To never buy Anchor butter again?

I have trained myself to look at the price per 100g when deciding what to buy - it's the only way to avoid being ripped off by often confusing prices and offers.

Tesco got into trouble with this

Which? reports Tesco to CMA over pricing of Clubcard offers | Tesco | The Guardian

The consumer group Which? has reported Tesco to the UK’s competition watchdog over the supermarket’s failure to provide detailed pricing information on its loyalty card offers.

The group said the UK’s largest retailer had not clearly explained the unit price of deals for its Clubcard holders – such as the price per 100g or 100ml – so that shoppers could easily compare value for money between different sized packages, bottles, brands and retailers.

It said the lack of unit pricing could be a “misleading practice” under consumer protection regulations because it could make it difficult for shoppers to determine which was the cheapest product.

In one example, Which? found a 700g bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup in Tesco for which the label showed the standard price to be £3.90, or 55.7p per 100g. A prominent Clubcard label showed the same size bottle on offer at £3.50, but the unit price, which would be 50p per 100g, was not given

At the same time a 910g bottle of the same ketchup on the shelf below was priced at £3.99, or 43.8p per 100g, for all shoppers, making it the cheapest option per 100g. Which? argued many shoppers would wrongly assume the Clubcard option was the best deal available.

I have noticed this - the Clubcard deal looks tempting but it's still better to buy a bigger item as you get more for your money. The Clubcard deal does not include the price per kg etc.

And then you have prices per 100g next to prices per Kg. Some people struggle to convert between the 2.

The supermarkets sometimes try to help( or why?) by putting a price per 100g or similar, but you need good eyesight to read it.

that's a legal requirement but that 'price comparison' is also exploited by supermarkets.

just the other day for jaffa cakes at a big supermarket. own brand, big pack branded and small pack branded. one pack showed 'price per serving' (but without saying what a serving actually is), another price per 100g, the other price per 10 pieces. how do you compare the price with this?

YANBU, but this is happening all over the place now. So if you follow this policy, you'll be unable to buy anything! I'd been caught with cheese, coffee and chocolate before I caught on and now check everything.
Farm Foods do butter in 225g (or maybe 227g) packs, but sometimes it is still cheaper per 100g than Aldi (next door here.)
And it's not just a one-off thing. 200g -> 190g ->180g -> ?? with, as far as I can tell, no change to the packaging.
The similar thing I noticed a long time ago is confectionery bars and packs. A bar which is in one shop for 50p and another for 45p might be 47g and 43g.
The supermarkets sometimes try to help( or why?) by putting a price per 100g or similar, but you need good eyesight to read it.

Often, the more of something you buy, the less you pay per unit mass / volume

So that's why a 10 kg pack of rice is less per kg than a 500 g pack of rice.

What would you complain about?

The price of food is rising. So either you get a smaller amount for the same price as before, or you get the usual amount you like but you pay more.

Same with Coffee Mate - same price; smaller pack.

Is anyone actually writing to these companies to complain? Just curious?

I agree it's really annoying OP, but this has been happening for years - well before Brexit. There have been previous threads. I first noticed it with cartons of Tropicana juice and boxes of washing powder. Often it would be on special offer eg at Asda, then would come off the offer, stay the same price but the pack size would have changed. You really have to look at the price per 100g or whatever on the label.

Shrinkflation Tesco also stopped selling 6 pints of milk to rip customers off.

Why would they do that, rather than just maintaining a price differential between the different sizes? It's not like anybody wouldn't instantly notice the difference between a 4-pinter and a 6-pinter.

Yes, 6-pinters tend to work out a bit cheaper, but there's nothing to stop them from charging exactly 50% more for 6 pints. People who wouldn't/couldn't use 8 pints will then buy 6 pints from them, rather than just 4 - and increasing sales is surely what all supermarkets want?

I only noticed this a few weeks ago because I buy my shopping on line so I was comparing the prices per gram that they print on line and noticed then that some butters are 200:grams and others 250 grams. They should be standard size !

Maybe it's just me, but I wonder how come certain kinds of product always seem to be the same size - regardless of the price.

I believe there is/was a specific law (EU?) for bread, that loaves have to be either 800g or 400g; but how come no manufacturer ever happened to sell 275g, or 315g or 350g blocks of butter? It's not like they're selling gloves or socks or potato peelers - based on the size of the typical person's body, or parts thereof.

If they currently work with an eye on their competitors all the time - i.e. they don't want to be obviously dearer than a comparable rival brand, with customers not noticing that they give you an extra 40g for your money, meaning that they are not actually dearer - we can be assured that they will all follow suit with the reduction in size before long.

Sounds like something Tesco would do.

It's £1.60 at Tesco for 200g. I hadn't noticed but always buy the cheapest or one on offer.

Shrinkflation Tesco also stopped selling 6 pints of milk to rip customers off.

@Cookerhood both the butter and the spreadable butter by president is all milk and cream. Lurpack butter packs have shrunk and the tubs of spreadable are mixed with oil. I used to buy butterpacks by lurpack but since they shrunk have moved to president. I wouldnt go back even if president shrunk, to me it tastes better

"It's not getting smaller, you're just getting bigger..."

It's called shrinkflation and it's been happening for years, sadly ;0(

I only noticed this a few weeks ago because I buy my shopping on line so I was comparing the prices per gram that they print on line and noticed then that some butters are 200:grams and others 250 grams. They should be standard size !

I noticed straightaway but it still annoyed me.

Everyone who is just realising Anchor butter is smaller than supermarket brands, you can tell the minute you pick it up out of the fridge that it's lighter and so smaller. Does nobody else realise this? Also, Anchor/Lurpack have been smaller for months!

But also it’s just processed cream and salt, you don’t need to buy branded.

Yes it is. Can usually get it in Tesco or the Coop where I live.

I have always read ingredients as dd allergic to some things. And with new products or offers check the price per kg. But if it’s a product I buy every week then I’d probably just grab it without checking. As i think many would.

Look at the ingredients when buying butter

Always check the price per kg….. on everything!