Thank you Haagen-Daz for letting me know but Publix brand oatmeal chocolate chip cookie is still the best ice cream to ever grace this earth and what I will continue to buy.

@danno50: Also, people should realize that all restaraunts in a chain are not created equal.

Danno might be near a really good CF, where Valhawk might be near a lower quality one.

@acknight: Yes, but a good label reader will examine the labels to make sure the shelf tag is for the correct size product.
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Comparing unit price also helps avoid the "It's a multi-unit value pack, so it must be a better deal."
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What I hate is when each brand's price tag uses a different unit of measurement for the same item.

@meadandale: Sending out emails to customers and posting it clearly on their website is not very deceptive. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some sort of notice on their package. I doubt it will be a huge label saying "Hey this is only 14 ounces now!" but ther will probably be something for a bit. It's not like they produce a 18 ounce container and advertise "4 oz free" before switching to the 14 ounce container.

This is only because they are COUNTING on the deception of the smaller package not being noticed by the consumer. That's NOT classy in my book.

What happened was that Hershey wanted to come out with reduced fat chocolates, but the FDA has standards requiring cocoa butter to be in solid chocolate candies. To replace the cocoa, they use vegetable oils, making it a bit like margarine's big debut in the dessert world (aside from the canned icing). It's also cheaper than cocoa butter, too.

For a second there I thought you were talking about bottled gravy or something. Then I realized that Turkey Hill makes ice cream!
I have to go now, gotta drop by Walmart to get some Fiesta Auto lasagna and Hatless Hunter cleaning solution.

I thought that was hilarious. I'm hoping narq was just joking when they compared 2 huge mediocre chains to each other... please tell me you were joking

Well, the only real way to compare ice cream is by taste, texture, ingredients, etc.. You can always compare price per unit, but in the case of ice cream, especially when comparing something like Haagen Dazs to a store brand, you can compare all you want and what you'll get out of that is a handful of quarters and 2 gallons of nasty crap.
While I often opt for store brands due to price and the similarity of products to one another (especially with things like paper towels and bottled water, not so much food items because I can really taste the differences), given the choice it would be Haagen Dazs every time.

Ok... You have a luxuy product that isn't selling well. You think that raising the price will help? Why not charge $8 for a pint? Wouldn't that work? Wouldn't that pay the bills faster?

Sorry... don't think so. They're just running off more customers.

Nope... don't agree...

MOST companies faced with a recessionary market will in many cases attempt to LOWER their prices to keep customers, especially when their primary inputs are dropping in price. Just look at how the bricks and mortar stores are offering huge discounts on products or otherwise offering consumer incentives. Hell, Toyota is giving cash back and 0% financing on their cars... even the "hot selling" Prius. By your logic they should be *raising* the prices of their vehicles.

Secondly... I would think that lower input costs (shipping costs are way down, diesel is way down, energy prices are way down, agriculture prices are down, dairy prices are down) would allow HD to maintain the current offerings and make and increased profit. For example, Class IV milk dropped 19% since last December and milk production has gone steadily upwards over the last few months (up 1.4% in the last year). [[www.dailydairyreport.com]]

So let me get this straight...

You think it's natural that HD would raise prices even though virtually all of their input prices have dropped drastically and folks are pulling back on luxury spending? I, personally, think that HD/Dryers/Nestle (the parent companies) are just gouging at this point and they'll keep doing it as long as suckers like you keep accepting it.

Finally, I think their weaselly press release is utter bullshit meant to dupe rubes (perhaps like you) into feeling sorry for HD's "challenges". Personally, I think HD/Dryers/Nestle is in a boatload of trouble - as are ALL premium brands. If they continue to raise pricing they will run off even more customers... forcing more price increases... losing more customers...

Death spiral.

Before that happens I'm betting we'll see a big decrease in HD pricing. Until then, I'm betting they lose a lot of sales and continue to cry and whine about their tough lot in this business environment. Boo hoo.

But does Blue Bell "hug" their berries like Haagen-Dazs states on their site. Scary visions emerged when I read this statement on their site.

They could "win" (as in not get lambasted by people like me) if they were freaking honest like this:

"Our costs are up, but we figure we can trick most people into paying the same price as before for less ice cream if we shrink the sizes a little bit."

OR (gasp):

BY NOT SHRINKING AND JUST RAISING THE PRICE!

It's retarded to have everything in these odd amounts because some firms are always further along the shrinkage than others. All because they all have this overpowering urge to be sleazy. It's a race to the bottom.

What would you think if gas stations started shrinking the gallon to hide the price increases from the feeble-minded?

REGULAR: $ 2.09 9/10*
*Per 110-ounce gasoline unit

And the final reason why the Shrink Ray is retarded is: Because they will never increase the sizes again when the recession is over. They'll maybe stop shrinking (or shrink less) until the next recession, when they'll shrink again. The inevitable result is in 20 years we'll have ice cream "half gallons" that are 1" tall, but they'll cost the same as the 1.5 quart "half gallons" do today. They'll eventually run out of room to shrink and packaging will be completely retarded.

@anachro882:

I tend to agree, but at this point ice cream carton sizes are all over the place so the only way to compare is to compare the price per unit via the freezer shelf label.

A gallon of ice cream used to be a standard size but no longer.

@lotussix:

Yes, they should give you less. And you should be forced to throw away that bottle and the contents after 5.2 weeks.

I was merely observing people whining about shrink ray this, shrink ray that...tired of all the posts here about it.

Why do you think companies cut jobs during recessions? Generally, it's to cut their costs in the face of falling sales (although it's also sometimes to take advantage of cheaper labor that's available then).

New and improved Häagen-Dazs, 1 ounce container for the same low price of $4.99

First off... Cheesecake Factory has HUGE HUGE GINORMOUS portions.

Second of all... Cheesecake Factory is almost as mediocre as Applebees.

Finally... I don't eat anywhere where the menu is full of ads for other stores/products - like Cheesecake Factory. As if the need the ad revenue after charging $18 for rubbery lasagna.

Bottom Line: You'll need a better analogy to make your point. Americans go to the Factory for the same reasons they go to Applebees - BIG FOOD!

@squatchie44: Since when does the packaging say the contents is good for a month?

I use Tide He because I got a "free year" worth of detergent when I got my most recent washer and dryer set. I have been using the same bottle of Tide He for well over a month, so does that mean that Tide owes me less? No. It's an average.

Since the only person who lives in my house is me, the free "year" of Tide is going to last well over a year for me.

Reuben Mattus was a Polish immigrant trying to make his way on the tough streets of the Bronx by selling ice cream. In 1959, close to bankruptcy because of weak sales, Mattus came up with a brilliant idea. He took his slow-selling ice cream and gave it an invented name that suggested something foreign and exotic: Haagen-Dazs. What Mattus discovered is that when the same ice cream was given this Scandinavian-sounding name, people could not have enough. It actually enhanced their eating experience. To this day, most people believe that Haagen- Dazs is made somewhere in Denmark by some ancient guild of ice cream makers.

Totally agreed, and I made a comment to this effect upthread. It's simply foolish to compare something like HD to store brand ice cream on price, ounce per ounce. It's not at all the same type of product, since ice cream comes in such variable recipes. Compare apples to apples on price per ounce, people. This is one of those exceptions where it's not as simple as just dividing the price by the quantity.

I just checked out the edy's site. In the "loaded" flavors they use skim milk. Another disheartening fact is that they say it's "vanilla flavored". I was wondering why it tasted so synthetic.

I'm coming to your house for dinner. Butter.....mmmmmmmmmm..... :D

I'd much rather they do this than cut the quality of their product like a lot of companies have done.

Their ice cream bars are soooooooooooooooooooo gooooooooooooooood . . .*drool*

Nice job getting taken by smoke and mirrors. Ever wonder why that generic, light (or not), cheap, store-brand ice cream is so fluffy to start, melts into nothing, and gets crunchy with ice so quickly?

It's all air! You're getting ripped off for crappier tasting ice cream, and not getting much more for it.

You're forgetting one thing. As you said, we're in a recession and that means there's less consumer spending going on as well. Part of the price increase isn't just to combat rising prices, but falling demand as well.

They've already lost the people who can't/won't pay 5$/16oz in the current economy. This means smaller sales. Out of their remaining customer base, the margin between people still willing to pay that, and the people who would cease buying over two ounces is less than the costs recouped by shrinking the product.

However (in)accurate their listed reasons might be, it's probably not gouging for the sole sake of additional revenue on top of their old profits. Rather just to keep their profit at about the same level it was before. This is, as they say, "Business as usual" and it makes some economic sense even if you disagree with it. I'm sure most everyone here would prefer to be paid their original salary over taking a 12.5% pay cut - It's the same as asking HD to "eat their loss."

For all our consumerist indignity, if you're going to stop eating ice cream over this, you're still in the minority. You're a statistic they've factored in and decided you're not worth the added cost.

The only good thing about Turkey Hill is that if you email them about ANYTHING: a complaint, positive feedback, whatever; they send you a book of coupons for their ice cream, novelties, and tea as well as give you a calendar every year with a page of coupons at the end.

This is as bad as receiving a years worth of free Tide He coupons but having it only be 10 coupons. I mean, theres 12 months not 10.

[www2.scholastic.com]

@cabjf: Yes yes. And now I will take this slightly off-topic by saying that I WANT full-fat and real sugar. A pint of Haagen-Dazs lasts a long time for me, because I serve probably half or a third of the "portion" size. It's very rich to our palates, and rarely do the hub and I go back for a second small serving. I think if you're eating the premium, full-fat, real sugar version of ice cream, you are satsified much sooner.

And I buy whole milk, use a stick of butter per day (cooking every meal at home for a family of five, so it's not THAT much), full-fat dairy, liberal use of olive oil and not one of us is overweight. Contrasted with a family member whose diet is loaded with 100-calorie snack packs, sugar-free, "lite", non-fat pre-packaged meals and "nutrition" bars who can't seem to lose those extra 15 pounds.

*bows and steps off soapbox*

@Et_In_Arcadia_Ego: minimum 10% milkfat to be ice cream. Premium brands will probably have 15% or more.

Basically... HD is just bullshitting everyone so they can kick a little more scratch out of their wallets. The cost of diesel is HALF what it was, and refrigerated shipping is probably their largest cost. Their prices SHOULD be dropping! Instead they just jump on the gouging bandwagon.

Not that I'm glad they're doing this, but I'm also not full of righteous indignation. I was honestly considerably more upset that I now get only eight microwave burritos in a package instead of ten; I can't just make .8 of a burrito at a time to get the same number of servings there! To be honest about it is at least an improvement.

Edit: My math is wrong, but the idea is the same.

So if you go to the super market and you see Hood ice cream is $1.21/ppu, and Haagen Daz is $2.98/ppu, and you're looking to save some cash... it's not hard.

And actually, this is one of the few things where smaller sizes ARE what's best for you. If I bought a pint of ice cream, I'll eat the whole thing; if I bought a half-gallon of ice cream ... I'd eat the whole thing. Save me from myself!

Hey, what about those guys in Vermont? Are they shrinking their containers? I love the HD Rum Raisin, but I can't buy it now that they're going to shrink the raisins even more than they've been shrunk already (yeah, I know raisins are/were grapes).

Just increase the price, ok? I don't want to get into the debate again about shrink ray vs price increase, but everytime I see the shrink ray effects, I keep thinking, "Oh, they think I don't see what they've done. Well, I am not going to give them the satisfaction of buying their stuff." This is also known as "cutting one's nose off to spite one's face."

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Companies can never win. Even when they have disclosure, they get criticized.

F*cking shrink ray. Saw it again yesterday, as Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes are now 4.9oz instead of 5oz. Despite the immaterially small change, they had the old package and new package on the shelf, side-by-side. Visually identical.

Haagen-Dazs still makes the best supermarket ice cream, in my opinion.

But every time I get off my ass to make it from scratch at home, I wonder why we ever buy it. Miles better.

Based on market research, consumers react better to a decrease in size rather than an increase in price.

2 oz decrease in size is 12.5%. If we had a 12.5% increase in price of say $5 dollars, it would now be $5.63 (rounded up).

Considering household budget for groceries, it's better for products to stay the same and stretch food out for a week rather than have everything cost more and sacrifice one item.

Ideally, companies should just think of the consumer and eat the cost of increasing prices. But the stockholders are put first before consumers.

Haagen-Dasz: Compromising quality or reducing carton size are not the only ways to confront rising costs, but you do a good job at making your customers believe this.

What you didn't tell us is why you didn't keep the carton size the same but increase the price, so that consumers can fairly compare it to other ice creams on the market. This wouldn't compromise quality at all.

"I just LOVE that gritty crunch!!!"