If one goes to the various Stewarts shops in the greater Albany area – there are approximately one billion of them – you cannot but notice that the price of their ice cream, which they make, has been creeping up. You don’t even need to actually BUY the ice cream there, the displays are so prominent. The sale price has crept up from $2.39 in the recent past, then rising, usually in 20-cent increments, until it’s now $3.19. I suspect, from personal experience, that Stewarts has experienced some price resistance as a result.
So Stewarts has gone on the offensive. Signs in the stores in recent weeks have noted that the ice cream might be $3.19, but it’s $3.19 for a FULL half gallon. Other ice cream producers may have held the line on their price, but they have instead shrunk the package size to a quart and a half. Thus, Stewart’s $3.19 is equivalent to their $2.39.
I think it’s an effective strategy because it’s honest. Whereas, the shrinkage of the packaging, not just in ice cream, but in tomato sauce, tuna fish, cereal, and loads of other products, smacks of deceit.
I was in a Stewarts in Canton, NY recently, and there were ongoing videos of Tom Mailey explaining the quality of Stewarts’ products – when did Tom Mailey grow a beard? Also, Flavor the cow was explaining how to play the various lottery games – the cow’s name is Flavor? And it left me satisfied that Stewarts is trying to play fair, while some of the other food makers are not.
An ongoing bone of contention in the UK is the shrinking bars of Cadbury’s chocolate since the company was taken over by Kraft.
I’m sure they have their challenges against the big box stores. I applaud them for creating new interest without puffery and exaggeration. I hope they do well. After all, ice cream is very important. š