[kev1n69]

**** getting ridiculous i agree . they dont care they have a captive audience due to consolidation mergers etc. if they think we cant figure it out their right young ones coming up buy due to familiarity and dont care to do the math or cant.
even with the built in calculator in their phone. its getting easier to due these things with little to no blowback.

 

[2ftgd]

Aldi sells the best, cheapest saltines.

 

[OKGlocker]

You tell em, stwood!
You finally just get fed up with it and tell em, "BYE"!
We've switched brands on a few things, lately, for the same reason... Nobody really cares... No pride in their product...

 

[irv818]

You tell em, stwood!
You finally just get fed up with it and tell em, "BYE"!
We've switched brands on a few things, lately, for the same reason... Nobody really cares... No pride in their product...

The CEO cares - about his million a year salary and free airline miles and golden parachute.
Screw the saltines.

 

[Vinegar Joe]

The last couple of years, I've noticed the decline in quality of these saltines. The crumbled, crumbling, many pieces of crackers in the packages, instead of whole crackers.
The flaking crackers, whether due to the baking process or just a bad mix, has gotten to the point I've tried other brands.
This last shopping trip, I tried 2 more boxes, thinking maybe part of the problem might be due to shipping and handling. Over zealous fork-lift operators, bouncy trucks, potholes in the roadways, fumbling, bumbling stockers in the stores.
What the cracker problem really is/was, I'll never know now, as I've bought the last of your Zesta saltines.
As I opened the last box and pulled out the 4 packages to refill my cracker container, I noticed that the cracker size has decreased, as well as the plastic sleeves not being full as should be/used to be.
And the 4 sleeves were loosely packed in the box, giving way that the cracker size really has gotten smaller.
I suppose your outer cracker box supplier hasn't gotten caught up to have time to reduce the size of the box, saving you another 1/4 cent in costs, and not in time for the cracker size to not be noticed. Shame.
Zesta bean counter/counters. Just a nod your way. If you would leave the product alone, and just raise the price to cover your costs.............oops, too late.

Goodby Zesta. I'll be switching to another brand.

Stwood,

I've noticed the same and changed to the Aldi product mentioned and pictured by 2 ftgd nearby.

Besides food prducts in grocery stores, I've also experienced good bargains on Kroger canned tuna fish. The fish is OK but the can is difficult to open and I assign this Kroger "good bargain" to my list of distress merchandice.

......

It could be tempting to change from Kellog saltines to a counterpart product made by the Pakistani Army.

 

[Cigars]

All major brands have deployed the grocery shrink ray over the last decade. Everything from grocery products to soup cans and orange juice containers to paper towels and toilet paper have been reduced in size while the price has remained the same or increased. Eff these companies and their bean counters with an enema full of angry bees.

 

[cook]

Lot longer than 1 decade.
My first encounter was mid /late 70"s?
Coffee bean shortage from S.A. from major crop damage/drought.
Standarnd 16 oz can went to 14oz,so 40+ years.

 

[Vinegar Joe]

Lot longer than 1 decade.
My first encounter was mid /late 70"s?
Coffee bean shortage from S.A. from major crop damage/drought.
Standarnd 16 oz can went to 14oz,so 40+ years.

Cook,

Do you know when the once famous "Fifth" of eg whiskey or vodka transitioned to 750 ml bottles ?

(I still miss the "I Remember Momma" 5 pound coffee can.)

 

[gungatim]

I think you sent that to Survivalist Boards by mistake, you need to send that to Kellogg.

Also, you have a cracker container? what is it for? I have never heard of this, the expensive brands of crackers come with little metal ties to seal the packages, but I quit buying name brand years ago because, they're just crackers...

 

[Theflyingsmurf]

I'm sorry @Stwood but I gotta do it man. I simply can not resist.

 

[ActionJackson]

When I still lived on crackers ... I was addicted to Ritz. I could eat a whole package while vegging on the couch watching Gilligan's Island:

 

[Done4theday]

the only brand I buy.

 

[Theflyingsmurf]

These are pretty good.

 

[NY Min]

Goodby Zesta. I'll be switching to another brand.

As noted, shrinkflation is an ongoing and universal problem. Always look at the net ounces of contents, not package size. Always calculate comparative prices based on ounces.

As for the change in texture, see if you can find old and new ingredient labels. I would think they likely changed the fat used, as many companies have among other alterations to get "clean" labels in the face of all the bad publicity for hydrogenated fats, HFCS, and various artificial colors, flavors, and other additives. Many companies now are using equally unhealthy fake ingredients, just ones that can still fly under the radar according to the labeling laws (e.g. interesterified fats replacing hydrogenated fats).

The exact fat/oil you use has a tremendous influence on the texture of baked goods, how light, flaky, crumbly, etc., especially noticeable in something like a cookie or cracker.

ETA: They may also have reduced moisture content further to increase shelf life/try to get the same shelf life from a different fat, which would result in a more fragile, crumblier cracker.

 

[NY Min]

BTW, you can make your own soda crackers (saltines). (Beware, try the real deal, and you may never again be happy with anybody's boxed ones.)

Traditional Soda Crackers Recipe - King Arthur

I like to make whole-wheat soda crackers. A pasta machine and a cookie-sheet-sized piece of plywood with nails arranged to do the piercing of a sheet full of crackers all at once can speed up cracker making.

 

[Wooleybooger]

Ya beat me to it NY Min. Here's another.

How To Make Crackers at Home

Have you ever tried making your own crackers? Your very own crispy, crunchy, seed-topped crackers? My recommendation: try it. Definitely. Crackers are surprisingly easy to make at home with just five basic ingredients, a rolling pin, and a baking sheet. Make yourself a quick batch tonight and...

www.thekitchn.com

And lavash crackers

Lavash Crackers Recipe

Lavash can be a soft flatbread, but Jessamyn Waldman developed this recipe based on Armenian-style lavash, which is very crisp and dusted with seeds o...

www.foodandwine.com

 

[2ftgd]

When I still lived on crackers ... I was addicted to Ritz. I could eat a whole package while vegging on the couch watching Gilligan's Island:

View attachment 486232
View attachment 486233

Riitz was boycotted here a few years ago. There is a generic brand that is as good.

 

[pobept75]

The last couple of years, I've noticed the decline in quality of these saltines. The crumbled, crumbling, many pieces of crackers in the packages, instead of whole crackers.
The flaking crackers, whether due to the baking process or just a bad mix, has gotten to the point I've tried other brands.
This last shopping trip, I tried 2 more boxes, thinking maybe part of the problem might be due to shipping and handling. Over zealous fork-lift operators, bouncy trucks, potholes in the roadways, fumbling, bumbling stockers in the stores.
What the cracker problem really is/was, I'll never know now, as I've bought the last of your Zesta saltines.
As I opened the last box and pulled out the 4 packages to refill my cracker container, I noticed that the cracker size has decreased, as well as the plastic sleeves not being full as should be/used to be.
And the 4 sleeves were loosely packed in the box, giving way that the cracker size really has gotten smaller.
I suppose your outer cracker box supplier hasn't gotten caught up to have time to reduce the size of the box, saving you another 1/4 cent in costs, and not in time for the cracker size to not be noticed. Shame.
Zesta bean counter/counters. Just a nod your way. If you would leave the product alone, and just raise the price to cover your costs.............oops, too late.

Goodby Zesta. I'll be switching to another brand.

Agree their quality has gone south and like you I have changed brands.

 

[bigg777]

Thank me later. Buy em in the tin.