Yes, Your Toilet Paper Squares And Rolls Are Shrinking

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The paper industry has been shrinking, and it turns out, so has your toilet paper, at least when it comes to its surface area. That's right. The individual sheets, or squares, of your toilet paper roll have been getting smaller. In fact, some of them aren't even square anymore. You aren't just imagining things. Here to explain why this is happening is Steven Chercover. He's a research analyst who covers the paper and forest industries. Welcome to the program.

STEVEN CHERCOVER: Thank you.

SIEGEL: We recently read about this trend in the Washington Post. What are the numbers actually? How much have toilet paper rolls shrunk?

CHERCOVER: Well, I think according to the Washington Post it was in the mid-20 percent range - at least, each square is down by that percentage.

SIEGEL: Each square used to be - or the standard was four and a half inches by four and a half inches, they report. And now the roll has narrowed to just four inches.

CHERCOVER: That's correct. I've noticed that. I live in a house full of females, and I'm always astonished at how quickly the toilet paper goes away.

SIEGEL: Why? Why is the - I mean, I guess you get to sell less paper for the same price, but why now? Why would toilet paper rolls change size?

CHERCOVER: Oh, I think it's precisely profit margins. I think it's really a stealth price increase. They don't change the price, but they give you less product. And I've also noticed that a standard roll is much smaller than it used to be, so now they're selling double rolls. So without being scientific, I think a double roll is pretty well equivalent to what a standard roll was perhaps a decade ago.

SIEGEL: Now, The Post entertains the theory that this is related to declines in sales for paper napkins and paper towels and that the industry is hard-pressed to make it up. Do you see declines in sales for those products?

CHERCOVER: You know, it's in environments like shopping centers and office buildings where you're seeing hand dryers, towel dispensers or just having to ask for multiple napkins in fast food restaurants. They tend not to be just providing you with napkins a volonte like they used to.

SIEGEL: In addition to the rolls of toilet paper getting narrower, I gather there's some indication that perhaps the cardboard tube in the middle has gotten bigger.

CHERCOVER: Well, that would be another way to fool the consumer.

SIEGEL: Get less paper, more cardboard at the center.

CHERCOVER: Yeah, more air in the void of the tube. Now is the upside of all of this that the country is actually conserving more with paper and using blow dryers more and being more efficient?

CHERCOVER: I doubt it. I think you're just changing the rolls on your toilet paper dispenser more frequently.

SIEGEL: And buying a new roll more frequently.

CHERCOVER: I mean, the trends would suggest that we're not using less tissue paper. They've been adding capacity, and the operating rates are pretty good. So consumption is going up basically in line with population.

SIEGEL: And is there actually an industry standard that cuts across brands - that is that when one company went to four and a half inches by four inches to the sheet as opposed to four and a half by four and a half, that everyone effectively did that?

CHERCOVER: I'm not aware of an industry standard, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone decided to market themselves and differentiate their product by going back to the old school four and a half by four and a half square.

SIEGEL: You think that could sell toilet paper these days possibly.

CHERCOVER: It would be another way to say that it's new and improved.

SIEGEL: Or old and improved.

CHERCOVER: Well, I think a lot of us pine for the good old days.

SIEGEL: Well, Steven Chercover, thank you very much for talking with us about it.

CHERCOVER: It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Robert.

SIEGEL: Mr. Chercover, talking about shrinking toilet paper roll, is a research analyst who watches the paper and forest industries. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.