to the Angel Soft consumer in the wake of rising costs.”
Inflation:‘I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me’: $2 until the next check and no money for pizza
Are toilet paper prices going up?
Proctor & Gamble’s baby, feminine and family care category, which includes toilet paper brand Charmin, saw prices rise 4% in fiscal 2022 compared to the previous year. Kimberly-Clark, which has Scott and Cottonelle in its portfolio, reported a 6% increase in net selling prices for its consumer tissue products in North America in the second quarter.
Across the pond, the wholesale price for European tissue paper (which creates toilet paper) has surged this week to an all-time high of about 2,200 euros per metric ton, up from less than 900 euros in January 2021, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Prices are likely to rise further in October, industry executives say.
The price hikes are expected to hit supermarket shelves soon. Bloomberg reports that industry executives say toilet paper rolls are on average 6% to 8% shorter today compared with a year ago but 8% to 10% more expensive.
Source link: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~/710094184/0/usatoday-lifetopstories~A-doublewhammy-on-your-fanny-Why-youre-paying-more-for-toilet-paper-%E2%80%94-and-getting-less/