Duncan Hines Downsized. :(
So I just came back from the grocery store where I purchased a Duncan Hines cake mix and discovered they've lowered the ounces on it, just like Pillsbury did. :( They've also changed their amounts on the back for water and oil. I went ahead and used my standard recipe of 4 eggs, 1 cup water and 1/3 cup oil and the cupcakes I just baked seem o.k. But I'm wondering if anyone else is having problem with this new amount maybe with WASC?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by June Kowalczyk on
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Finallygot to see what yoy look like Goretti!!! Very attractive pic of you & hubby on your FB page.
I don't like to discourage anyone, but if you want to talk to someone it will only be cathartic. You will just get a "spokes person"/rep" for the company. These decisions are made way up at the corporate level. It is all about saving $$$$$. The only way they would change is if thousands of consumers on mass STOPPED buying their product. When you hit htem in the pocketbook, it hurts, that's when they sit up & take notice.
So, just stop buying their product & tell them why & mean it.
Goreti said:Hello everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that after I saw this about Duncan Hines, I decided to send them an email voicing my displeasure and also left them a comment on facebook. This morning I log onto facebook and saw this " Hi Goreti Pavao, this is Candy from Duncan Hines. We would be happy to help. Please call us at 1-800-362-9834." Well you can help me by putting the package back to 18.25 oz. Don't know if I'm going to bother calling cause someone commented after that " which number do i press to talk with you? its all automated." What do you think? Should I bother calling? I'm sure there are only going to try to justify the reduction.
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Permalink Reply by Goreti on
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That is my opinion too June. I worked for a big corporation and know how that works. Even when calling our office when you ask for a supervisor, you get a rep who is making a few dollars more per day to be "temporarily promoted" to take those calls and some of them are terrible. I don't mind baking from scratch so if I have to can always do that. I like the convenience of the doctored mixes cause sometimes my brain takes a break and with mixes no matter what I did to it or forgot to do (lol), it comes out ok. As a matter of fact, for years I didn't use mixes so I'll just have to go back to my old recipes. Since I don't make a lot of cakes, it is not a big deal for you. Feel bad for those of you who sell your cakes cause it will affect you much more. Thanks June for the compliment. That was 2 1/2 yrs ago at my godson's wedding. Little did I know that my husband's fever that day was due to Lyme disease. He was so sick right after that with Bell's Palsy both sides of his face, hospitalized for 1 week and on intravenous antibiotics for 30 days. Worse part was he was misdiagnosed by not 1 but 2 doctors which let the disease progress pretty far. Happy to say he made a full recovery but it was scary for a while there.
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Permalink Reply by Linda Wolff on
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Thanks Selina for the link, and thank you Goreti for 'friending' me on facebook. I agree with June, Goreti, you are one good looking lady!
Even though my two cents may not count, I still went ahead and put my comments on their page too. I found the one you put on there, Goreti, and I added to it, and I also started a new one.
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Well Goreti
Glad hubby is well.
Nothing ventured nothing gained. Years ago there were a ton of churches/synagogues here in Canada that sent out the word to bouycot Nestle Canada. They were trying to promote their baby formula to 3rd world countries, and convince the Mom's NOT to breast feed. This was a disaster as they were using unclean water to make the formula, and 100's of babies were dying. Well thousands, and I mean thousands of Mom's STOPPED buying Nestle baby formula & products all together. Now there were no social network in those days. It was by letter. And trust me, Nestle received thousands of those too. We brought the company to there kness, and they stopped selling/giving their formula to the 3rd world Mom's
Now of course, such a different time. Our voices could carry some weight. But we DID hit them financially by not buying their products, and that seems to be the only way a corporation will change. Hit their PROFIT, PROFIT, PROFIT....MARGIN!!!
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Well, I did get through to a representative. Of course, as June said earlier, what good is it going to do? I expressed my discontent and also told her that there are many bakers that are really unhappy with the downsizing. She assured me that the cakes wouldn't be any different size once baked if the directions were followed... bla bla bla, yada yada yada...you know how they give you the old spiel. So, at least I got it off my chest. Now back to doctoring up my mixes! By the way, my experiment that I did yesterday was a huge hit with my hubby. Very moist and a good flavor. Of course, I realize from what June said yesterday on a different thread, it night as well have been a scratch cake, and like Goreti, that may be what I do from now on anyway.
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Permalink Reply by Deah on
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Linda, I think the 18.25oz is the old size of mixes. The new size of DH is 15.25oz. I haven't seen a change in the size of Pillsbury in my area but that doesn't mean it isn't coming shortly. Glad I stocked up a few weeks ago.
If you used the 18.25 size in your experiment you shouldn't have seen any difference.
Deah
Linda Wolff said:Well, for the sake of science, I decided to try experimenting with 1 cake mix by adding a little more flour, sugar, eggs, etc. to a standard cake mix to see if it would change the composition any, and to see if I came out with a quality cake. Here is what I did: I used an 18.25 oz. package of Moist Supreme Chocolate cake mix by Pillsbury. Then, I added 1-1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1-1/2 cups sugar, 1-1/2 cups buttermilk, 5 eggs, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup veg. oil, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tbsp. real vanilla, 3 tbsp. dutch chocolate cocoa powder, 2 tbsp. black cocoa powder. I mixed up all of the dry ingredients first to get them all blended throughout the mix, then added the buttermilk, mayo, oil, and eggs. Added the vanilla last. It ended up being a very dense batter, just like the actual mix is on it's own. It yielded just under 8 cups of batter. I poured the batter into 3-8" round pans (after putting cake release on them-no parchment this time) and baked them like normal. I just took two of the pans out and the cakes popped right out of the pans. Since I only have 2 eight inch pans, the other cake is still in the oven. Each cake took about 2-1/2 cups of batter to fill with about a tbs. more added to each pan. I haven't done a taste test yet. My husband is good for that, so when he gets home, he will be the taste tester. I would have tried it with sour cream, but just didn't have any on hand, and I have made mayo cakes before and they are always so moist.
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Deah, I still have a deep freeze full of DH cake mixes so I am good for at least a few more weeks or months. When they are on sale, I usually stock up with 50 or 60 mixes at a time and then pop them into one of my deep freezers. They had them on sale a while back for 89 cents, so I bought a bunch. I didn't even know they had downsized until I read this thread, so the cake I made yesterday was still with the 18.25. I purposely added the extra flour and sugar to see if it would change the flavor/composition. But, as June had said on the Doctored up cake thread, with all of the stuff I added, it may as well been a scratch cake. But, the cake did turn out to be outstanding, so I am thinking that by adding at least 1/2 cup more of each flour and sugar to these scant new downsized mixes, we should be able to still achieve a pretty good doctored up cake.
Deah said:Linda, I think the 18.25oz is the old size of mixes. The new size of DH is 15.25oz. I haven't seen a change in the size of Pillsbury in my area but that doesn't mean it isn't coming shortly. Glad I stocked up a few weeks ago.
If you used the 18.25 size in your experiment you shouldn't have seen any difference.
Deah
Linda Wolff said:Well, for the sake of science, I decided to try experimenting with 1 cake mix by adding a little more flour, sugar, eggs, etc. to a standard cake mix to see if it would change the composition any, and to see if I came out with a quality cake. Here is what I did: I used an 18.25 oz. package of Moist Supreme Chocolate cake mix by Pillsbury. Then, I added 1-1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1-1/2 cups sugar, 1-1/2 cups buttermilk, 5 eggs, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup veg. oil, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tbsp. real vanilla, 3 tbsp. dutch chocolate cocoa powder, 2 tbsp. black cocoa powder. I mixed up all of the dry ingredients first to get them all blended throughout the mix, then added the buttermilk, mayo, oil, and eggs. Added the vanilla last. It ended up being a very dense batter, just like the actual mix is on it's own. It yielded just under 8 cups of batter. I poured the batter into 3-8" round pans (after putting cake release on them-no parchment this time) and baked them like normal. I just took two of the pans out and the cakes popped right out of the pans. Since I only have 2 eight inch pans, the other cake is still in the oven. Each cake took about 2-1/2 cups of batter to fill with about a tbs. more added to each pan. I haven't done a taste test yet. My husband is good for that, so when he gets home, he will be the taste tester. I would have tried it with sour cream, but just didn't have any on hand, and I have made mayo cakes before and they are always so moist.
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If you want to experiment with scratch baking be sure to try this one. It has great reviews
http://www.cakeswebake.com/forum/topics/better-white-scratch-cake
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No matter the amount of the ingredient in the box, as long as you follow the directions for liquid to mix ratio they give you, your cake will turn out fine. The rub is that there is now LESS mix, but we are paying the same amount as before. I can be pretty sure this has happened in many other products as well, but because we may don't purchase them on a regular basis, like cake mix, we haven't noticed. I use to by this hummis for my son at Costco, and it was the demonstrator lady who pointed out that the pkg was now smaller for the same money. Don't know if I would have noticed had she not pointed it out. And I agree with Goreti's statment that it will hit the profit margin of the pro cake decorator as they are now spending more and getting less product. Which means they have to buy more to make the same cakes as before. So they either absorb the cost, or pass it onto the customer. Tough choice. Hobby bakers don't quite face the same situation
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That sounds yummy!! I put it in my favorites! Thank you Deah!
Deah said:If you want to experiment with scratch baking be sure to try this one. It has great reviews
http://www.cakeswebake.com/forum/topics/better-white-scratch-cake
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Ahh...now I see what you were doing. Good info.
Linda Wolff said:Deah, I still have a deep freeze full of DH cake mixes so I am good for at least a few more weeks or months. When they are on sale, I usually stock up with 50 or 60 mixes at a time and then pop them into one of my deep freezers. They had them on sale a while back for 89 cents, so I bought a bunch. I didn't even know they had downsized until I read this thread, so the cake I made yesterday was still with the 18.25. I purposely added the extra flour and sugar to see if it would change the flavor/composition. But, as June had said on the Doctored up cake thread, with all of the stuff I added, it may as well been a scratch cake. But, the cake did turn out to be outstanding, so I am thinking that by adding at least 1/2 cup more of each flour and sugar to these scant new downsized mixes, we should be able to still achieve a pretty good doctored up cake.
Deah said:Linda, I think the 18.25oz is the old size of mixes. The new size of DH is 15.25oz. I haven't seen a change in the size of Pillsbury in my area but that doesn't mean it isn't coming shortly. Glad I stocked up a few weeks ago.
If you used the 18.25 size in your experiment you shouldn't have seen any difference.
Deah
Linda Wolff said:Well, for the sake of science, I decided to try experimenting with 1 cake mix by adding a little more flour, sugar, eggs, etc. to a standard cake mix to see if it would change the composition any, and to see if I came out with a quality cake. Here is what I did: I used an 18.25 oz. package of Moist Supreme Chocolate cake mix by Pillsbury. Then, I added 1-1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1-1/2 cups sugar, 1-1/2 cups buttermilk, 5 eggs, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup veg. oil, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tbsp. real vanilla, 3 tbsp. dutch chocolate cocoa powder, 2 tbsp. black cocoa powder. I mixed up all of the dry ingredients first to get them all blended throughout the mix, then added the buttermilk, mayo, oil, and eggs. Added the vanilla last. It ended up being a very dense batter, just like the actual mix is on it's own. It yielded just under 8 cups of batter. I poured the batter into 3-8" round pans (after putting cake release on them-no parchment this time) and baked them like normal. I just took two of the pans out and the cakes popped right out of the pans. Since I only have 2 eight inch pans, the other cake is still in the oven. Each cake took about 2-1/2 cups of batter to fill with about a tbs. more added to each pan. I haven't done a taste test yet. My husband is good for that, so when he gets home, he will be the taste tester. I would have tried it with sour cream, but just didn't have any on hand, and I have made mayo cakes before and they are always so moist.
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Permalink Reply by Eileen S on
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This is the response I got from Duncan Hines to my email:
Dear Ms. Swierczynski:
Thank you for your recent contact regarding Duncan Hines Classic Cake Mix. You will receive a full value coupon in the mail in seven to ten business days. The coupon is for use on any Duncan Hines product of your choice.
We have changed the size of our classic cake mixes from 18.25 ounces to 16.5 ounces in an effort to remain cost competitive in the marketplace. We are facing rising raw material costs and in order to continue to deliver classic cake mixes at a competitive value to consumers we reformulated our classic cake line into a smaller size rather than raising our prices.
Please be assured that the new size of our classic cakes yields the same great tasting, consistent results that bakers know and expect from Duncan Hines. Bakers should continue to follow the directions on the box to ensure consistent results.
Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-362-9834 so we can assist you further.Sincerely,
Candy Cole
Consumer Relations RepresentativeMy point is not that the cake baked per THEIR directions will be different, it's that the cakes I bake using their mix as a base for my OTHER recipes will be different. Sigh. I did make a straight up Betty Crocker cake today from their mix and their amounts on the back for a demo I'm doing on Friday and I have to say it domed REALLY high (so I'll have to chop off half the cake)! and it feels like it's mostly air. Ugh. No thanks. I have 2 Dark chocolate Oreo 10" cakes in the oven right now - I used the same "extra" stuff I've always used - but one is with the 18.25 oz. box and the other is with the 16.5 oz box - so we'll see if there's any difference in texture. I can't really say I'll be able to sample the flavor because it's for a friend. LOL. But I will make a note if she notices anything.
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