This morning I am in an uproar over THIS:
Perhaps you have not immediately joined my uproar. Perhaps you are nodding as if you know what I’m talking about, but hoping it will be made clear soon because so far it’s not coming to you. Never mind: I didn’t notice until I opened the box. I will assist:
I bought this chocolate, which was the same price I usually pay, and brought it home to find that it is now HALF AS MUCH in the box. There used to be eight individually-wrapped 1-ounce squares, and I don’t mind if they want to stop individually wrapping them, though I do wish they wouldn’t act like it’s an improvement that I have to break the pieces myself now. But HALF the chocolate? HALF???
I am familiar with the concept of making packages smaller. Ice cream is in 1.5-quart containers now instead of half-gallon. I notice soda is trying to pull the same deal with 1.5-liter bottles. Jif peanut butter went around crowing that THEY were still 18 ounces while Skippy had reduced to 16 ounces—but now Jif is 16 ounces too (and not mentioning it, I notice). Manufacturers say it’s “so they won’t have to raise the price,” but since they go right ahead and raise prices ALSO I’m not going with that one. Plus, reducing the size IS IN FACT RAISING THE PRICE.
I suppose what they’re saying is they think customers will be too stupid to notice a size reduction but would complain about a price increase. Since I just bought a HALF-WEIGHT box of chocolate without noticing the decrease I guess it’s hard to argue with that. On the other hand, I DID NOTICE when I got home. And while a price increase makes me sigh about inflation and how much better things used to be in my day, a size reduction makes me feel CHEATED and TRICKED and WRONGED.
Also, this has a DRAMATIC IMPACT on two of my favorite recipes. My brownie recipe used to use 5/8ths of a box of Baker’s, and now uses ONE AND A QUARTER boxes. My fudge recipe used to use 1/2 a box, and now uses a WHOLE BOX. If I mess up a batch of fudge, and I do that fairly regularly, I am out a WHOLE BOX of chocolate. This pretty much means I’m not making fudge anymore, and I know Baker’s is a big company but I think there’ll be a meeting about why their sales have dipped so dramatically in my town.
Totally agree – I expect companies to try to screw me for money (I don’t mean that exactly how it sounds), but when they act like I’ll be too stupid to figure it out it REALLY chaps my ass. There used to be a gas station close by that didn’t line up the pumps cheapest to most expensive gas – they put the cheapest in the middle so people would pump the more expensive one by mistake. It’s gone now, partly due to the effects of me putting the evil eye on it – at least that’s what I’m going with.
Im glad im not the only one who noticed.Now I have to buy 2 boxes to complete my recipes. What a crock of balcony ” new convenient bars” .
I used to use bakers chocolate for my chocolate pies in my bakery. Since I retired and no longer bake for a living I thought as a nice surprise for my family I’d make a chocolate pie. I didn’t notice the new smaller package as my husband picked it up for me. When I started cooking the filling I knew something was amiss. Because I haven’t baked in some time I figured it must be just me forgetting the recipe. As the pie was cooling the more I thought about it and “ no” it’s not me, thirty five years of baking you don’t forget recipes. I went to the cupboard only to find out the package was half of what I used to buy! Shame on you manufacturers, I’d rather pay more than be cheated like I was. Now I have a pie that is not the good chocolate pie I used to make.
Manufacturers are at it again now, raising prices at the same time that they reduce package sizes. They figure we’ll just get upset at the price increase and not notice the size. They underestimate our intelligence.
I’m glad I am not losing brain cells with my age. I thought I wasn’t reading the package correctly. Now I have to go to the store again so I can finish my cookies. I have many things to do before chr
I am dying laughing over “Perhaps you have not immediately joined my uproar.”
That kind of chicanery DOES deserve an uproar. HALF as much. Not a little bit less, like an ounce. HALF. I am joining you in your uproar even though I hardly ever buy baking chocolate (too lazy; I go straight for the brownie mix).
The best is the very end: “I think there’ll be a meeting about why their sales have dipped so dramatically in my town.”
I HOPE SO, SWISTLE. The NERVE!
I hate (hate, hate, hate) feeling TRICKED by marketing. It makes me view the company as shady and untrustworthy for a long time (forever?) (I have an excellent memory.)
YES! I noticed recently as well, because I used to purchase Baker’s due to the fact their package had 8 ounces while other name brands had 4 ounces. I loved the 8 ounce package — most of my recipes call for 6 ounces or the full 8 ounces, hardly ever just 4 ounces. And the 8 ounce package was a better deal. Not any longer. I decided not to purchase Baker’s ever again for this reason. There are other baking chocolate options … many other options … so why would I pick Baker’s over those others? I wouldn’t. Now, if they cut the price, that’s another story.
Oh, yes, I noticed this at my last shopping trip and it made me QUITE SHOUT-Y. My husband was alarmed. So then at my next store trip, I scanned the shelves and bought some other brand of unsweetened chocolate for half the price, ie, the same price as before for the same weight. STUPID BAKER’S CHOCOLATE.
GAH! I use Baker’s all the time! I JOIN YOU IN YOUR OUTRAGE.
If you have an ALDI near you, I suggest you go there to sooth your rage. This week (through next Tuesday) they have an 8oz. unsweetened baking chocolate bar for $1.99. The regular price isn’t much more than that, I think. Totally worth it, you can make you recipes as usual, and a big “Screw You!” to Baker’s.
I am WITH you on the outrage. I noticed it in the store last month, but it’s a teeny local store around the corner and it was literally the only option for unsweetened baking chocolate, so I had to buy it. Most of my recipes call for more than 4 oz as well, so now I’d need to keep more than one box on hand. AND the stupid flatter boxes don’t fit in my pantry door-organizer thingy.
Just up the damn price already, don’t try to trick us. I’m not stupid and I’m switching brands. BAM.
I hate the decrease in packaging size thing. I first noticed it a few years ago when the yogurt I bought to eat every day went from 8 oz to 6 oz (of course price did not decrease). It’s my breakfast and I want a CUP of yogurt, not 6 oz. You wouldn’t think 2 oz less would make much of a difference, but I was still hungry. I’m still aggravated about the fact that I can hardly find an 8oz yogurt these days. Yes, I know I could buy a large container and measure it out into a tupperware and take that to work, but I just want to be able to grab a friggin yogurt and leave the house. ARGH.
I actually did notice this…because I was going to make your salt brownies! And I was annoyed that I was going to have to buy two boxes to get 5 ounces so I just skipped it and made something else instead.
So, take that Baker’s! You got 0% of my money.
I stocked up last time I bought, so I wouldn’t have discovered this for months! I am so disappointed in Baker’s Chocolate. Way to fail, just like Tillamook ice cream (though their company was terrible before they shrank their ice cream) and every yogurt manufacturer ever (lowfat is the worrrrst!). And also my favorite chip brand, Mission. They used to sell 24 and 14 oz bags, then it was 21 and 13. Now they only sell 19 oz bags for the same price as the old heavy ones.
My dad would say that this is just the beginning of the collapse of our monetary system (a la Wienmar Germany), and I haven’t been taking it seriously, but really. This trend is terrible! Grr.
I noticed this in the store and was totally outraged! Now I have to buy twice as much! What the what? If there were a competing brand, fine, I’d switch, but my grocery store only has Baker’s. Not cool.
Boo! Hiss! What were they thinking?!
Their Facebook page is blowing up over this. Supposedly the price is supposed to change and they’re working with retailers on it. But I don’t understand why changing the price would be so hard unless they didn’t change the sku number or something.
WHAT? I have not noticed as I haven’t bought Baker’s chocolate lately, but I would have noticed only when I arrived home and went to bake with it. I am joining in your OUTRAGE. Cutting by half, while technically a size reduction, seems more like an alternate-sized option which should then be half the price, obvs. OUTRAGEOUS. And UNACCEPTABLE.
bastards.
Maybe you’ll enjoy this link to an article on fellow outraged Baker’s consumers: http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/pr-fail-bakers-chocolate-draws-facebook-fans-wrath_b70057
Also, I just went to their FB page and notice that they reply they were dishing out in August is the SAME one being said FOUR MONTHS later!!! ” As you know, we recently changed our packaging size from 8oz to 4oz; with this change you should also be seeing a lower price at the store. Our Sales team has been working with retailers to ensure this happens, although it is taking longer than even we expected.”
Oh my…. I just spent way too much time on their FB page! Can’t believe so many posts and still no reasonable response from the company. Another reason to boycott Baker’s.
And someone linked to this post on there as well!
What she said ^^!!
I remember when Barilla pasta did this, and I noticed at the store because they still had some of the old boxes left on the same shelf w/ the new pasta. Guess who bought all the old boxes and left the new “lighter” all amok in an untidy protest.
Also, the last time I picked up a carton of Edy’s ice cream I realized the size difference that my eyes had been too stupid (distracted by Girl Scout Cookie add-ins) to notice.
Still. Half? Half? With no explanation? Unacceptable.
I’m glad I’m not the only one in a froth about this recent tomfoolery!
I noticed the package (but not the price) downsizing when buying a cake mix. Then started seeing it everywhere; laundry detergent, pet food, peanut butter, etc.
Fired off several outraged emails and received nearly the exact response from every company I contacted, “So sorry, thank you for your concern, in an effort to streamline production, blahblahblah…it is ultimately the individual retailers’ responsibility to set their own prices. We give them guidelines, but the actual pricing is out of our control”
Yet when I talked to the store manager of my local store, he said they (the retailer) have no control over pricing…it’s determined by the manufacturers.
Wha..huh!?
Gah, that is ridiculous! Particularly because of the recipes issue. That would drive me nutty. And because it’s HALF. That’s more than noticeable.
It’s the same way with diapers, I’ve found. I have to be vigilant about the price per diaper because sometimes even the same store will have a “sale” but in reality, the boxes are simply less per box. I thought I was getting a great deal but when I did the math it was not nearly as great as advertised. It still was slightly cheaper than average so technically still a sale and I’m a little bit more okay with that. But it virtually eliminates the ability to get a price match because they are all different sizes and I have to get my calculator out EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Annoying.
When I was pregnant and all hormonal my preferred brand of yogurt went from 8oz to 6oz in the same size cup AND raised the price. I wrote them that I thought this was EVIL (well I was nice about it, but that was the gist). I got the most condescending e-mail back about it. I don’t buy that brand any more. Have not for 10 years.
I probably will not be buying bakers chocolate either.
Yeah, I was about to say what Sam said. Go to Aldi. They sell good chocolate for a good price. Boo on Baker’s!
Sorry, what Chris said.
WHAT?! Yes, I’m outraged. And no, I wouldn’t have noticed…at least not until the holidays (i.e., “baking season”) rolled around.
Dear God, what companies won’t do for the almighty dollar.
And I’m GLAD to hear that their FB page is blowing up over this. And if they have a Twitter account, I hope it is too. If not for social media, 99% of the people wouldn’t bother to take the time to write the letter, find a stamp and mail in their complaint.
ARGH!!!! I had *just* stopped feeling stabby about this exact thing.
Your post renews my desire to hunt down the Bakers execs. Grrr.
I noticed this w/ our favorite brownie mix a couple of years ago – all of a sudden it was for an 8×8 pan instead of a 9×13.
I don’t use baking chocolate very often but that is really insane – your outrage is well founded!
What the heck. Thanks for the heads up (and now I’ve gotten a good giggle out of the Bakers Chocolate FB page too, what a mess!), I don’t bake much except during the holiday season, but I guess it’ll be Ghiardelli’s for me this go ’round.
Aw, I sort of liked unwrapping my little one ounce presents. Harumph!
I recently read that the price of cocoa is going up because there is a global shortage. That being said, when a product is specifically used for baking people will probably notice a size decrease more than a price increase. Their marketers kind of blew this one.
I was running errands this morning and checked the grocery store-I thought we might still have the 8 oz packages since I live in Alaska, and it takes us quite a while to get something new. Nope-4 oz-I did buy some 13X9 pan brownie mix, and some Hershey unsweetened cocoa-just in case the global cocoa shortage hits!
This kind of thing does drive me nuts, like others have said-how stupid do they think we are. Very disappointed in Bakers.
I have a stash of the old, individually wrapped chocolates in my pantry. I shall think of them as a valuable commodity. I liked individually wrapped, it is a pain in the ass to break/cut chocolate. I also liked having twice as more for the same price. Lame.
One ‘clever’ company I encountered decreased their content per serving and then advertised that their ‘improved’ product contained 25% less sugar.
I have always skipped the baking chocolate all together and went with the 3 to 1 cocoa to oil ratio. I started that back when I was just starting out and cocoa was cheaper than baking chocolate and vegtable oil is a household staple anyway. Now I have been doing it this way for so long it is just habit. Have not heard of the cocoa shortage before thanks for the heads up. I will be stocking up when I go to Trader Joe’s next week
I can’t speak to any of the specific brands mentioned above, but would it make you or your readers feel any better to know that these sort of size changes are taken into account for many statistical measures of inflation?
I work for the Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, and for our indexes, a size decrease without a price decrease is the same thing as a price increase because we track ” real prices” at a per unit level. So, still annoying on a practical level, and still tricky, but at least these sort of real price increases are reflected in our official measures of inflation, which are used for COLA among other things.
Just found out on semi sweet bakers chocolate doubled in price. With butter almost doubled it is expensive to make brownies my family loves. Groceries are highway robbery!
YIKES!
I thought I was truly going nutty. It totally spun me around. After 60 years of baking to be challenged by naked 4 oz. bars. I am sure it was a benefit to my new brain connections it forced but to now have to stop and reconsider your measurements with a totally new system. It is rude, unnecessary, as well as financially.a BAD DEAL. I am done with A forever.
I just made brownies from scratch, using a recipe I have used for YEARS. This was the second time (in the past 6 weeks) that my husband and I noticed that they did not taste the same, nor was the color the same. In fact, he wanted to know what I had done differently. Of course, the answer was “Nothing!” I looked over the package for Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate and realized that Baker’s has completely changed it and truly MESSED IT UP!!! Everyone always loved these brownies, requesting that I bring them when getting together. Friends agree that they are no longer nearly as good. I will definitely find a good substitute for the Baker’s I have used for as long as I’ve been baking–a very long time.
My other complaint is that they no longer have “8 Individually Wrapped 1 oz. Squares”. Their claim is to the effect that “consumers requested” this and it is what the customer wants; additionally claiming that the “Easy Break Bar” is very easy to use, even easier actually. It’s ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE! It does not break evenly at all; therefore, making the measuring more difficult. I also doubt that any consumer has “requested” these changes.
I have always been loyal to Baker’s, as have my sister and our friends. We no longer have any confidence in this company and all of us are changing brands. We plan to “explore” all of the options
and see which one(s) we like better. We do know that it will NOT BE BAKER’S!
I think Baker’s made a huge mistake when they changed from individually wrapped blocks of unsweetened chocolate to the “break- off” bar. The bar never breaks where I need it to break so I end up with a different amount of chocolate every time. My son just asked me for the recipe for my chocolate icing and I can’t give it to him because I have to guess the amount of chocolate I need every time I make it. I’ve been loyal to Baker’s for 4o years but after reading all the comments, I think I’ll try another brand. It would’ve been better just to raise the price!
Just made my brownie recipe and it didn’t look right. Did not like the break apart bars and should have checked this site first. Furious! No time to make another batch and needed these to take to a party. Trickery. Will not buy this brand again.
I’m glad I’m not alone on this subject. I wrote to them a year ago 2014 about their choc. square reduce from 8oz box to 4oz box but same price or higher. The company stated in their letter about people would write in about to much choc. in box or going bad or not using and the price is the same. what we ladies need to do is boycott this company. there’s other choc. product we can buy. 9-2015
The problem is most people ARE too stupid to notice. A lot of people, like my sister, couldn’t even tell you what they paid for any item in their grocery cart. People must have a lot of money I guess. Not me. We should, (and I intend to) boycott Bakers. If people don’t act in their own best economic interest then capitalism can’t work. Seems like it’s stopped working anyway.
I totally agree that it is ridiculous to be unable to buy one ounce squares of Baker’s chocolate. I have bought the one ounce squares for years and ALL my chocolate recipes call for one ounce squares. I will
NOT buy 2 of their 4 0z. boxes just to make one recipe. Most of my chocolate recipes came from the Baker Company, including my mother’s Brownie recipe which I have made for 50 years. I am finished with Baker’s if they can’t produce what we use and have used for years. As another writer said, I will just make something else. When our local stores did not have them anymore I even ordered off the internet. But I am through trying. New and improved is a joke. Just leave a good product alone!!!!!
I wanted to make brownies so I purchased a package of Baker’s Semi Sweet Chocolate. I haven’t made brownies from scratch in years and was looking forward to making them. I searched the internet for recipes and dammit I can’t make them today. I’ll have to go back to the store and purchase another package of chocolate. All o f the recipes call for 6 or eight ounces. Jeez…………..
Oh, I absolutely agree, and I’m here trying to figure out if my old recipe for brownies that calls for “four squares of unsweetened chocolate” needs to have eight of these newfangled flat “squares” instead of the old chunky squares, individually wrapped, which was so helpful, and so was the split down the middle so you could snap it in half.
Companies think we don’t notice, but we do! Have you checked the size of toilet paper squares in the last few years? WAY SMALLER! I found one brand that’s nearly the “right” size and buy it by the enormous carton, but I don’t know how long I have before this last company joins the other manufacturers in making their paper squares smaller and THINNER! Oh, and the manufacturers keep saying “double rolls,” but these rolls are the same size they EVER were!
Well, it seems like one ounce is still one ounce, so I’d better get back to my brownie recipe. The butter’s already melting.
The toilet paper thing drives me crazy. Some brands are now claiming that ONE of their PERFECTLY ORDINARY ROLLS equals FOUR of other brands’ perfectly ordinary rolls, when they are THE SAME.
Juanita is now 79 yrs old and she is very upset that you took away the 8 ounce bakers unsweetened chocolate and replaced it with a 4 ounce box inwhich now she has to use twice as much to make her home made cakes and cookies from scratch you should leave well enough alone you have lots of bakers out there that is old school and im sure their not happy either. I think you should bring jt back.
I didn’t even notice that there was less in the box, LOL. What had me in an uproar was that it’s no longer individually wrapped. Due to the arthritis in my hands, I can’t break OR cut the bars, so I’ve stopped baking anything that requires this ingredient. I’ve written to the company twice, but of course, what do they care! Someone suggested I try Hershey’s. I know they’re not individually wrapped either, but maybe they’re scored better for easy breaking/cutting.
I have used this chocolate for over 50 years. Why do they have to change things? I liked the individually wrapped squares. When I try to break this it will not be even. I guess I have to find another way to buy chocolate.
Blame the hedge fund that bought up all the cacao deposits throughout Europe. It is THEY who now control it.
How can I cook now with Bakers? They say to break the chocolate in 1 oz squares? It doesn’t break properly and I ruin the chocolate and waste my money. Why do they ruin a perfect thing after so many years? I loved the individually wrapped 1 oz squares. What is a better brand?
I’ve switched to Ghirardelli. It goes on sale at my grocery store to the same price as Baker’s. It took me a few batches to adjust to the slightly different taste, but on the other hand I have a chocolate ice-cream-cake topping I make, and it came out SO MUCH BETTER with the Ghirardelli: totally smooth and creamy instead of with all those little specks of chocolate not quite incorporated.
Swistle, thank you for your help. I will buy Ghiradelli at the store – does it come in individually wrapped packages like Bakers used to? Why don’t these companies “get it”? They aren’t thinking long term, and they should know better.
Here in NJ, I can’t find any brand that still has the individually wrapped squares, including Ghirardelli. Unfortunately!!
Sadly no, just a big hard-to-break bar. It’s so frustrating.
We should form a group and go to the shareholders’ meeting. I believe that Kraft/Hines owns Bakers, and the company is only a few minutes away from me.
I have emailed Kraft a couple of times about this. Then when I discovered this site, I emailed them the url & told them to check all of the negative comments. I haven’t seen any response from them since then.
You guys are all overlooking something else – when I went to make the brownies on the box the print was soooooo small that I had to get my magnifying glass out of my drawer in order to read the darn thing. I mean does Kraft think that we have special eyes that can see that print? I think that they’re really out of touch with their audience. The CEO of Kraft used to live across the street from me and we were friends. He’s gone now, but I sure wish I could talk to him about all of our issues.
Just sent Kraft yet another email: RE Baker’s unsweetened chocolate: I have emailed more than once previously about my disappointment in the new bar, as opposed to the individually wrapped squares, and why. Not to mention the weight of the product being cut in half. I have also emailed you the following website with all of the other negative comments that people are making. You really should check it out!!! And I’m sure this is a microscopic sampling of bakers around the country. https://www.swistle.com/2013/10/24/bakers-unsweetened-baking-chocolate-outrage/
UPdating my previous comment. I did get a reply from Kraft. Here it is………..
Hi Donna,
Thank you for visiting http://www.kraftfoods.com/.
I’m sorry to hear that you were dissatisfied the change of items in this product.
Your satisfaction is very important to us. I’ll be glad to share your comments with our Packaging Staff as consumer comments are always appreciated and are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Your comments are very helpful toward any decisions to package changes.
Again, I apologize about the inconvenience and hope you will give our products another try.
If you haven’t done so already, please add our site to your favorites and visit us again soon!
Sincerely,
Rama Rengarajan
Director, Consumer Relations
~~Case: 81057257~~Y
Noticed this immediately when it happened as well and I plan to write the company. I too had an awesome brownie recipe and realized I needed to use the whole box and the cost of half was the same as an 8 ounce box. I will be researching other chocolate alternatives that are comparable and hadn’t cut the amount or increased the cost. Otherwise, brownies will be off my baking list for awhile. Also, I opened two packages with expiration date of 2018 and the chocolate looks old or as if it was not in a cool area of the store I will be taking them back to the store to exchange them. I used to also appreciate quality control of this product but it could be a store storage issue.
I’m glad I am not the only one upset by this change. At 75 I have been baking for at least 65 years and have many recipe in my head. Now I am supposed to stop and figure each one out. It goes back to pay more get less. Here is a trick that works well for most things. 4 old time blocks is equal to 3/4 cup Hershey’s Cocoa and 4 table spoons oil . Us old dogs have a hard time learning new tricks.
Grrrr….I just ruined an entire batch of Christmas cookies not realizing the difference. I was following my grandmother’s recipe which called for “1 sq. unsweetened chocolate” and my cookies are apparently 1/2 the amount of chocolate they should be. Not happy!
It would have been courteous of the chocolate factory to put a little disclaimer on the packages that a “square” now equals “half a square,” but they must have thought we wouldn’t notice.
I miss the good old days when sizes of things would stay the same for decades on end.
……and it was a quadruple batch at that! 🤬
Very sad that Baker’s did this with their chocolate. Each time I have to make something chocolate I get anxious because of the change of the squares. I am going to call them again and complain. I wish I knew the CEO of the company.