When my wife and I travel we toe the line on the weight limits the airlines impose on baggage. Our suitcases, looking ready to burst, always come in at 48-point-this or 49-point-that on the front counter scale. There’s a sigh of relief when we don’t hit the number where we’d have to pay more. So call it unfamiliar territory when my suitcase was only two-thirds full for a weekend getaway earlier this month. I mean, there was space in there still looking to be filled. I was tempted to throw in the pillow I sleep on just to keep everything from jostling around. It was a dilemma that came back to me just this morning over breakfast.
Allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite foods. Nature’s Path Organic produces grain-based cereals with the rare double-win: they taste great and they’re good for you. Nature’s Path combines exotics like amaranth, quinoa, millet, and spelt, and somehow makes them taste delicious alongside a little fruit and milk. My wife loves their “Golden Tumeric” variety while I prefer their popular “Heritage Flakes”. Sometimes I go with the sweeter “Flax Plus Maple Pecan Crunch”. Trust me, breakfast cereal has come a long way since Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
What hasn’t changed about breakfast cereal however, is the amount of product you find in the bag when you first open the box. The photo you see here is a source of constant irritation for me. You have a box, a bag, and some cereal. The size of the bag is consistent with the size of the box. So why-oh-why (like my recent suitcase) is the bag only two-thirds full? Why not a) dial up the setting on the bag-filling machine to top things off, or b) reduce the size of the box to match the amount of the cereal?
This is the age-old game manufacturers choose to play with us consumers, of course. As production and material costs rise, they find subtle (or not-so-subtle) ways to make us believe we’re buying the same amount of the same product for the same price. At least Nature’s Path doesn’t swap out their ingredients for some chemical alternative. But they do fill the box with air along with the cereal. Honestly, I wonder if the box was ever completely full.
Here’s another sales ploy. Nature’s Path claims this cereal has a “new look” with the “same delicious taste”. What exactly is the new look (and do I even remember the “old look”)? Did the flakes change shape or size or is it the box that has a new look? More importantly, why would I care about a new look when all I want is the same bowl of cereal I bought last time? What aren’t they telling us here?
Now note the fine print at the bottom right corner of the box. First we have a disclaimer of “fruit shown as serving suggestion”. Followed by “enlarged to show texture”. Both statements let me know that what I see is not what I will get. There is zero fruit in the box. The cereal flakes are not as large as the photo suggests. And for today’s water cooler question, does cereal flake texture make it more likely you’ll buy a box?
Finally – and this one probably goes back to the early days of cereal production – the “serving size” suggested by Nature’s Path is one cup. One cup. Try the following some time: Without measuring, pour out what you’d think would be one cup of cereal into a bowl. I guarantee you’ll pour more than a cup. Imagine the saddest, smallest portion of food you will ever see and I present one cup of cereal in a decent-sized bowl. But “one cup” allows Nature’s Path to boast “about 9 serving per container”. No sir. My serving size (and yours) means I’m lucky if I get four bowls out of the entire box.
Look, I get it; organic foods are expensive. A box of Heritage Flakes would run me ten dollars or more if Nature’s Path filled the bag to the top. Add blueberries and milk and it’s an even pricier breakfast. But I’m willing to pay more for flakes instead of air. I suggest Nature’s Path go with the plan for my two-thirds-full suitcase instead. Throw in a giant marshmallow to take up all of that extra space.
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LEGO Neuschwanstein Castle – Update #8 (read about the start of this project in Fit for a (Fairy Tale) King
Today’s construction felt like building a miniature castle within the walls of a much larger one. Bags 15 and 16 (of 23 bags of pieces) were entirely dedicated to the “Palas”, Neuschwanstein’s main residential structure. Within the walls of this building you’ll find King Ludwig’s stateroom, his servant’s quarters, a conservatory, a salon (a room to entertain guests), and an enclosed grotto at the very top. Makes me wonder why Ludwig needed to build the rest of Neuschwanstein, but I guess that’s just his way of showing off.
The grotto sounds like a nice place for a king to hang out, even if the LEGO equivalent makes it look a little cramped. It’s a covered outdoor space with a waterfall, colored lights, and sliding glass doors for unobstructed views of the surrounding Alps. Pretty darned progressive for a castle built in the late 1800s.
Finally, Ludwig had a thing for swans. He probably had several live ones living at the base of the waterfall but he also had the large sculpture you see above, placed prominently in the grotto. For the record, it’s a futile exercise to create a realistic-looking swan out of LEGO blocks. And the “headpiece” is so small LEGO threw in an extra one in case I somehow misplaced it.
Running build time: 7:57
Total leftover pieces: 52
Accompanying movie soundtrack: Chariots of Fire (1981). The theme song from Greek composer Vangelis is iconic; easily one of the most recognizable pieces of movie soundtrack music ever composed, whether the leadoff with the hunting horn or the sweeping piano tune itself. The melody really does evoke images of the human body in motion. However, I was quickly reminded this film score hardly represents a satisfying listen without watching the film at the same time. The rest of the synthesizer music can only be described as bizarre. Some parts are designed to accompany dramatic slow-motion running scenes. Other parts have zero rhyme/reason when they stand alone. And right in the middle of the soundtrack you get an abrupt shift to church organ music and the voices of a beautiful choir. But never mind all that. Just listen to the famous theme here.
Dave, I agree with you on the package contents. It annoys me to no end with the “air” in the inside package and there’s always the notice on the outside about the contents settling, just in case you wondered why one quarter, or one third, of the product is missing. I always buy the individual yogurts, as opposed to the large container, as I don’t like the liquid that collects on top, even if you stir it. So, now I see the individual yogurts have a notice “we’ve left more room at the top to add your favorite toppings!” Oh, you didn’t do that for our benefit at all – don’t try to kid us! You’re making good progress on the castle … I like the idea of the swans and good idea to have extras if they’re that tiny. That’s inspirational music for sure!
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“Settling” is an interesting theory about extra space in the bag. I’d love to see if the initial fill of the bag really does fill it up, or if we’re just being fed a line instead. I’ve never heard that excuse with yogurt tubs but it comes from the same line of thinking. Why would the manufacturer assume you want to add toppings anyway? It’d be like saying the same thing at the ice cream parlor when the scoops don’t fill the cup. I don’t put anything on my ice cream. Not to mention, you’re paying more for the container than you need to. Life’s little irritations, right? 🙂
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I think I’ve seen the “settling” disclaimer on crackers before, perhaps cereal. I only eat Quaker Oats Old-Fashioned Oatmeal (at least the box is filled to the brim there). Meanwhile, the box of “Hint of Salt Triscuits” seems to have less contents every time I buy it … open the sealed bag and you’re down to a half bag of crackers. I know you eat them too. Greek yogurt has a tendency to get a lot of water on the top of the product when in a tub, so I just buy the individual cups. I mix applesauce in it. Manufacturers think they have pulled the wool over our eyes – not so!
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I absolutely love everything about your cereal box post. I hate when products I love needlessly try so hard to manipulate me with obvious [expletives deleted].
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I could publish another blog entirely dedicated to consumer manipulation. I’d have an endless list of examples!
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I know they say cereal is sold by weight but it’s still annoying! I like to eat Puffins cereal and can get a way bigger box from Trader Joe’s for a lower cost than Whole Foods. We’re no dummies! Jon has top status from work with Delta so he doesn’t have a weigh limit on his bags. Violet and I always share a big suitcase that he checks and I flew home with her myself recently and my lowly status self had to make sure I was under the weight limit.
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If I’m willing to drive further to Whole Foods instead of my supermarket, I can buy a larger portion of my Nature’s Path Organic, in a bag that is much fuller than the one that goes into the box. What I haven’t taken the time to do is determine whether it’s a more cost-effective strategy (and I have to factor in that pricey extra gasoline!)
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Also I was surprised your team didn’t smoke mine! Maybe Pat Fitzgerald can really turn around the program.
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Michigan State needs to be relevant in college football (and I reluctantly add, so does Michigan). I think Navy and USC are the only teams the Irish have played more often than your Spartans. Your defense is solid, evidenced by our lack of scoring in the first two quarters. But just like the Wisconsin game, we adjusted at halftime and the rest was as expected. I hope you can hang onto Fitzgerald. All he has to do is give you one good season and it seems other programs will come round trying to steal him away.
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Here in it’s potato chip bags — mostly air with a couple of chips in it.
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Oh, I’d say potato chips are the classic example of the source of my frustration. Literally more air than chips!
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I’ve notice shrinkflation in a lot of products lately. It’s especially annoying with my Lipton’s Earl Gray tea bags which have less tea in them so do I use one bag in a cup and have it too weak, or add 2 bags and have it too strong? Yardley Lavender soap, which I’ve used for years, was 125g and now the bar is smaller at 100g, according to the box. I can’t wait for the Halloween candy – it’s gotten so small I’m sure it will soon disappear, or there will be one chip in a bag. Your cereal sounds interesting. I had to look up amaranth, but I’m not a fan of quinoa.
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Nature’s Path combines several grains in their cereals and maybe that’s the secret to the good taste. I’m pretty sure a quinoa flake cereal wouldn’t fly with me. I’ll pass on your comments about tea to my wife, since maybe she wonders why she has to steep longer these days (as if that helps). Messing with a tea serving is as annoying as reducing the portion of an ingredient you typically use in a recipe (i.e. canned soup). Suddenly you have to use 1.25 contains instead of 1.0 just to keep to the original recipe. Wasted food!
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Ugh, “official” serving sizes are terrible things. “Look how healthy our product is” is one way to look at it. “What a glutton you are!” is another. And on air in the bag, you would think that some machine could give the container a mild shake or two to offset the settling of contents. If the settling wasn’t a deliberate strategy, that is.
How have I never seen Chariots of Fire? You have provided another weekly reminder that I need to watch more movies!
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Maybe settling of the product is a legitimate excuse for what you see in my first photo, but I’d love to see how full the bag looks when it’s first filled at the factory. Is settling just a line we’re expected to buy into? Yes, you need to watch “Chariots of Fire”. It’s a period piece so all these years later it’ll age just fine. I’d go so far as to call the movie “elegant”, what with the period costumes, powerful use of slow-motion, and the way the Vangelis score blends with particular scenes. Absolutely one of my all-time favorites.
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Do they give you more than one swan?
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LEGO did give me an extra swan head (but no body). The head is so tiny I have to believe the only reason I have an extra is because there’s a good chance of misplacing it. But I did get the swan secured into the Grotto, so the extra head sits on top of my pile of extras now.
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If I have room, my pillow DOES go in the suitcase. Not only does it help keep everything from shifting around, but I sleep better at our destination. So go ahead, Dave–throw in your pillow! / As for the constant “subtle” changes food companies employ to save money (AND keep their own profits steady), I don’t know why they bother. They’re not fooling anyone. In fact, their ploys only frustrate their customers. One of the least subtle tricks I’ve noticed: The cereal box on the grocery-store shelf looks the same size as always, but if you turn it sidewise, it’s noticeably (laughably) thinner!
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Completely agree about taking pillows on trips, Nancy. Good sleep is so important as we age! Some of the pillows we come across in the chain hotels are almost comical – not sure how anyone sleeps on them. And yes, I could’ve added the change in the “depth” of the box as well. Seriously, these corporations must spend a lot of time around their board room tables, coming up with new ploys to sell less for more.
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