Downsizing Super-Sized

So let's talk a little bit about supersizing. It looks like supersizing is over.

Sally: Well, let's hope so for the health of Americans that have become very accustomed to these very, very large portions on menus. You know I was thinking about when I was a child and I went to a restaurant on vacation. My parents would let me order so that I could get a soda, and it was never an option to just have refills coming and coming and coming at no charge. So it was one soda and you were done, and then you were drinking water. So it is interesting hearing now that some you know, after looking at the eating habits and the way that food has been marketing, that some companies are thinking about on supersizing and maybe presenting, you know, foods that are in more reasonable portions but also of a higher quality.

Phil: You know it's an example that we give all the time that you could have a Snickers bar and be hungry, but if you have a one inch square piece of dark chocolate, you know that's satisfying to you. And the movement is to move away from food as fuel, as the business model meaning that selling more calories to more people more often and for more money to the Epicurean model where the growth comes from selling fewer calories but with more pleasure. And what they point out with this report, is the servings of fries and pizzas. Serving sizes are now 50% larger than they were 30 years ago. So you know, a slice of pizza when I was growing up was probably like that big, and now it's that big. So we really need to pay attention to that. And to your point, just give us smaller portions, but better quality food, better tasting food.