Red Rock Deli chips - 20g less, same price

[Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 17:17

Not even sure if this qualifies for the forums but hey, I need to rant, and I think OzBargainers will relate to my sadness.

Love Red Rock Deli chips? So do I. Or at least I did.

Anyone else noticed how they've sneakily changed the weight from 185g to 165g, possibly hoping to deflect our attention of this change by simultaneously re-vamping the packaging design?

Picked up a bag and knew immediately it was lighter. Price on the shelf was the same as always (in fact, it seems like the transition is just happening now.. so the Woolworths shelf price still stated 185g, when half the shelf already had the new 165g bags on it).

So disappointed. It feels like the betrayal of a loyal friend.

:(

Would you guys ditch a product you liked over something like this? I think I will. A small protest has to count for something :P

General Discussion

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 01/03/2014 - 17:26
    +1

    Its happening not just in Australia but in other countries like the UK as well. And it's happened to chocolate bars, peanut butter, canned tuna and other dried food — the small stuff, because we hardly ever look at how much junk food weighs anyway.

    Its possibly due to inflation and recession issues, which means they have to cut cost, but they have to do it in a way that's only subtly noticeable. Obviously we are very price sensitive so decreasing the packaged weight by a small amount (-10%, which according to Weber's Law is generally unnoticed) is the best way of reducing costs without losing your customers to other brands.

  • YOTR on 01/03/2014 - 17:27

    Yep. Noticed this, but never mind I only bother with Kettle.

      • YOTR on 02/03/2014 - 00:15

        Well there ya go! Kettle chips are regularly half price, whilst I cannot recall Red Rock being half price… maybe that will change now? Otherwise, Kettle still wins.

  • itsfree on 01/03/2014 - 17:43
    +9

    Picked up a bag and knew immediately it was lighter.

    You must know your chips!

  • PJC on 01/03/2014 - 17:50
    +6

    Red Rock? Try Black Stone at Aldi. Same quality, maybe even the same factory.

    • cloudy on 03/03/2014 - 20:18

      Got a feeling half price red rock is better than the imitation at full price.

  • RockyRaccoon on 01/03/2014 - 18:08
    +1

    Just think - 20g = less calories, so healthier - But I dont think that's much consolation

  • arcticmonkey on 01/03/2014 - 19:09

    Doritos made their pack smaller too. I stick with CC's now. Better tasting and Aussie owned.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 21:06
      +9

      Doritos (and CC's, and Smith's potato chips etc.) used to be 250g.
      Doritos were the first to go down to 200 - now they're 175g.

      I am old enough to remember when CC's were first introduced. I lived on them as a kid and as a teenager. Both in regards to the amount and taste of topping used, quality of oil (and how often it was changed so as not to taste rancid), CC's now are an absolute shadow of what they once were.
      I really can't convey just how different they are now, compared to how they once were…

      Having said that, I recently tried a couple of the new 'Popped' varieties and found one of them to be quite nice.

      I also remember when Doritos were introduced into Oz to belatedly compete with CC's. They have changed to - and not for the better, but occasionally you'll get a pack where both the amount of topping and the freshness of the oil used is good.

      • itsfree on 01/03/2014 - 21:43
        +16

        I feel privileged to be in the presence of such chip connoisseurs.

        • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 21:55
          +2

          At one point in my life they formed the (particularly crunchy) base of the food pyramid.
          In retrospect, how I managed to never be overweight is a bloody mystery.

        • itsfree on 01/03/2014 - 21:57

          I managed to never be overweight

          Lucky bugger!

        • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 22:01
          +3

          At one point in my life

          Lemme guess, was that before technology ruled nearly every waking moment of ours, and people used to be out doing stuff instead of sitting at home at the glow of their computer/tablet/phone screens refreshing OzBargain night after night?

          I think I remember days like those…

        • itsfree on 01/03/2014 - 22:02

          Ah yes! That explains it…

        • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 22:20

          Maybe…

          If either of you have weight issues, you both each have a clear and tailor-made option at hand.

          waterlogged turnip: More time above ground, preferably in the sun.
          itsfree: Multitude of sins can be hidden under a detective's trenchcoat.

          You're welcome. Come again.

      • tailgatinholden on 04/03/2014 - 21:07

        You're so right about CC's. it's now more sour/salty than cheesy/sweet.
        there is less flavour, and they are less oily.

        Old CC's were like a more flavour-some fancier version of Red Doritos, which are king atm.
        Speaking of which, DO NOT eat american Red Doritos.
        They are terrible (250-300gm bags though), but they are sour/salty/aspartame-y.
        It was a huge disappointment.

        • [Deactivated] on 04/03/2014 - 21:53
          -1

          Yep, no need to look back through 'rose-coloured' taste buds as regards the original CC's. They once were amazing - are no longer.

  • Gdsamp on 01/03/2014 - 20:55
    +1

    Freddo Frogs are also now somewhat smaller. The whole from of one now is similar in size to the torso of one from 10 years ago.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 21:46

      So sad :(

      • TheOneWhoKnocks on 02/03/2014 - 19:00

        Let us come together as one and rejoice! We need our extra grams!

  • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 21:21

    Worst 'shrinkage with same price maintained' betrayal happened early in the trend, years ago now.

    For people who don't remember, Continental very nearly halved the weight of their dried 'Pasta and Sauce' varieties, with price remaining the same.
    As a side-dish, we used to go through several packets a week in our household.

    We couldn't bring ourselves to reward the Continental bastardry. Took awhile to get used to the difference, but we have bought the equivalent San Remo products ever since.

  • tonyjzx on 01/03/2014 - 21:45

    here's the sad thing

    the 20g isnt that big a deal to them

    i mean we're talking potato chips not gold dust or cocaine

    i'm disappoint when big companies skimp on stuff like this that doesnt cost them that much anyway

    pricks the lot of them

    i dont hate on a company like toyota that has found a way to use 10cm less thread on a car seat that is just as strong and where i dont notice it

    i notice 20g of chips missing

    • itsfree on 01/03/2014 - 21:49
      +2

      I dunno - when you're manufacturing them by the tonne, 20 grams each pack can certainly add up to tens of thousands of kilograms.

      • [Deactivated] on 03/03/2014 - 16:13

        What he's saying is they pay something like $1-2 a kilo for potatoes at most. They then process it all for maybe $.50 a kilo and then sell it for like $35 a kilo. They then try to save money by reducing the $0.25 from product rather than just pinning an extra $0.25 on per kilo they sell it at. It makes a little difference to them but a big difference to us and they think we don't notice which is why he's annoyed.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2014 - 21:53

      i notice 20g of chips missing

      I was surprised that I noticed such a relatively small mass difference too. Picking up the bag, it just felt like there were barely any chips in it compared to previously. 20g in chips is a bit of volume, so maybe I just noticed the chip volume difference…

      Their single-serve packets are 90g and retail for over $2 (nearly $3 actually). All those sneakily saved 20g from the large bags would make a whole lot of extra 90g bags for higher profit!

  • Euphemistic on 02/03/2014 - 08:05

    Just like the old chestnut, 10% free on chocolate bars they used to do, give you an extra 10% for a while sneak the price up a bit with the 10% included! then drop the size back down.

    Business will always try to fleece the most money for you they can and with increasing costs the price often needs to go up, to offset the price rise there is often a change in quality or quantity. I think I'd rather lose quantity.

  • ethereal88 on 02/03/2014 - 08:20

    I'll need at least 2 packets to satisfy myself. Remember when chips were 250g? And pepper steak too … . the chip market here is dying. Kettle only has the same old same old, red rock deli isn't worth buying, Smiths is boring bogan junk (think VB) and Thins pfffft. Why don't we all pitch in and start a new company? Our products shall be 300g, and all the ads will witness us smashing our tiny rivals?

    • No ONE on 02/03/2014 - 11:22

      Looks like we need his/her money to start the company for a starter

  • ThisJustin on 02/03/2014 - 13:11

    Red Rock seem horrible to me. If you open them, eat 1/2 the bag, seal them tightly, and leave the bag for ~24 hours they turn unpalatably sour.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/03/2014 - 16:25

      Sour? Wasn't expecting you to say that lol. Never noticed this myself. Maybe try putting the bag in the fridge in the mean time, after it's opened? I do that - stops them losing their crispness too :)

      • ThisJustin on 03/03/2014 - 23:13

        OK. Umm, maybe sour wasn't the perfect word to describe it. But they do seem to lose flavour in a very short span of time. I'll have to try your refrigerator trick one day :)

  • NancyCat on 02/03/2014 - 14:58
    +1

    Thanks for the heads up. Just stocked up on some 185g packs. (On special @ Coles at the moment)

  • ankor on 02/03/2014 - 18:51

    I wonder if it is partly because these chip sellers are always being squeezed by colesworths. If they aren't able to sell their goods at full price, and they are being squeezed by their distributors, then they will likely want to try and minimise their losses.

    On another note, has anyone noticed that kfc doesn't taste that good compared to its hey day in the 80's?

    • scrimshaw on 03/03/2014 - 21:17

      I wonder if it is partly because these chip sellers are always being squeezed by colesworths. I

      This may be true, Woolies and Coles are pushing their own in-house brands pretty hard and the chip sellers may have to pay through their nose to make sure WooleColes will keep stocking them.

      Many of the Woolies in house products are very well priced and competitive: the Home brand MiGoreng for instance only costs $1.71 which is cheaper than the Magee cardboard.

  • Darkpulsar on 02/03/2014 - 20:48

    IIRC, they incrementally decrease sizes in order to offset inflation, rather than increasing the price too much. Customers were more receptive to smaller sizes at the same price, rather than an increased price for the same size. Obviously there's some cost cutting motive as well, but I'm sure you'd find that people would complain if they kept the same size and increased the price.

  • epicaricacy on 03/03/2014 - 11:56

    Do you not remember when alcohol went from 750 to 700 with no subsequent price drop? Late 90s sometime from memory

    • [Deactivated] on 03/03/2014 - 15:25
      +1

      Not really. I was around 10 years old back then :P

      Had no idea about that though. Cheers for the info. It's outrageous!

  • morpheu on 03/03/2014 - 16:00

    general rule with grocery items, unless there is a good reason to do it, new "improved" packaging=higher per unit price! why else? the manufacturer must think we have a short memory or never keep old packaging to compare it with!

    so you want to send them a clear message? vote with your money, don't buy these any more! just keep in mind as pointed out this practice is not limited to just one company so it may take some homework to find a replacement.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/03/2014 - 22:01

    Reminded of three bits of bastardry by Uncle Toby's about a dozen years ago:

    1) Standard size muesli bar packs were originally packs of eight. Packaging changed, six bars per pack, prices stayed the same.
    2) Not too long after that, prices of every Uncle Toby's product - snack foods and cereal - jumped overnight by 30%. 'On special' prices in the supermarket catalogues from then on were the 'regular prices' that once were.
    3) A bit down the track, the cheese portion of 'Le Snaks' - ridiculously overpriced from the get-go for what they were - shrunk by a full 30%.
    If you've ever wondered why you can't get a genuinely satisfying amount of cheese on all three biscuits, that's the reason.

    If I were to ever meet 'Uncle Toby', I would:

    1) Give him a nipple cripple.
    2) Administer a Chinese burn.
    3) Kick him in the nuts.

    • [Deactivated] on 03/03/2014 - 22:28

      http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=465112

      I remember the drop to 6 bars per muesli bar pack, too. Absurd! I miss their crunchy bars.

      • [Deactivated] on 03/03/2014 - 23:47
        +1

        Please ask the mods to remove that link. Dangerous.

        Overclocking of snackfoods always results in them being fried.

  • banzini on 04/03/2014 - 12:51

    bacon deluxe's from hungers are now considerably smaller than 10 years ago,
    oh well the old '2 for 1 voucher' on drive thru which i never have works a treat

  • tko6070 on 04/03/2014 - 14:16

    I harbour no loyalty to any chip company, I base it solely on the taste to cost per 100g ratio, some might say it is the golden ratio.

    No one has mentioned the 'chunky' 'share' pack which is less at 150g, very step at $3.00 per 100g

  • [Deactivated] on 04/03/2014 - 22:05

    Several years ago… Arnott's Iced Vo-Vo's.

    They should have renamed them Anorexic Iced Vo-Vo's. So much fondant, jam and coconut disappeared.

    Arnott's also tampered with the Monte Carlo at the same time, but the outcome was a bit more subtle.

  • markr1963 on 13/03/2014 - 22:08

    Not the first time Red Rock have done this… The bags were 210gm a few years back then 185gm and now this.

  • Jasamy on 06/06/2014 - 15:50

    Yes I noticed and I am boycotting. As if they can't afford to keep the packs the same size! This is just greed greed greed and an insult to the intelligence and loyalty of their customers! I can do without their tasty, fatty snacks!

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