GREENVILLE, Wis. (NBC 26) -- At The Bulk Priced Food Shoppe in Greenville, management has taken the guess work out of knowing what you're paying for.
"Everything is in clear containers, and you see what you get," says Brenda Hungerford the owner of The Bulk Priced Food Shoppe.
Hungerford buys the majority of her products in bulk, repackages them, and then passes the discounts onto her customers.
"Grocery stores just don't typically do that," adds Hungerford.
She knows her business model is unique to the area, but she also knows there are fewer questions from her customers about what they are getting when they open the package.
"You're not going to get a big bag of air. Just do your homework and look at what you're actually paying per pound or per ounce," says Hungerford.
Grocery stores across the country however have been noticing major suppliers taking a different approach by keeping their prices the same, but reducing the amount customers are used to getting.
"You have to make up the costs somewhere so you either push that onto consumers to raise prices or this is another route," says Associate Economic Professor Marc Schaffer of St. Norbert College.
Schaffer says suppliers are currently dealing with higher costs to produce and transport their goods, and rather than pass the expense onto customers they're reducing quantity.
"Partially because I think consumers are less apt to notice this," says Schaffer.
And while it's hard to say whether suppliers will convert back to traditional quantities if their costs drop, if history can serve as an indicator, don't hold your breath.
"I have seen this going on for like the last 10 years. You know, you buy a hair care product and it used to be an eight-ounce tube, now it's a six-ounce tube," adds Hungerford.
