this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2026
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[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Everybody is a commerce genius until things hit three comma losses.

[–] ThunderComplex@lemmy.today 1 points 7 hours ago

Tres comas babyyh (don’t mention the negative sign doe)

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Attempts to win back consumers through smaller package sizes and promotional deals went nowhere.

They tried to win consumers by shrinkflation? Oh fuck them.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

shrinkflation and greedflation. or a combination with Cheapflation, although this is more common with hygiene/cleaning supplies products.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 37 points 1 day ago (2 children)

“We’ve spent the past year listening closely to consumers, and they’ve told us they’re feeling the strain,” said Rachel Ferdinando, CEO of PepsiCo Foods U.S. “Lowering the suggested retail price reflects our commitment to help reduce the pressure where we can. Because people shouldn’t have to choose between great taste and staying within their budget.”

What a fucking liar. They spent the last couple of years trying to find ANY other solution besides lowering prices, and now they are lowering them AFTER losing a billion bucks, and trying to frame it as trying to help their customers. No they aren't, the bleeding has gotten so bad that they are now in a blind panic.

I stopped buying their overpriced crap long ago. At Aldi, you can get a decent sized bag of the best kettle-cooked chips I've ever eaten for less than $2. A tiny bag of Lays, 20% of the size of an Aldi bag, is $3 or more. Pepsico can go fuck themselves with their predatory prices.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

As much as I will always have a purple shaped hole in my heart for the sweet chili flavor, I'm totally cool not ever eating them again. Every big company can suck my shriveled excuse for a phallice. I have seen that they will destroy anything and everything around them for a few extra hundredths of a percentage point in share prices.

Side note, homemade tortilla chips with a little sprinkle of a ranch seasoning packet+cayenne>>>Doritos cool ranch.

[–] deddit@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'm never buying Lays chips again, I haven't for over a year now. Never going back, they never needed to raise their price that much, greedy greedy greedy. They took the corpo idea of 'never leaving money on the table' and thought they could gouge us. They thought of us as stupid 'cattle' that would cower to their decades old brand. Fuck brand loyalty. Same thing for McDonalds, I haven't been back there in over 4 years and I'm NEVER going back. NEVER.

[–] Cherry@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago

Yup. Once the routine is broken it’s broken. Living life without some stuff is actually easy and they have lost a customer for life.

I’ve boycotted a few brands in the last 3/4 years, and I expected to miss them more. But in honestly I feel proud at my resolve and now I just think urghhh I don’t need that crap. If I feel an urge I’ll get a no brand. Used to visit maccas fortnightly. Lucky is it’s once a year. I’ve been buying Mexican or European cola…if I have to have it.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Right there with you on McDonald's! I used to get a hot and spicy McChicken at least once every other week as a snack while running around. But after the staged bs with trump (not) serving all of 5 very obvious plants, they will not see another red cent from me!

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Side note, homemade tortilla chips with a little sprinkle of a ranch seasoning

I like this idea, and I could think of a lot of interesting spice combos to use. I'm already partial to garlic and rosemary on fries in the air fryer, that would be great on tortilla chips.

Do you fry them, bake them, what? Will they work in the air fryer?

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Basic pot with corn oil. The tortillas themselves are incredibly cheap when you buy the packages, I cut them into sixths instead of quarters to feel fancy.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yeah, I'd do 6ths, too.

So I really hate deep frying. What do you do with the leftover oil?

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Dunno who downvotes an honest question, but I got you back on the better side of zero.

Suffice to say most people will call me dirty, but I leave it as is most times. If I'm desperate and/or lazy and didn't want to go to the store for more and it's starting to taste funky, I ghetto clarify it with a 1:3 mix of cornstarch and milk respectively.

Start with one drop off water from your finger in the cold oil and when you hear it start to bubble, kill the heat and add one more drop off water. When you hear it popping once every half second or so add a small amount of the milk cornstarch mix and stir vigorously. Strain through first a course sift then a fine one. The proteins in the milk and cornstarch will bind with all the nastiness and make the particles big enough to be caught by the filters and give you almost brand new oil assuming you don't deep fry at 400+degrees.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago

Translation: "YOY revenue is down and we fucked the consumer too hard, and this drop of lube in the form of coupons that steal your data didn't seem to make them enjoy it more. Let's try and recover shareholder value by dong the unthinkable....gulp lowering prices by a tiny bit"

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 day ago

Like I'd ever willingly buy an American product.

[–] ryan213@lemmy.ca 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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[–] Wooki@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Good?

Eat more cheaper fresh whole foods!

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[–] WanderWisley@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’ve got the solution! Smaller chips, more air in the bag.

[–] skeezix@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The ceo grudgingly agreed to hold off on his 15 million dollar bonus for a few years so that they can lower the prices.

[–] MJKee9@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Unrealistic fiction. You have to make your characters more believable. Ex: The ceo begrudgingly thought about someone besides a shareholder for approximately 3 seconds, farted, then signed an agreement to kill another grandmother.

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 99 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Attempts to win back consumers through smaller package sizes and promotional deals went nowhere.

What kind of consumer would be won over by smaller sizes? Savvy consumers know the best deals usually come from the larger sizes, which tend to have a lower price by weight. Or are they seriously trying to frame shrinkflation as somehow being for a customer's benefit?

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 2 days ago

are they seriously trying to frame shrinkflation as somehow being for a customer’s benefit?

In the age of MBAs, I would bet on that 9 times out of 10.

[–] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 45 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah they are attempting to frame it that way. Here'd the logic in their muddled heads.

"We've increased the price of a 250g pack to £2 and people have stopped buying, so we'll reduce the price to £1.50"

"Yeah but you reduced the size to 100g"

"But the price !!!" Waves hands confusedly.

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[–] Pyrixas@piefed.social 199 points 2 days ago (2 children)

“We’ve spent the past year listening closely to consumers, and they’ve told us they’re feeling the strain,” said Rachel Ferdinando, CEO of PepsiCo Foods U.S. “Lowering the suggested retail price reflects our commitment to help reduce the pressure where we can. Because people shouldn’t have to choose between great taste and staying within their budget.”

Um, you forced them to do that, you tone-deaf son of a bitch.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 77 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Because people shouldn’t have to choose between great taste and staying within their budget.

Thankfully that doesn't apply to PepsiCo, because 90% of their snacks are the most mid shit on that shelf coasting off brand recognition and shelf space. If I want cheap, I get generic; if I want great taste, I get some other brand. If I want somewhere in the middle, I get Utz. If I want medium–high cost for medium–low-quality flavor and texture, I buy a PepsiCo product. And if I want to make the right choice, I don't get any of those.

[–] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 39 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The only thing keeping them afloat is pure market penetration- it's hard to not maintain volume when you're the only one on the shelf of every mini mart.

[–] Timbits@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

Heh penetration

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[–] Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago (12 children)

Yup quit buying their stuff a while back. Insane prices and less product. Only a clueless idiot would think that would attract customers.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Watching the prices go up and up while bags got smaller and smaller and smaller was infuriating.

'Normal' sized bags now are almost all under 200g now.

'Family size' are smaller than the old Normal sized bags

I mostly buy store brand chips which remained reasonably priced now.

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[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Why are adults still eating this crap? It’s going to cost you $6 now (including price drop) and thousands+ more because of health issues it’ll create in the future.

Best thing inflation did was force me to learn how to bulk cook. I do take out and eat junk food a handful of times per year. My wallet is happy, and my bloodwork is looking good too.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why are adults still eating this crap?

Because it's a mix of sweet and salty, which scratches our instinctual desires.

Best thing inflation did was force me to learn how to bulk cook.

It has been a hobby and a passion for hundreds of millions of people going on 10,000 years.

Retvrn 2 Tradition

[–] Slashme@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Because it’s a mix of sweet and salty, which scratches our instinctual desires.

And fat. Sweet, salty, carbs, fat. Ding, ding, ding!

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[–] Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago (7 children)

I notice all the brand name chips are $6-8 but the off brands and Walmart brands are like $2-3…

[–] Echolynx@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago

It's just pure greed, plainly blatant.

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[–] Tikiporch@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why would anyone buy Lays when Utz exists, is cheaper, and better?

[–] innermachine@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Not to mention a lot of store brand chips are great too at a couple bucks a bag. Can't justify 7$ for a sm bag of fritos especially if I sit there and put the whole bag in me in one sitting.

[–] obvs@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Until fairly recently, Utz wasn't available in a large part of the country.

It is now, though, thankfully.

And I know exactly what you mean. Utz chips are definitely better.

I do wish the crab flavor was more available outside of the Central Atlantic region.

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[–] homes@piefed.world 133 points 2 days ago (1 children)

oh, no! looks like all that greedy shrinkflation blew up in your greedy faces! boohoo!

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[–] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 7 points 1 day ago

No surprise here. Their shit is overpriced and not in any meaningful way better than most competitors. Yeah there are some things like Fritos that are pretty unique, but potato chips are a dime a dozen and you can honestly get much better potato chips from other brands.

[–] moakley@lemmy.world 50 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I used to only buy name brand snacks. I like the consistency, and I can afford it, so I'd spend the extra few cents. And honestly I just didn't even pay attention to the price.

But $6 for a bag of Cheetos? I can still afford that, but I won't because fuck them. I'm buying store brand for life now. If they put the price lower than it was before and fire someone for being so disrespectful to their customers, I'll give them another shot, but that's not going to happen.

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[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 70 points 2 days ago (6 children)

Like if I'm going to pay $9 Canadian for my chips anyway, I might as well buy the locally made brand or other premium chip.

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 45 points 2 days ago (4 children)

When I initially readthe headline I was very confused because I hadn't been aware Pepisco had become a semiconductor manufacturer.

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[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 37 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The CEO talks about their products like the McDonalds CEO.

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[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 23 points 2 days ago (6 children)

There is a Frito-Lay factory in my home town. It absolutely stinks. At certain times of the year, it’s worse and the odor just lingers in the air.

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