Is this greed or inflation?

[criptoevangelista]

I don't know if this is only particular to my country but there's something I've observed about industries and the products they make that I would like to point out for discussion.

I visited a regular shop where I buy home commodities and I remember some few years ago that there used to be a particular yogurt brand that I used to enjoy because of its thickness and creaminess and considering that the weather was hot I went ahead to pick up this drink from their refrigerator, went to the counter to pay, I was not shocked to see that the price is no longer what it used to be, it is now more expensive than before, I was not shocked because I understand that things have toughened up in the economy. That was not my disappointment, my disappointment was that the quality of the product has dropped so much even with the price increase.

Now my question is, why can these industries not increase the price of goods and maintain the quality? why is there an increase in price and then still the quality is being reduced. I have noticed this across so many other product in my countries market, not just this yogurt drink.  

I know that this will not be so if my country has a good quality control unit, but even without that, why can these industries not act right and maintain quality, is reducing the quality of product while increasing the price not directly affecting their business?

There are some companies trying to change product formulas to use less sugar or even salt, and that completely changes the identity of the product. I even remember a while back when Donald Trump was complaining about how Coca-Cola sweetens its drinks. Anyway, this phenomenon has been spreading all over the globe, there are some products here in my country that are practically unrecognizable, keeping nothing from the past except the brand name.

[Jubilee58]

If you are involved in any business, you should focus more on pleasing your customers rather than making more profit out of greed, when you gain the trust of your customers, they will even be the ones to advertise your product more than you do, but when you desire more on the profit you will make from your business, and compromise the services you render to your customers, just bear in mind that such business is bound to collapse or loose it's stand at any given time.

If because of high cost of items or other materials in the market you have increased your own products, fine, and their is nothing wrong with that, but you need your serve your customers with the best quality of products, and is only this way your business will grow, and good reward or profit will also come your way.

[danherbias07]

Shame on those companies.

It is true. Actually, a lot of items that are being sold in the supermarket, especially the popular ones, have lower quality, and either they add more price to it or maintain it. I used to buy the things repeatedly in the supermarket because I trust those names and I know their quality. But now, I mostly try a new name and see if it will pass my taste buds. From cheese and chips to drinks, if I see a new name, I'd grab it and test it. I think those big companies are so confident that people will buy the same thing. It's not always like that. It's a different era now, and a lot of different names are coming out. Sometimes people tend to buy homemade or locally grown items. I bet those old companies can see the changes in their sales.

[ayojikun]

If you are involved in any business, you should focus more on pleasing your customers rather than making more profit out of greed, when you gain the trust of your customers, they will even be the ones to advertise your product more than you do, but when you desire more on the profit you will make from your business, and compromise the services you render to your customers, just bear in mind that such business is bound to collapse or loose it's stand at any given time.

If because of high cost of items or other materials in the market you have increased your own products, fine, and their is nothing wrong with that, but you need your serve your customers with the best quality of products, and is only this way your business will grow, and good reward or profit will also come your way.

Maintaining production quality—specifically regarding product standards—is essential to ensure customer satisfaction; satisfied customers are likely to return and purchase the same product again. In the business world, various strategies are employed to achieve desired outcomes; however, high inflation and the unavoidable, continuous rise in raw material costs present challenges. Unfortunately, some businesses—driven by greed—may substitute materials with similar alternatives, a practice that ultimately hinders the path to success.

[bakasabo]

What about look on situation following way. You want to earn more (because number of goods you want have increased, as well as their price), so you ask your employer for raise. Same does all other employees. Employer agrees to do that, but to be able to pay all salaries and earn, he if forced to increase prices. That is a simple explanation and example of inflation. Now a question, you want a raise because you are greedy or you really need all that you want to buy or spend money on?

[Finebone]

This can only happen in a developing country, it's a playing ground where people like robbing themselves up in the name of the country is now harder than what it used to be, this is something that would land that company in big problem if it happens in America.

It's true that in most developing countries, this is their new realities because the government is not doing anything about such things, by making sure all those bodies in charge of cost control and quality control are running effectively, that is why you will see a product like dangote cement in my country selling at a higher price in Nigeria and in other African countries like Zambia, Kenya etc, it will be selling at a much lower price, is that not incompetency from the government? Because in most top nations in the world, such thing will never happen, because it's an act of fraud.

[maydna]

If they increase the price of goods and maintain the quality, that increase their cost and also impact to the profits which could reduce. Many companies reducing their quality slowly because the materials increases and that affect to their business.

The house goods now are reduced its quality but with more expensive price. We can't say much as the companies will gives the reason that is because they can cover the cost if they still using the old price. So they increase the price so they can still running their business but with lower quality.

But we have more options to buy the similar goods as many companies also releases the similar to the market. We might not know how hard the competition at the market so we only disappointed with the quality.

[Shineup]

The issue of fake products has become a major problem in my country and even though there are bodies that regulate the circulation of such types of products those products end up in the hands of consumers after they must have gotten it for a very high price. Inflation has something to do with this but this is not always the case because a lot of people do this out of their greed.

In the case of what you mentioned, the price didn't just increase but the product also had inferior types of it, this is just greed and nothing more. There are health complications in consuming fake products, this is one of the reasons people are developing issues with their kidneys.

It is so bad and I don't really know where we are heading to, trust me it seems things are getting worst instead of better, I have had it in mind to bring up this topic about the increasing rate of fake products without receiving penalty, I can't remember the last time I saw news of person or cooperate bodies paying darely for involving in fake products production, could it be that those body responsible to regulate the circumstances of this product are not just doing their job appropriately. No doubt, there can be corrupt personals in those agencies and while things kept getting out of hand.

[LUCKMCFLY]

I don't know if this is only particular to my country but there's something I've observed about industries and the products they make that I would like to point out for discussion.

I visited a regular shop where I buy home commodities and I remember some few years ago that there used to be a particular yogurt brand that I used to enjoy because of its thickness and creaminess and considering that the weather was hot I went ahead to pick up this drink from their refrigerator, went to the counter to pay, I was not shocked to see that the price is no longer what it used to be, it is now more expensive than before, I was not shocked because I understand that things have toughened up in the economy. That was not my disappointment, my disappointment was that the quality of the product has dropped so much even with the price increase.

Now my question is, why can these industries not increase the price of goods and maintain the quality? why is there an increase in price and then still the quality is being reduced. I have noticed this across so many other product in my countries market, not just this yogurt drink. 

I know that this will not be so if my country has a good quality control unit, but even without that, why can these industries not act right and maintain quality, is reducing the quality of product while increasing the price not directly affecting their business?

If your country experiences an economic decline, if there are factors that increase inflation, industries and businesses must make various imports, and all of this has its costs. If they receive money in local currency, they must convert it to US dollars, euros, or another strong currency. They might see a slight price increase in that exchange, so they adjust it later to recover that money.

In countries with rampant inflation, governments devalue their currencies to obtain liquidity. What they don't realize is that this directly affects businesses and the workforce. Perhaps that's why yogurt saw a substantial price increase.

[Silverstonez]

If this is inflation, price will only be affected but the same taste or quality of the item will be maintained. But if its affecting the quality as well, now its already greed. The seller clearly wants to make additional profits by cutting back on flavor ingredients to save more money, which will affect the sales of the item in the long run especially when the customers are craving for the old taste.

I have actually read on an economic textbook that inflation can affect the quality of products.  When production costs increases producers may reduce quality or quality of their products in order to cope with the rising costs of production,  Although, not all producers do this shit, there are producers who will maintain the quality and quality of their products in order to protect their reputations.  But in this case, the reduction of the quality of that yogurt may not actually coming from the company producing the yogurt, but from greedy Nigerians who are good at rebranding already made products.

[TheUltraElite]

Companies have to protect themselves from getting bankrupt and in consumer goods this becomes very common.

Often their shelf life is low and they have to raise the price of the product that is getting affected by inflation and reduce the price of the ones getting overstocked. You should look for alternative products or ones from alternative companies to bear with your budget.

Prices will continue to rise because of inflation being in the background, no direct cure for it.

[viljy]

So this is a well-known trick of manufacturers for a long time. While maintaining the same price, reduce the quality (by replacing some ingredients); reduce the weight of the pack (from 1 kg. to 900-800-700 g); reduce the volume of the bottle (from 1 liter to 900 ml or less); reduce the quantity of goods in a pack (instead of 10 eggs in a pack of 9 pcs or even 6 pcs, or more sophisticated: on the contrary, in a pack of 15 pieces, but the price is like two packs of 10 pieces each). This is a shrinkflation. Such methods are used in order not to scare the buyer away at all. Because if the manufacturer leaves, for example, the same quality of yogurt, then the price will be quite frightening for the buyer.

I see it every day in the shops. They produce miniature packs of butter, or some kind of mini sausages for a dollhouse. Now they have come up with the idea to pump the chicken with some kind of moisture-retaining impregnation so that it weighs more due to the water. In general, it is best to cook food at home. But you need to be able to! The new generation mostly does not know how (they were specially taught to "convenience", "not to waste time on cooking"). Therefore, they are forced to eat food from the delivery at exorbitant prices (and the cook or courier most likely spat on this food or blew his nose or something worse).

[demonica]

This is a very common thing in business. It happens because of inflation. What businesses usually do when inflation affects the cost of their raw materials in producing their products are:

1. Price Increase - throughout the years, we can see that most products on the market have already increased their prices. It's because they need to maintain the profit when the expense increases due to the price hike of their raw materials. The also don't want to reduce the quality of their product.

2. Cost cutting - Just like what you've experienced with your favorite yogurt, they cut their cost by probably changing some of their raw materials with cheaper price, or opted for a production that saves them more compared to their original process. This is the reason that's why we sometimes feel like that the product we used to like does not taste exactly the same as before.
They usually do this to maintain its original selling price on the market. Why? To keep their customers. If their usual customers cannot afford their product anymore, they will find another brand as a substitute and the business will lose sales and loyal customers.

3. Shrinkflation - To keep the price and the quality of the product, they just reduce the quantity or the size of their product. That is why you'll also notice in some products that it tends to be smaller compared to their old product.

So it really depends on the company, on what they choose to do in order to maintain their profit when there's inflation.

What you can do is to contact the yogurt company and share your insight about the changes in quality as a customer. Companies often listen to customer feedback about their product in order for them to improve, so maybe they'll listen.

[Hyphen(-)]

Companies have to protect themselves from getting bankrupt and in consumer goods this becomes very common.

Often their shelf life is low and they have to raise the price of the product that is getting affected by inflation and reduce the price of the ones getting overstocked. You should look for alternative products or ones from alternative companies to bear with your budget.

Prices will continue to rise because of inflation being in the background, no direct cure for it.

You are right, the companies will try by all means to protect themselves from getting bankrupt which is usually caused bet inflation of goods and even service providers, they need to improvise to need the same demand if the customers and to be able to pay their workers, they usually tends to reduce quality so that they can produce more with the same throughput they usually use.

Corrupt countries with corrupt regulatory agencies are also part of the problem, they are greedy and care for only themselves and not the people they are main to protect, the quality control units don’t usually do their work well, that’s why those companies will make such decision of increasing product with no quality with the same price or even a price higher than their previous market price.

Furthermore, greed is also among what caused all these. Some companies that have made names for themselves will want to maintain the same profit they used to have despite them having their complete ROI for long, they can’t sacrifice to maintain the same quality by taking lower profits since they already have the customers, they will rather spoil the brand with low quality just to make more money.

[SOKO-DEKE]

Now my question is, why can these industries not increase the price of goods and maintain the quality? why is there an increase in price and then still the quality is being reduced. I have noticed this across so many other product in my countries market, not just this yogurt drink.

Sometimes, some companies are trying to play smart with their customers, probably because they don't want to lose more customers by increasing the prices of their products so higher base on their quality of product. If the price of their products increases too much, customers will start complaining, and that may lead some companies to come up with the idea of not maintaining the quality of their products while not increasing the price as much as it is supposed to increase for them to get their profits.By doing that, some companies feel that most customers may not notice it quickly, and even if they notice, they may not try to run away from them because the price of the products is not that high, even though they have increased the price.

The point is that this strategy may not work out for some companies, and they try to apply the same rules in production, even though it cannot work for every product.In my country, there are some companies that reduce the quality of their products and only increase the price a little, and many people do not notice that. For example, some sachet or bottle water treatment companies may reduce the quality of their bottles and sachets while not keeping the price from going much higher compared to companies that maintain the quality of their sachets and bottles.but those companies that reduce the quality of their sachets and bottles are selling more than the other companies that maintain the quality of their products, increase the higher based on the quality of their products.so every company are just there on market how to play roles to maintain their customers and profits.

[Adiljutt156]

when the economy becomes harder, things tends to become more expensive but that's not just it. When the demand for a commodity is high, and the product is frequently being bought the price gradually increases.Still that's not the point. We can all assume that as the economy gets hard like the value of the currency drops tools, materials, and ingredients for creating those products become expensive, which we are all aware of. But when the quality of the product drops and the price increases, then the company is probably just being selfish or they might be under pressure of how to offer maximum utility to customers. Most times it's not only the quality that drops, but the quantity also you will notice that it would become way smaller than it used to be.Unfortunately they will just be the ones to lose, as other commodities that come to the market tend to bring new flavors that can serve the same purpose. But the idea is how long will the product last before it gets reduced in both quality and quantity That's all....

It is important to know that the increasing prices of things are not always result of inflation or greed. Inflation can cause the prices of raw materials, energy transportation and other goods to increase. Which put pressure on the businesses to increase their prices, but when a company reduces a quality or quantity of a product while they are continuously increasing the prices than it is a matter of concern.

Some companies deliberately do these things to protect their profit margin, while in other cases they may be generally struggling with higher production cost.

Consumers have power. If a company or businesses providing something that has low value, they can eventually switch to the competitors.

[HustleZ]

I don't know if this is only particular to my country but there's something I've observed about industries and the products they make that I would like to point out for discussion.

I visited a regular shop where I buy home commodities and I remember some few years ago that there used to be a particular yogurt brand that I used to enjoy because of its thickness and creaminess and considering that the weather was hot I went ahead to pick up this drink from their refrigerator, went to the counter to pay, I was not shocked to see that the price is no longer what it used to be, it is now more expensive than before, I was not shocked because I understand that things have toughened up in the economy. That was not my disappointment, my disappointment was that the quality of the product has dropped so much even with the price increase.

Now my question is, why can these industries not increase the price of goods and maintain the quality? why is there an increase in price and then still the quality is being reduced. I have noticed this across so many other product in my countries market, not just this yogurt drink. 

I know that this will not be so if my country has a good quality control unit, but even without that, why can these industries not act right and maintain quality, is reducing the quality of product while increasing the price not directly affecting their business?

Look the truth is, when companies raise prices and meanwhile also decreases the quality of their product then it comes down to sheer survival or plain greed. Inflation hits everyone including big companies so they can not adjust their price of products by increasing it rather they change the products and swap for worse ones. This doesn’t hurt immediate profit gains and keeps the customers, and the customers having no better choice have too keep buying the product on same price but with lesser quality. Inflation effects everything and makes our lives harder over time as we have to work more and more because our value of the money that we currently work for will significantly decrease.

[AgriTrack]

For some products, I think I will call it greed, but for others, I believe they have genuine reasons for the increase in price and low quality. The cost of all materials is very high, which they can't even afford, and because of this, they choose to lower the quality of the product just to keep up. Since the price of materials is very expensive, what should be done is to increase the price of the product to match the quality.

However, they fear this will be too expensive, and out of concern for losing customers, they set the price lower and reduce the quality so customers can still afford the product. This is a mistake that business owners make. Quality should never be compromised because if you consider the cost and lower the quality of the product, people will still complain about it, and this is what brings a brand down.

It's not a proper solution to decrease the quality of products if production costs increase because it pushes the step towards the decline of your brand. Do you agree that it's the right decision to survive in the market? I can understand that the reason behind decreasing the quality is not only greed but some time genuinely cost of raw materials increases, and the company is forced to increase prices. I think it's unfair to compromise on the quality of the product.

So what's the actual solution? According to my observations, companies should increase prices slightly step by step instead of decreasing the quality of the product, and also give awareness to customers about the conditions. Here, the different benefits are that customers first understand the situation and showing cooperate on higher prices, and also the company retain their quality and dignity in the market. At the end, do you have any other better solution then the one the one i explained

[aoluain]

3. Shrinkflation - To keep the price and the quality of the product, they just reduce the quantity or the size of their product. That is why you'll also notice in some products that it tends to be smaller compared to their old product.

I disagree in part with this.

In my country there are two economic 'systems' running in tandem:

Insulation and Shrinkflation

Some (quite a lot of) goods (and services arguably) are rising in cost based on inflationary
pressures but they are also suffering from shrinkflation too.

I think its quite cynical by manufacturers to cut the volume of their individual products while
at the same time increase prices. Tey are certainly not keeping the price the same and just
reducing the volume. Its purely about margins and profit.

[Sammye3]

I don't know if this is only particular to my country but there's something I've observed about industries and the products they make that I
There are some companies trying to change product formulas to use less sugar or even salt, and that completely changes the identity of the product. I even remember a while back when Donald Trump was complaining about how Coca-Cola sweetens its drinks. Anyway, this phenomenon has been spreading all over the globe, there are some products here in my country that are practically unrecognizable, keeping nothing from the past except the brand name.

On popular occasions, these companies reduce the quality of their products after attaining massive publicity and increased market value that could last them despite quality decline and that is a wrong market strategy. You could also see that in beverage companies, bakery and breweries too, where a certain product loses its spark and quality after atraining massive market demand.

You could call that greed rather than inflation, because these companies do these not because of the struggling economy but to make higher profits from producing more quantity of the product in high demand with less quality, and that's a selfish interest.