Look at that sale! $4.99 a can. That converts to $3.07 a pound. Well worth buying even though it’s the new reduced-size can.

In the other picture, the can on the left is the outgoing size, 30.5 oz. (864 g). The can on the right is the new size, 26 oz. (737 g).

This is what is often referred to as the “grocer’s shrink ray,” even though it comes from the manufacturer. The standard unit of coffee used to be a pound. Now some of those little packages have as little as 10 oz. You could blow on the shelf and they would scatter like the flying seeds of a dandelion.

Other products where the shrink ray has gone to the ridiculous extreme: orange juice and ice cream. A lot of time is spent styling up those containers to make them look like they hold more than they do. The ice cream, especially, can be pumped full of air.