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EXTRA research shows 55 products had the content or reduced size in supermarkets

13/07/2015

This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.

 

 

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Faced with the decline of a product, Dione Costa exchange brand if you have another option. Photo: Marcio Alves / Extra

It's a free-for-all. Thus summarizes the practice of manufacturers to reduce the size or content of goods sold in supermarkets. So, from this Sunday, EXTRA publishes the series of reports "Honey, I Shrunk the product" which will show you what is behind the device to provide less the same price, ie to make the consumer pay more without often notice the loss. Even when he realizes, the buyer does not know who to complain.

In a survey in three Rio supermarket chains were found 55 products had the size, weight or volume reduced by up to 34%. 38 of them - 69% of the total -, manufacturers have admitted that prices were kept without respect for the consumer's pocket, or refused to say whether there was a reduction of the amounts charged on the shelves. In only 17 cases, the companies, there was cost cutting to the buyer.

Check the products reduced in size or weight

All packages of 55 items found in supermarkets to the EXTRA reported on the reduction of the product, as required by Decree 81/2002 of the Ministry of Justice - the only legal instrument that regulates the practice. The legislation, however, does not prevent irregularities still exist, such as the communication on reduction of the goods in such tiny letters that the buyer does not realize the inscription.

According to the ordinance, by decreasing the content, size or volume, manufacturers are required to report reductions in packages for a minimum period of three months. If not comply may face fines of R$ 400 and R$ 7.9 million, as revenues.

Although determining been in force for 13 years, cases of companies that circumvent this rule persist. On June 30, the National Consumer Protection, the Ministry of Justice (MJ-Senacon), introduced five administrative proceedings against Unilever, Nestle and PepsiCo, which would have communicated to consumers on the reduction of five products or have not disclosed information clearly, as required by the ordinance.

Products that are part of this research are: Lifebuoy rum raisin ice cream and Laka Special (down 21.2%), Rexona Men V8 (14.3%), Omo washing powder (10%), oat flakes Quaker (20%) and chocolover ice cream, various flavors (25%). Pepsico and Unilever do not comment on ongoing proceedings. Nestle said it warned about changing the label.

Brand exchange to combat the practice

The most attentive consumers realize that the product usually buy shrank. But not everyone is like that. The engineer electrician Dione Costa, 39, has already found reduced, but only in some cases.

- Nevertheless, often I end up buying anyway. I need most of the products on a daily basis. So, there is no stop buying. But when there are other options, I change the brand to be able to have the same return (financial).

That's exactly the recommendation of the legal director of Procon-RJ, Carlos Eduardo Amorim. Since there is no illegality when the company reduces the amount or size and keeps the price, it is up to the consumer to refuse this "inflation in reverse", opting for competitive products.

- There is no control over pricing in Brazil. Ie, the price is free. The best way to combat this type of buyer irregularity (cut goods) is to escape the leading brands and pursue other that are as good as. We observed that the products of leading brands that usually do that.

Although there is no illegality in practice, consumers disapprove the measure:

- I think the reduction is absurd, because it is synonymous with neglect of the consumer. If you are paying the same amount, you have to have the same previous amount. Or, the manufacturer has to reduce the price.

Simone Earth, a professor at the Graduate Strategic Marketing of Higher School of Advertising and Marketing (ESPM Rio), explains that when consumers perceive the tactic of companies, feels aggrieved:

- If you do not switch brands for some reason, at least you will be left with a bad image of the manufacturer. By the time you see a product that can deliver a similar quality, he will not think twice (trade mark).

 

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Source: Extra

 

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