A couple of anecdotes I’ve accumulated about food prices rising, while product shrinks:
One of my copy-editing colleagues mentioned today that he worked a story by Eagle writer Denise Neil about the return of the McRib at McDonald’s. The story caught his eye to the point that he made a trip to the new Mickey D’s at 53rd and Meridian, where he bought one. Except, this time, the McRib was about two-thirds the size of the last one he ate. The price wasn’t.
Fast forward to Dillons, where one of my favorite Private Selection pre-cooked items is a slab of ribs. Back in the day – nine months ago – you could buy a slab for $9.99. Today, the same slab is $12.99, and is conservatively about 20 percent smaller than the spring of 2008.
Now, we were told last summer this would happen – when gas prices spiraled to $4 a gallon and transportation costs exploded. OK, seems fair. But, those transportation costs have receded. Unfortunately, food prices and food portions have yet to follow suit.
I guess it’s like a voter-approved tax that never sunsets.