Palm Springs: Supersize Me

Super thick corned beef sandwiches at Sherman's

We're in Palm Springs and we still can't get over how huge the portions are at restaurants.

This evening we went to Sherman's Deli & Bakery and it's quite shocking how much food they serve people. Salads are a large platter plate with a giant heap of greens enough for four people to share.

Part of the meatloaf dinner meal at Sherman's

A dinner portion of meatloaf includes a large plate of salad and two thick slices of meatloaf, gravy, cooked vegetables, and a baked potato. It was enough for two hungry people to share.

I had a hot corned beef sandwich and there was so much meat layered in between two slices of rye bread that it was impossible to fully bite into it. Needless to say I only had half of it and took the rest home.

Even though she saw us unable to finish our food, the waitress asked if we wanted to order dessert!

The same goes for Billy Reed's, a large restaurant that feels like being in a family home, with old wooden furniture, painted plates on the walls, and large tables.

A dinner entree includes a soup or salad, a choice of mini loaf of corn bread, date nut, banana nut, or garlic toast, and choose between French fries, mashed potatoes, sweet potato, baked potato or rice pilaf.

And did you want dessert with that? 

Roast turkey with sweet potato at Billy Reed's

Is it any wonder why so many Americans are overweight and obese?

We wondered why the restaurants didn't make their portions smaller so there would be less food wastage? But it seemed like most customers did take home leftovers.

Perhaps the restaurants want to give the impression they are giving people value for money? Or they think shrinkflation would be bad for business so they need to keep serving the same amount of food?

Meanwhile a well known restaurant that we have visited called Babe's Bar-B-Que & Brewery, which was known for its barbecue ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork and corn bread, closed in August because of rising costs.

Even though the restaurant has been around for 22 years, it could not keep the 12,000 sq ft space packed with diners all the time, and the increased costs for ingredients and labour made it challenging to keep going. 

Dessert anyone? Strawberry pie at Billy Reed's

It plans to open in a new location in January, about one-quarter the size to keep costs down.

"When Babe's opened 20 years ago, everything was so much cheaper: utilities were cheaper, payroll was cheaper. Everything was just you know,... it was able to work," said Lucky Callender, the owner of Babe's was quoted as saying in August.

"Our revenues were strong at The River, you know, we did good business. It's just -- if you do high revenues, you should see the profit. And the problem was, we weren't seeing enough profit to make sense. And, how can we retain that profit? Obviously it's going to a smaller space."

Meanwhile we noticed at least two multiplex theatres have shut down in Palm Springs, one inside a shopping mall. It's a sad sign of the times here, that the economy is struggling, which is perhaps why people feel good having big portions?

Shrinkflation Hitting Hong Kong Consumers

Shoppers are seeing shrinkflation in many items they buy

How is it only now that the Hong Kong authorities realise that consumers are suffering from shrinkflation, where they pay more for less volume or weight of a product?

The Consumer Council has found a number of supermarket products have shrunk by as much as 30 percent, with 16 products having price increases of up to 26.2 percent.

The consumer watchdog released its report on Tuesday and said retailers had the responsibility to let shoppers know of the changes in packaging and price.

Consumer watchdog released report Tuesday

"The council is of the view that consumers are the ultimate stakeholders affected and the party to pay, and agents have the responsibility to clearly state volume or weight changes of goods on the packaging or at the point of sale," said Victor Lam Hoi-cheung, chairman of the publicity and community relations committee.

In its report the Consumer Council chose 62 products from its "Online Price Watch" tool with volume or weight changes between January 2021 and July 2024, with products ranging from food, daily necessities and pet food.

Of the 62 products, 58 had downsized by 1.3 percent to 30 percent, and 25 items had a reduction in content by at least 10 percent.

Kellogg's Frosties cereal had downsized the most, from 250 grams to 175 grams, a change of 30 percent. 

This cereal had the biggest drop in size

Another was Tulip's Hot Dog Skinless Sausages, where the mass of the sausages dropped from 250 grams to 200 grams, a change of 20 percent.

Meanwhile McVitie's Club Orange had its price per millimetre had jumped 26.2 percent; its content was reduced from eight sticks at 176 grams to seven sticks at 154 grams, and the price increased from HK$33.50 (US$4.30) to HK$37.

Responding to the council's findings, McVitie's distributor said the price of Club Orange increased due to the rising cost of ingredients, logistics and other factors.

Shrinkflation seemed to happen a lot during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Consumer Council only made a report about it now? While it is understandable that practically everything costs more, it is also understandable why Hongkongers are flocking across the border to Shenzhen to shop, causing shops in Hong Kong to close because they don't have enough business.

It's a vicious cycle and it's a race to the bottom that's happening very quickly...