My grocery buying habits have shifted over the years. There was a time when I was a single university student living alone and most of the food I bought came in small packages. In the first place, there just wasn’t much cupboard space in my tiny apartment. In the second place, there was no way I could get through the economy sized tub of mayonnaise before it spoiled. But then I got married and had one baby, and another. And those babies started to eat solid food and I started buying the economy sized mayonnaise because we will eat it and it’s, you know, economical.
Buying the largest size I can use isn’t just economical, it’s also more sustainable. Far less packaging goes into producing a single very large jar as compared to many smaller jars that add up to the same amount of mayo. And, of course, this isn’t just true for mayonnaise. It’s true for pet food or pasta or shampoo or cheese. Steering clear of single-serving sizes is one great way to reduce the amount of waste that you’re producing, as anyone who’s ever compared a block of mozzarella to a bag of string cheese can tell you.
Now that I’m making much more of an effort to shop consciously I spend more time in the natural food section of the grocery store. And while I peruse organic salsa, phosphate-free dishwasher detergent and fair-trade chocolate, I can’t help but notice how pretty much every product in those aisles comes in teeny-tiny packages. Some of the size difference can be explained by increased concentrations, especially in cleaning products, but that does not account for the entire difference. The organic spaghetti, for instance, is half the size of the conventional spaghetti. And it is not wonder spaghetti that somehow requires half as much pasta for the same meal. (Although wonder spaghetti would be very cool, and I would totally buy it.)
Small package sizes in the natural food section are a big pet peeve of mine. I’m buying for a family of 4, we eat a lot of food and create a lot of dirty laundry. While I like the idea of buying organic and sustainably-produced products, I fear the much smaller unit sizes negate the environmental benefit of buying ‘natural’ products in the first place. I understand that producing organic food costs more, and I suspect that by reducing unit size they’re trying to reduce sticker shock. But I can do basic math, so they’re not fooling me. Why not offer an ‘econo’ option, make it a little cheaper than the 4 packages I would have to buy now, and make customers like me happy? It really would reduce a lot of my grocery store angst, Product Marketers of the World
At the moment, I often head to the bulk bins to reduce my packaging. In the bulk aisle I can get the same products more cheaply, and I can buy as much as I want. If you bring your own re-usable bags you can do some completely waste-free shopping that way. It’s great for dry goods especially. But I buy things that they don’t carry in the bulk aisle, so it doesn’t completely solve my quandary. And so you will regularly find me in the natural food section, holding a small jar of organic peanut butter and shaking my fist at the universe in frustration.
What about you? Have you also noticed that natural and organic products come in smaller packages, and how do you feel about that? And, do you have any tips to reduce the amount of product packaging you bring home from the grocery store?
PS – Just a reminder that on the last Thursday of the month, which just happens to be the 28th, I will be holding a link up as part of Crafting my Life. To participate, write a post on figuring out what you want and going after it. Then on Thursday add yourself to the list, and read everyone else’s ideas and thoughts and be inspired!
I share your frustration on this! I have noticed that Costco has started to carry a few organic/sustainably produced products which has made me very happy (peanut butter, coffee, bread, pasta sauce, shampoo that I know of). Hopefully the trend will continue!
Oh! Such a frustration! I would love to buy more natural products and such, but as you said, package sizes negate it being a useful portion to sustain our family. I also have a beef with the price. I can’t afford to go completely organic and natural! it would bankrupt us.
For instance, I grabbed some Italpasta on sale for $1 the other day, and looked at the package size (its normally a couple bucks, they had a great sale! My cupboard is packed with noodles now….). One regular sized pack of Italpasta will give us three meals. Then, beside it was the organic, whole wheat stuff. For half the size package, they wanted the same price that the Italpasta was normally.
Once creating organic and natural products is more mainstream, and perhaps less expensive to produce, you may see package sizes go up, and prices come down to even.
I wonder if there isn’t a way to source larger packages online somewhere? Hmmmm….
Try a different store.
My local grocery store has a great selection of organic bulk… sometimes there is only the organic version of some things (like quinoa—mmmmmm quinoa….) They also carry big jars of organic tahini, peanutbutter, and the larger sizes of beans, tomatoes, etc…. (sometimes it’s annoying because the recipe only calls for 2Tbs of tahini, and I have to buy 500ml of organic tahini because its the only tahini option at my store… but I digress).
They also have a really amazing assortment of nearly-bulk natural cleaning products! And a very nice brand called “METHOD” that claims to be environmentally sound and their packaging is really minimal and smart (I love the grapefruit handsoap so much I can’t imagine buying anything else now).
Long story short, I don’t think it’s a conspirousy of organic product manufacturers making tiny packaging, I think it may be more your store’s purchaser choosing to stock the smaller size. Try asking the manager to get larger versions of your favourite, if they get a request, it might just be enough motivation!
.-= *pol´s last post ..My friend’s got talents! =-.
Oooh, I want to participate in the crafting my life series. I’ll have to put something together.
I too notice small package sizes for organic, local foods and I wonder whether it may have to do with marketing; when an organic food is priced close to or just above a conventional product that is perhaps a larger size, we may tend to go for the organic product; however, if we saw the cost of the organic product in a larger package versus the conventional one, we may think more about the cost of investing in organic foods. Just crossed my mind . . .
.-= Jessica´s last post ..Love =-.
all i can say is “ditto!”
.-= smothermother´s last post ..New toy =-.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the sticker shock. I agree about it being annoying though.
.-= Recovering Procrastinator´s last post ..Wordless Wednesday =-.
I think it has to do with sticker shock too. Although I would gladly pay the sticker shock price for a bigger jar/tub of natural peanut butter. We go through that like gangbusters!
.-= condo blues´s last post ..Tooltalk: Let’s Compare Screwguns! =-.
Really good point. I like Method soap too, but I haven’t seen any large refill sizes — I don’t like thinking about all the little pump dispensers piling up.
.-= Allison McCaskill´s last post ..**************Can I Get a Consult? =-.
that is so interesting, I would have thought that the Northern American market would cater for bulk in general… what a misconception.
I cannot say that I have noticed this here in the UK and I’ve been thinking, but pretty much everything comes in the same size either way. So I buy 20 rolls of recycled toilet roll…
.-= Mel´s last post ..Day 25: The violin =-.
You hit the nail on the head! I just said on Sunday night after picking up some last minute organic spinach to make a salad, that the packaging is ridiculous. The spinach came in a plastic bag which was in a plastic bin, what waste! I also say how much I love Trader Joes, but they have so much wasted packaging, it makes me so angry. You think if a company has an interest in producing an eco-friendly product, the packaging would be eco-friendly as well.
Trader Joes’ is awesome! I drive across the border to stock up on things you can’t get in Canada, or if you can, the price is about 3X higher.
I have noticed this, too. I wonder if part of it is that because of the increased price (usually) of these items, larger families can’t afford them and therefore they target the packaging to singles, couples or empty nesters (like me). Like you, I would love to see larger packages. We live in the country and I try to limit my trips to town. Since we have the space, I like to keep a pretty good stock on hand of anything we use regularly. Larger quantities would be nice.
Btw, thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I will have to spend some time browsing here. I wasn’t in the market for more blogs to read but I might have to make an exception.
.-= Deanna Piercy´s last post ..What do you think? =-.
I know, right? I totally concur.
I bought some 7th generation toilet paper once and there are about 8 squares per roll and by the end of the week we had a small mountain of toilet paper rolls and needed more t.p. NOT a good enviro choice.
My hubby buys huge jars of all-natural organic peanut butter from Costco, by the way. They kind of drive me nuts (har har) because they take up pretty much all the room in our crappy fridge but you might like em! It’s called Adam’s P.B.
.-= Betsy´s last post ..That’s funny! You should blog about it! =-.
I haven’t noticed that here. Seems to me that market research in your country says that buyers of organic products aren’t large families, hence the smaller portions.
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Responding to earlier commentors – Method soap refills come in a soft plastic bag, much less packaging than are regular sized container. I love Method!
.-= Lady M´s last post ..Geeky Geeky Nation =-.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
.-= Molly´s last post ..Arguably my favorite place in the whole wide world =-.
I find in partly depends on where I shop. When I lived in Indiana (about 5 years ago), I had my choice between the teeny tiny local health food stores, with their teeny tiny selections of teeny tiny packages of super-organic foods/goods, or the massively big chain super markets, with their teeny tiny selections of teeny tiny packages of slightly-natural foods/goods.
Then we moved to Portland, Oregon, and found larger grocery stores competing with each other to be the most crunchy, thriving co-ops, and mega bulk stores like Costco that carried organic/natural options, and I at least had options for moderate size packages of the crunchy stuff, as well as waaaaaay more bulk bin/no waste options.
I think it’s a combination of wanting to avoid sticker shock, “green” as the new consumer market (as opposed to real ecologically friendly sustainable philosophy), and what the Powers That Be think the local market will bear (to wit, they might deign to carry Method soaps but not the refills).
It’s certainly not my shopping skilz (ha!) that are to praise for me being able to buy natural/organic more frugally; it is entirely privilege in being able to spend so much at once to save money later, and luck in where we happen to live.
.-= Arwyn´s last post ..FU KUFO =-.
You got it Amber. I even wrote to Superstore a few years ago complaining and asking for larger sizes for all the reasons you mentioned. I never heard a peep back. This is done intentionally I do realize.
I understand that yes one can find larger sizes of some eco friendly/organic products if you go to 5 different stores!
Who has the time and when does all that driving start to defeat the purpose of buying eco?
I totally agree with you! My big pet peeve is organic milk. The store I usually shop at only has organic milk in 1L size. We go through about 4L a week. So do I waste the gas driving to the ‘natural’ store to get my 4L or milk or buy 4X 1L that don’t really fit in my fridge and use way more packaging then necessary?
I agree with other comments that they do it to avoid sticker shock and because they assume their customers to be singles or couples. But more and more families are trying to feed their families organic food and they are making it mighty difficult.
Enjoying your blog, by the way.