你手中的商品在悄然“缩水”吗?

In the United States, India, Britain and Japan, people are starting to see smaller containers and higher prices for food.

在美国、印度、英国和日本,人们开始看到更小的食品包装和更高的食品价格。

The cost increases are affecting snack food, cheese, drinks, soaps and more.

成本上涨正在影响着零食、奶酪、饮料、肥皂等。

Economic experts say the changes in package sizes are a result of inflation.

经济专家表示,包装大小的变化是通货膨胀的结果。

They call it "shrinkflation."

他们称之为“缩水式通胀”。

In the U.S., a popular kind of facial paper once had 65 sheets in each box, now it has 60.

在美国,一种流行的面纸曾经每盒有65张,现在有60张。

A container of yogurt that once had 150 grams now has about 125 grams.

一盒酸奶曾经有150克,现在大约有125克。

In Britain, a kind of coffee once had 100 grams in each package.

在英国,有一种咖啡曾经每罐100克。

It now has 90 grams.

现在每罐90克。

In India, a kind of soap is smaller by 20 grams.

在印度,有一种肥皂变小了20克。

In some cases, people who buy these products are getting less for the same price.

在某些情况下,购买这些产品的人会以同样的价格得到更少的东西。

Some are seeing higher prices for smaller packages.

有些人会看到小包装的价格更高。

Experts say the move by food companies is not new, but it is common in times of inflation.

专家表示,食品公司的这一举措并不新鲜,但在通货膨胀时期很常见。

Around the world, people paid on average seven percent more for goods in May than they did the year before.

5月,全世界人们购买商品所花费的钱比去年平均上涨了7%。

A company that researches prices, S&P Global, said people should expect the inflation rate to stay the same at least until September.

标普全球是一家研究价格的公司,该公司表示,人们应该预计通货膨胀率至少会在9月份之前保持不变。

Edgar Dworsky is a former lawyer for the American state of Massachusetts.

埃德加·德沃斯基曾是美国马萨诸塞州的一名律师。

He runs a website called Consumer World.

他管理着一个名为“消费者世界”的网站。

He noted that price increases and smaller packaging "comes in waves."

他指出,价格上涨和包装变小会“一波一波来”。

He added, "We happen to be in a tidal wave at the moment."

他还说,“我们目前恰好处于一波浪潮中。”

Dworsky said he started seeing smaller food containers last autumn.

德沃斯基说,他从去年秋天开始就看到了更小的食品包装。

He notes coffee containers have less coffee and bathroom paper has fewer sheets.

他指出,咖啡包装中的咖啡变得更少,卫生纸的纸张数量也变得更少。

Many companies that make these goods create smaller packages but also change the words on them to make them seem new or better, Dworsky said.

德沃斯基说,许多生产这些商品的公司会设计更小的包装,但也会改变包装上的文字,使其看起来更新颖。

One kind of corn snack made by PepsiCo is called Fritos.

百事公司生产的一种玉米零食叫芙乐多。

They recently had a "party size" bag that contained about 510 grams.

它们最近有了一个“派对装”,内含大约510克玉米片。

New packages are still called "party size," but now they only have 439 grams.

新包装仍然被称为“派对装”,但现在它们只有439克。

PepsiCo did not answer questions about the new size when asked by the Associated Press.

当美联社问百事公司时,它没有回答有关新尺寸的问题。

But the company did say the bottles for a drink called Gatorade were made smaller so people could hold them more easily, not because of inflation.

但该公司确实表示,一种名为佳得乐的饮料的瓶子变窄了,这样做的原因是让人们可以更容易地拿着它们,而不是因为通货膨胀。

Large consumer goods companies Kimberly-Clark and Proctor & Gamble also did not answer questions.

大型消费品公司金佰利和宝洁也没有回答问题。

But in Japan, the company that makes snacks called Calbee said the cost of materials was responsible for a price increase of 10 percent and a size decrease of 10 percent.

但在日本,生产零食的卡乐比公司表示,原材料成本是导致价格上涨10%和尺寸缩小10%的原因。

Calbee makes soy and vegetable snacks.

卡乐比制作大豆和蔬菜零食。

In India, Dabur India has been open about its changes.

在印度,印度达博公司一直对其变化直言不讳。

Byas Anand is head of communications for the company.

比亚斯·阿南德是该公司传讯部的主管。

He called the price increases and size decreases "down-switching."

他称价格上涨和尺寸缩小是“消费降级”。

People around the world have been noticing "shrinkflation."

世界各地的人们都注意到了“缩水式通胀”。

They have taken photos and shown examples of it on social media.

他们拍了照片,并在社交媒体上展示了一些例子。

Many people say they are changing the way they buy food.

许多人说,他们正在改变购买食物的方式。

Alex Aspacher in the American state of Ohio is saving money by buying larger amounts of cheese and cutting it himself instead of buying cut cheese.

美国俄亥俄州的亚历克斯·阿斯帕彻为了省钱,购买了更多大块的奶酪,然后自己切奶酪,而不是买切好的奶酪。

He said he has been surprised by how quickly the changes have happened.

他说,他对这些变化发生得如此之快感到惊讶。

"I was prepared for it to a degree," he said, but "there hasn't been a limit to it so far."

“我在一定程度上为之做好了准备,”他说,但“到目前为止,它还没有限制。”

Experts say prices may go down, but it is not likely packages will get larger.

专家表示,价格可能会下降,但包装不太可能变大。

"Upsizing is kind of rare," Dworsky said.

德沃斯基说:“尺寸变大是很少见的。”

In some cases, experts say, costs for food manufacturers are going up and they need to pass that on to buyers.

专家表示,在某些情况下,食品制造商的成本正在上升,他们需要将成本转嫁给购买者。

But some companies might just be seeking higher profits.

但有些公司可能只是为了追求更高的利润。

Hitendra Chaturvedi is a business professor at Arizona State University.

希滕德拉·查图维迪是亚利桑那州立大学商学院教授。

He said he knows some companies are having trouble finding workers and paying higher costs.

他说,他知道一些公司很难找到工人和支付更高的成本。

But he noted that PepsiCo's profits rose 128 percent in the first three months of 2022.

但他指出,百事公司在2022年前三个月的利润增长了128%。

"I'm not saying they're profiteering, but it smells like it," he said.

他说:“我不是说他们在牟取暴利,但它看起来像”。

Profiteering means selling things at very high prices at a time when they are hard to find.

Profiteering的意思是在很难找到物品的时候以非常高的价格出售它们。

Chaturvedi questioned: "Are we using supply constraints as a weapon to make more money?"

查图维迪质疑道:“我们是在把供应限制当作赚钱的武器吗?”

I'm Dan Friedell.

丹·弗里德尔为您播报。


来源:VOA News

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