Hidden inflation is when manufacturers cut corners and think you won't notice. Like the dry cereal boxes now that are super thin but look the same on the shelf as the old sizes. Or the ice cream drums that used to be a half gallon (2 quarts) and are now 1-1/2 quarts but they charge the same price (or more).
The latest thing I've noticed is in the produce section. It concerns cauliflower. Which I hate and it stinks to high Heaven when cooked. But Mrs. Merkt buys it to eat. What is different now is how the heads are trimmed. The growers are now leaving on a lot of the green waste below the head. The part they used to trim off. Now they leave it on and we pay more for the edible part because the green inedible part gets thrown away. Usually, cauliflower is old by the pound, much less often by the each. I guess mostly because of the variation in size.
Back when fresh pineapples were sold by the pound, my father-in-law would twist off the inedible top before he went through the checkstand.
The latest thing I've noticed is in the produce section. It concerns cauliflower. Which I hate and it stinks to high Heaven when cooked. But Mrs. Merkt buys it to eat. What is different now is how the heads are trimmed. The growers are now leaving on a lot of the green waste below the head. The part they used to trim off. Now they leave it on and we pay more for the edible part because the green inedible part gets thrown away. Usually, cauliflower is old by the pound, much less often by the each. I guess mostly because of the variation in size.
Back when fresh pineapples were sold by the pound, my father-in-law would twist off the inedible top before he went through the checkstand.