Tropicana to shrink OJ containers - but not prices

Well, here's some delightful news for any wallet still reeling from the recession - or trying to limp through and recover, such as it is: Tropicana is raising the prices on its orange juice, ostensibly to pass along cost increases tied to a freeze that damaged Florida oranges this winter, the Wall Street Journal reports. Prices for gallon containers will simply rise, by about 5 to 8 percent, while the company will be sneaking in a price increase for smaller containers by shrinking its popular half-gallon (64 oz.) containers to 59 oz., but charging the same amount.

The latter has become an especially, depressingly common tactic in recent years, as companies slyly try to pass along price hikes in ways that are less noticeable at the shelf - or at least less immediately noticeable. Your grocery bill may not be rising, but you're getting less for your money, which means the practical effect is the same. The effect that the excellent Consumerist blog has dubbed the "grocery shrink ray" hit with particular force in 2008, when gas prices - and therefore, the cost of shipping goods - skyrocketed. But it's continued since, leading to bizarre sizes like 48 oz. containers of ice cream, instead of the traditional half gallon, or cans containing 14 oz. of vegetables, down from 15 oz. That's led me to wonder where it ends - I mean, you can't just keep shrinking the size of products and expect no one to notice.

My orange juice expertise is limited to the experience that comes from drinking a glass of it every morning, so it's hard for me to say whether Tropicana's reasons for a price increase are valid. But the company doesn't buy all of its oranges from Florida - which in and of itself is probably also a cost-cutting measure - so I do wonder if there's anything else going on. And, for that matter, if other orange juice makers will follow suit and raise prices - including by downsizing containers - for the same reason. If not, it could give other brands a competitive leg up: I grew up drinking Tropicana and was loyal to the brand for years. All things being equal, I still probably prefer it. But in the last year or so, with prices rising and my income wobbling, I've switched to mostly buying the orange juice that's on sale, as long as it's a comparable, not-from-concentrate variety. For the most part, I've been happy with other brands, too, whether store brands or brand-name competitors. Tropicana's shrinking packaging gives me even more incentive to keep looking - and stick with companies that are still giving me a half gallon for my money, for that matter.

In other areas, some brands have even used their consistent sizing as a marketing technique: Certain containers of Jif peanut butter tout that it's "Still 18 oz.," compared to, say, Peter Pan, which now comes in smaller containers.