Daniel Noël of Sherbrooke, Que., stopped snacking on Quaker Dipps granola bars last year after he took a bite and noticed something was up.
The bar tasted “very old,” Noël, 51, told CBC News in an email. “I first thought that the product was way over its expiration date.”
It wasn’t. So Noël compared the ingredient list on the bar’s box with older packaging and made a discovery: the Dipps bars’ previous milk chocolate coating, made with cocoa butter, had been replaced with a “chocolatey coating” made with a typically cheaper fat — palm oil.
“I feel that I’ve been fooled,” said Noël. “It’s not the same product. It’s not the same taste.”
But you may be less acquainted with skimpflation: when companies swap out ingredients in food products for cheaper ones — also without lowering the price.
The older Dipps bar packaging, left, has a logo in the upper right-hand corner that says the bars are “made with real milk chocolate.” The logo no longer appears on the new packaging, right. (Submitted by Daniel Noel )
“It’s really an unknown, sneaky way to give you less for your money,” said Boston-based consumer watchdog Edgar Dworsky, who tracks both skimpflation and shrinkflation.
He believes the recent spike in inflation has sparked a rise in skimpflation, as companies grapple with rising supply costs.
But it’s difficult to gauge the extent of the practice, because it’s hard to detect.
“We don’t know the recipe,” said Dworsky. “So it’s very easy to pull the wool over our eyes.”
No more milk chocolate?
Quaker’s owner, U.S.-based PepsiCo, did not respond to requests for comment about the switch to the “chocolatey coating” made with palm oil.
“It appears that [Quaker has] replaced the milk chocolate ingredient to something that doesn’t meet the standard of identity for Canada. So now they’re calling it ‘chocolatey coating,'” said Jennifer Lee, a registered dietitian and doctoral candidate in nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto.
Registered dietitian Jennifer Lee says Ottawa should require companies to notify shoppers when they change a product’s recipe. (Pelin Sidki/CBC)
Noël said he didn’t notice the recipe change when he bought the Dipps bars, as the older and current packaging look very similar. The current box, however, no longer boasts that the bars are “made with real milk chocolate.”
“I suppose that most people won’t notice,” said Noël. “That’s where the company wins.”
When companies revise recipes in Canada, they must update the ingredient list on product labels, but they don’t have to make any other efforts to alert customers.
U.S. consumer advodate Edgar Dworsky exposes examples of skimpflation and shrinkflation on his website, Mouse Print. (Sophia Harris/CBC)
Lee says the federal government should also require companies to redesign packaging when they revamp recipes, so shoppers understand the product has changed.
“I think it comes down to clearly communicating to consumers so that they can make informed decisions,” she said.
They include Wish-Bone House Italian salad dressing, which is sold in the U.S. and on Amazon’s Canadian shopping site.
After comparing the nutritional details on an older and current version of the dressing in August, Dworsky concluded that the brand reduced the oil content by more than 22 per cent and appears to have made up for it with added water and sodium.
The older version of Wish-Bone house Italian dressing, left, contains more oil and less sodium than the current version, right. (Submitted by Edgar Dworsky)
“Water is cheaper than oil,” he said. “And if you can make consumers believe they have what appears to be the same product, but it costs you less to make, that makes [companies] more money.”
But some customers noticed the change. Dozens have complained about the new recipe on Wish-Bone’s website, with comments such as “tastes horrible!” and “who wants a watered down bland salad dressing?”
U.S.-based Conagra Brands, which makes the salad dressing, did not reply to requests for comment.
Transparency needed on shrinkflation, consumer advocates say
Featured VideoConsumers and advocates are calling for more transparency around the practice of shrinking packaging rather than increasing prices, known as ‘shrinkflation.’ Other countries make companies display weight changes on product labels.
What can customers do?
Nutrition expert Vasanti Malik said recipes change regularly in the food industry for a variety of reasons, including supply chain problems and customer preferences. So, she argues, it would be impractical and potentially cost-prohibitive for manufacturers to alert customers on the packaging every time there’s a recipe revision.
“It’s just not a feasible strategy,” said Malik, an assistant professor teaching nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. “It comes down to the individual to really navigate those food ingredient lists.”
But dietitian Lee argues that companies flagging recipe changes could actually be good for business.
“The better you communicate these changes to consumers, the better we can build trust between manufacturers and consumers,” she said.
If shoppers do notice a negative change in a food product, Dworsky recommends they complain to the manufacturer.
HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
