Unit price is price per unit. Example: if a bag of five oranges is $5 then the unit price is $1 per orange. Unit prices are commonly seen on price tags but rarely are they accurate and they are not always there. Unit prices help people make healthier choices because unit price helps people compare prices and thereby encourages home cooked meals, as opposed to dollar menu meals.
Smiths in the US has it when comparing regular pack vs bulk pack of the same item. The only advantage I see is showing that the bulk pack is a few cents cheaper per “unit”. And it’s usually so small of writing that you have to really look for it. Usually any produce is measured by price per pound. Or it lists the price per pound and then price relative to the pounds of the package of meat, veggies, etc. Listed or now I’ll usually do the math myself if I’m thinking that hard about it or need to really save.
Everyone knows it’s cheaper to eat home cooked meals. However, now you’re getting into the discussion of food deserts, social programs, and other factors that lead to people choosing takeout over grocery store produce.
The grocery store I work for does it. I think it’s brilliant I use it mainly to check bulk pricing over regular sizes. As an example my favourite coffee is cheaper in the bulk tin vs glass container, however when we do half price deals the glass containers are cheaper!
I guess I just don’t understand how it could affect people dining out?
For me the advantage of the price/unit (or price/100g for things like cereal) is that you can see if the bulk option is actually cheaper per unit. Sometimes it’s pitched as if the larger option of a product is reducing the amount you pay for each serving (everything covered in “MORE FOR LESS” labels) but when you do the math the smaller package is actually the best price per unit. It’s pretty rare in my experience but it totally has happened and having the unit conversion right on the price label made it far easier to make my decision.