Stupidity, or Conspiracy?

[Elgee]

Have you ever wondered why some things are, even though they're stupid and easily rectified?

 

Let me give you an example:

 

Mince meat / Ground beef (or any kind of meat). What do most recipes call for? 371 grams? No! Recipes would be for round figures, like 500 grams or 1kg (1/2 a pound, or whatever). Have you ever seen a packet of mince / ground beef that's exactly that? I haven't. It's always some random amount.

 

How frigging hard can it be to make sort of equal weight packets?

 

Or are they deliberately giving you stupid sized ones? If you need 500 grams, you have to buy two packets that come to about 700 grams, which obviously cost you more.

 

Stupidity, or Conspiracy? Vote!

 

Every few days or so, I'll come up with a new one (believe me, I have many gripes along this line!). If you have one, tell me and I'll make a poll for that too.

 

 

[Neeto]

i think that is their method of  making you buy more and spend more money on a product to get the amount you desire. conspiracy all the way!! =p

[michellem]

Here, pre-packaged (packaged before it comes to the store) are either 450 or 500 grams. The ones the stores mince and package themselves can be any weight betwwen 350 and 600.

 

We never use recipes for things like that tho; we know exactly how much we eat, 150-200 grams each, so we either put the leftovers in the freezer uncooked if we cant get the right amount, or we buy exactly the size we need.

[kukasö]

I think they just don't care about our recipes :) Just divide their meat as it's convenient for them :)

[Wren of the Brown]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor

 

Life is much simpler when you knock the moving parts out of the system. A conspiracy of butchers? Nay, Mother. A confederacy of cock-ups.

[Millon]

definite conspiracy. There is an actual science to marketing things like this. From odd package amounts to product sales where you only save if you buy four boxes of cereal. This all goes with product placement and even label colorings. http://www.nerdles.com/2014/05/21/the-dr-oz-show-recap-how-supermarkets-manipulate-emotional-eating-52114/

[Elaevia]

random observation: here in the UK things have to be sold in metric, not imperial units. I think you can but the imperial equivalent on it, but it has to show the metric (there was a big kerfuffle when this was introduced as some people really did not want to sell in metric). Anywho, this means we have some odd measurements for some foods:

 

milk: I can buy 568ml, 1.136L, 2.272 L etc (or 1 pint, 2 pints or 4 pints)

 

sausages: often come in packs of 454g - well that would be a pound then!

[Ryrin]

definite conspiracy. There is an actual science to marketing things like this. From odd package amounts to product sales where you only save if you buy four boxes of cereal. This all goes with product placement and even label colorings. http://www.nerdles.com/2014/05/21/the-dr-oz-show-recap-how-supermarkets-manipulate-emotional-eating-52114/

Mills, I think you are correct.

[Daruya]

Here in the good old US of A, recipes still call for 1 lb, 2 lbs, etc.  And you can find 1 lb packages (typically tubes, but sometimes the regular packaging) thought I often also find them with 1.3 lbs, 1.5 lbs, etc.  It doesn't bother me too much because I look at recipes more as suggestions than the law . . . LOL!    I commonly change recipes by adding more meat, using one spice/seasoning instead of another, or reducing or increasing a spice/seasoning.

 

One thing you can do if you end up with more meat than you need is either freeze the unneeded portion or go ahead and cook/brown it, then vacuum seal and freeze it and save it for another meal/recipe.

[Elgee]

 

definite conspiracy. There is an actual science to marketing things like this. From odd package amounts to product sales where you only save if you buy four boxes of cereal. This all goes with product placement and even label colorings. http://www.nerdles.com/2014/05/21/the-dr-oz-show-recap-how-supermarkets-manipulate-emotional-eating-52114/

Mills, I think you are correct.

 

 

Yes we learnt this type of thing in basic Business Psychology. It's why they pack things like chocolate (candy) and chips (crisps) where you would queue to pay. You stand there waiting, with all this stuff staring you in the eye, and in the end you usually grab a few bars and bags.

[Millon]

I was really thrown by how super markets design the layouts of there stores. For instance, having the produce section (fruits and veg) at the beginning of store makes you more likely to impulse shop later on because "you shopped healthy so a treat as a reward is okay".

[Daruya]

I try to stick mostly with the perimeter aisles of the store, where the fresh food is, and avoid the inside aisles, where the processed foods are.  What's on the perimeter?  Produce and fresh meats!  Yes, I end up getting some packaged/processed stuff but not nearly as much as I used to, and I also get frozen stuff (frozen fish, frozen veggies . . . and ice cream. Hey, everyone needs at least one treat and I don't buy candy! LOL!).

[Ryrin]

 

 

definite conspiracy. There is an actual science to marketing things like this. From odd package amounts to product sales where you only save if you buy four boxes of cereal. This all goes with product placement and even label colorings. http://www.nerdles.com/2014/05/21/the-dr-oz-show-recap-how-supermarkets-manipulate-emotional-eating-52114/

 

Mills, I think you are correct.

 

Yes we learnt this type of thing in basic Business Psychology. It's why they pack things like chocolate (candy) and chips (crisps) where you would queue to pay. You stand there waiting, with all this stuff staring you in the eye, and in the end you usually grab a few bars and bags.

Also, the least expensive items are on the bottom shelves. Say you are in the middle of the store and want to buy a can of corn. The least expensive or "special" is on the bottom. They put the more expensive stuff at eye level.