Package Sizes

The POD has had it up to here with food and other manufacturers that ignore "normal" sizes. I do not know if it was the Yogurt Makers or the Ice Cream makers that struck first. Yogurt was sold in a regular recognized size, 8 ounces or a cup. This is a standard measure. Then, one day, the yogurt makers started selling Yogurt in 6 ounce measures. That's not a standard size. The only reason that they got away with it is that the Yogurt makers realized that the sheep that are the American consumer would not notice the change. (I complained to them and they said that it was a "consumer preference" as the result of surveys. To that I say that one can write a survey question to get support for just about any proposition).

The Ice Cream makers were even more brazen. They advertised the "space saver" package which took less space in the Freezer. Of course it took less space in the freezer. It contained only 1.75 quarts of ice cream, not a full half gallon. And this "size creep" continues to occur just about every time a manufacturer "repackages" a product in some "fancy" new box or container.

Starbucks is the latest to do this. Do you know what a "venti" stands for? Venti means "twenty". It is the size of the drink. Well not at Starbucks.... Venti no longer means twenty.....


Does this happen in the rest of the world? No, not really. Much of the rest of the world has specific regulations about important consumer products. In Italy, for example, all pasta must be sold in packages of set weights (250 and 500 gram, 1 kilo and 2.5 kilo).

Let's all start to say "no" to this practice and tell the manufacturers to stick to standard sizes.