Created: 11/17/2008 11:20:53 AM 
Undated -- You may not know it, but you're now paying more for less as manufacturers shrink the package.
During the last year, a lot of product companies have began reducing the size of their products in order to save on costs.
A jar of Skippy peanut butter now has a dimple on the bottom of the jar, cutting roughly 10% of the actual peanut butter in the jar. The price stayed the same.
Dial soap is still $2.99 per pack, but is now 5 ounces lighter. These trends also carry across many ice cream containers and Cherrios boxes.
Many companies say the rising cost of ingredients lead to the shrinking of the package. Kellogg pointed to a dramatic rise in the cost of grains. Dreye's says, "Our ingredient costs have risen by 30 to 60%." Skippy parent company Unileve says, "Manufacturing and transportation costs have also increased significantly.
Price consultant Drew Conrad says when products break a psychological price threshold, sales suffer.
CNN
