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How the packaging of corn flakes makes you assume that you're saving money

In Back to Basics I explore the techniques used to make consumer think that they are getting value for  money.
What we are getting is container that are just the same size as usual, although their inner content has been shrinking for years.

Not sure I can prove it? Pick up you breakfast cereal box.


Which box of cereals is cheaper? The big one or the small one?
They are both priced £ 1.65 per box, and they are both 26 pence per 100 grams.
You would think that the big one must be cheaper. More product, same price. Right?



Wrong. Have a think....and now look below. Here is typical box of corn flakes.


Now, let's see what's inside it.
Oops, it's not quite full.


Now we take the contents off, and there is a bag, 2/3 full of corn flakes. Next, we empty that bag into the carton box and we draw a line to mark just how much of the box is filled by the flakes. 

Then we cut off the extra carton and we remodel the box to fit the amount of food inside it, to obtained a full box, instead of a 2/3 full box.

Take a look...



So, tell me the truth: if you are rushing through the supermarket and you want to grab a box of corn flakes, would you think that a small box of flakes costing £ 1,65 is far too expensive?

You'd probably get the bigger box, congratulate yourself for being so, so clever and rush home.
However, you want to feel that you are getting value for money and Tesco knows that.

So, Tesco  packages the expensive corn flakes in a BIG box that makes you feel very happy inside.
But the reality is, that you are still paying £.165 for very little product. The real price for that box is £2.20 for a FULL box. 

But because nobody is prepared to pay £ 2.20 for normal and plain corn flakes....the box is made to look bigger while the hidden contents shrink.

Clever!!!!!!!!! Very, very clever.

Not only that, but bigger boxes take more space on your cupboards and on the shelves, and in trucks. More space in trucks means more fuel to pay for transport, and more cost to you, the customer.

More paper to the landfill… more paper for you to put in the bin… more ink wasted for printing… and so on.

How's that for a supermarket that claims to be green? And cheap?

The verdict is yours!

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