Shrinkflation - examples?

[Statto]

Walkers grab bag crisps & snacks have gone from 50 grams to 45 or 40 grams

 

[DelayRepay]

And packets of Crisps as well, and the number of packets in the big multi-packs.

Multi-pack crisps are terrible. A lot seem to have dropped from six to five packs, and the individual packs themselves are smaller too.

And, I'm not sure if its Shrinkflation as such, but i find it really difficult to buy laundry powder. Every time I go, the pack sizes seem to have changed, with there being one brand/size on offer but the different sizes make it difficult to compare prices. And even the one on offer seems quite expensive for what it is. And the discount stores seem to stock the same brands, but different pack sizes so again it is difficult to compare prices.

It's a first world problem I know but whenever I need to buy laundry powder I am left feeling ripped off!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Multi-pack crisps are terrible. A lot seem to have dropped from six to five packs, and the individual packs themselves are smaller too.

Multipacks are an area where you need to be extremely careful; Poundland often has branded multipacks ( e.g. Walker's Crisps ) which contain two packs fewer than the same product in the mainstream supermarkets and therefore are not the bargain they at first appear to be.

 

[DarloRich]

unhappy with this practice? Don't buy the product.

Welcome to the world of capitalism.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Space Raiders

Used to be a pack of 10 for £1. That moved to a pack of 8 for £1 and has been like that for quite some time. Now they are being replaced by a pack of 6 for £1.

Travesty!

That's a particularly egregious one, not least because Space Raiders belong to a particular sub-genre of snacks known nationwide as "10p crisps"!

See also the Cadbury's Chomp and Freddo bars. They just look wrong with anything other than "10p" printed on. Though all these examples aren't quite on topic as the prices have increased without the product shrinking AFAICT.

 

[jumble]

Lucozade is a recent example. Previously 1 litre for £1, now 900ml for... £1.

"Shrinkflation" is the business practice where pack sizes of items (often food items) shrink in size or quantity, yet the selling price remains the same, or even increases!

An example: Packs of McVities (Jaffa Cakes) Cake Bars came, until recently, in packs of eight and were being sold for £1 at my local discount retailer.

Now the pack size has been reduced to seven cake bars, yet the price has remained at £1, which seems slightly sharp practice.

Any other examples out there?

P.S. Fairly sure that tubs of Nestlé Quality Street, Cadbury's Roses / Cadbury's Heroes (and similar other products) no longer contain 1 kg of contents, if indeed they ever did!

Schloer was 1 litre now 750 Ml
Was most of the time £1.50 in Asda now £2.20

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Schloer was 1 litre now 750 Ml
Was most of the time £1.50 in Asda now £2.20

Same price at Tesco and Morrisons, although the latter is currently doing a two for £3 offer. Often seen changes to the effective price per unit such as is noted above temporarily allievated by multi-buy offers which subsequently quickly fall away.

Having said that, how long is it since Schloer was last sold in 1 litre bottles. Got to be over a decade, hasn't it?

 

[py_megapixel]

Same price at Tesco and Morrisons, although the latter is currently doing a two for £3 offer. Often seen changes to the effective price per unit such as is noted above temporarily allievated by multi-buy offers which subsequently quickly fall away.

Tesco actually did the opposite on their large bags of sweets. Used to be 85p each, 2 for £1.50 - now 75p each but no multi-buy. I prefer the latter arrangement!

 

[3rd rail land]

Lucozade is a recent example. Previously 1 litre for £1, now 900ml for... £1.

Round my way the 1L bottle has remained at 1L but has gone up in price from £1 to 1.10

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Round my way the 1L bottle has remained at 1L but has gone up in price from £1 to 1.10

That's just an inflationary increase of 10%, but I reckon that the sneakier size reduction mentioned upthread by @Class465pacer is actually the higher increase (11.1%).

Presumably retailers are liaising with manufacturers to have a variety of different sized containers/packaging sizes that can be sold at a particular price point. (E.g. £1 exactly in a so called "pound shop").

@DelayRepay has previously alluded to the bewildering variety of pack/bottle sizes when trying to compare laundry powder (also washing up liquid) and the such like. Just how many different size bottles of Fairy Liquid are there out there?

 

[Typhoon]

P.S. Fairly sure that tubs of Nestlé Quality Street, Cadbury's Roses / Cadbury's Heroes (and similar other products) no longer contain 1 kg of contents, if indeed they ever did!

I've got a tub of Quality Street (empty) dated 2014 - 820g, another dated 2019 - 720g, currently advertised at Tesco - 650g. (An earlier tin had 1.2kg.)

Multipacks are an area where you need to be extremely careful; Poundland often has branded multipacks ( e.g. Walker's Crisps ) which contain two packs fewer than the same product in the mainstream supermarkets and therefore are not the bargain they at first appear to be.

Kit Kat is similar, Poundland and Iceland both charge £1 for multipacks, 5 bars + 1 free. Tesco charge £1.50 for 9 bars, bog standard price. (I don't ever remember packs of 5 bars.)

What annoys me when they reduce the size of chocolate bars or weight of crisp packets is how the companies pretend this is for health reasons, even claiming on occasion that customers actually ask for a smaller bar/ packet. If someone really cannot manage the whole bar or packet, why don't they share them with others (like me)?

 

[dgl]

Multi-pack crisps are terrible. A lot seem to have dropped from six to five packs, and the individual packs themselves are smaller too.

And, I'm not sure if its Shrinkflation as such, but i find it really difficult to buy laundry powder. Every time I go, the pack sizes seem to have changed, with there being one brand/size on offer but the different sizes make it difficult to compare prices. And even the one on offer seems quite expensive for what it is. And the discount stores seem to stock the same brands, but different pack sizes so again it is difficult to compare prices.

It's a first world problem I know but whenever I need to buy laundry powder I am left feeling ripped off!

The big con with all laundry products is that the number of washes shown on the pack is for a 4-5Kg lightly soiled wash in a soft water area whereas most machines are at least 6Kg and should be filled as much as the machine is rated to take for maximum economy, plus most washing machines are a fair bit larger now, ours is 10Kg Haier and at £350 was hardly a super expensive machine and my Grans was the cheapest A+++ machine yet took an 8Kg load. Methinks washing detergent manufacturers need to quote an amount of washes for a 7-8Kg machine in a medium water area.

It's also why I can't stand laundry pods/tablets as you can't properly regulate the amount relative to the load, something especially warranted if you have a machine which can detect the load size and adjust fill level to suit.

 

[ABB125]

It's also why I can't stand laundry pods/tablets as you can't properly regulate the amount relative to the load, something especially warranted if you have a machine which can detect the load size and adjust fill level to suit.

You're supposed to change the amount of powder depending in the load??????

My approach is simple*: load the washing, tip in a bit of powder, press go.

*based on university accommodation machines, in which you put the powder in the drum with the washing, rather than in a separate drawer/compartment

 

[dgl]

You're supposed to change the amount of powder depending in the load??????

My approach is simple*: load the washing, tip in a bit of powder, press go.

*based on university accommodation machines, in which you put the powder in the drum with the washing, rather than in a separate drawer/compartment

I'm surprised the machine has no power drawer/compartment as our machines at work do and they are commercial/laundrette Alliance machines and the previous IPSO machines were the same.

Of course sizing the amount of powder to the load not only saves money but it also better for the clothes and machine not to have too much powder, plus have too little and it will get so diluted that you won't get a very good was performance.

At work I do a surprising amount of washing, esp. now we have service washes instead of a self service laundrette so you get to know what's what washing wise.

 

[david1212]

Gradually over several years the drained weight of small tins of tuna of all brands has shrunk in steps to 112g from 160g so now 3 tins contain just 16g more than two tins used to. Big tins have disappeared from the stores I use, I can't recall now if 400g total or 400g drained weight.

 

[Butts]

Most canned products Beans, Soups. etc all used to be 454g standard size.

A lot are down to 400-425g.

 

[Dai Corner]

Gradually over several years the drained weight of small tins of tuna of all brands has shrunk in steps to 112g from 160g so now 3 tins contain just 16g more than two tins used to. Big tins have disappeared from the stores I use, I can't recall now if 400g total or 400g drained weight.

On the other hand, you can now buy tins which contain only tuna; no water, brine, sunflower oil or whatever. I haven't noticed whether they're correspondingly more expensive.

 

[ABB125]

Most canned products Beans, Soups. etc all used to be 454g standard size.

A lot are down to 400-425g.

Though contrary to that, I believe Tesco own brand marzipan is now sold in 500g packs instead of 454g. I couldn't say whether the price has gone up though.

 

[DelayRepay]

Most canned products Beans, Soups. etc all used to be 454g standard size.

A lot are down to 400-425g.

Beans are a double rip-off. Smaller tins and a higher proportion of liquid to bean than there used to be, even the premium brands.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

The big con with all laundry products is that the number of washes shown on the pack is for a 4-5Kg lightly soiled wash in a soft water area whereas most machines are at least 6Kg and should be filled as much as the machine is rated to take for maximum economy, plus most washing machines are a fair bit larger now, ours is 10Kg Haier and at £350 was hardly a super expensive machine and my Grans was the cheapest A+++ machine yet took an 8Kg load. Methinks washing detergent manufacturers need to quote an amount of washes for a 7-8Kg machine in a medium water area.

It's also why I can't stand laundry pods/tablets as you can't properly regulate the amount relative to the load, something especially warranted if you have a machine which can detect the load size and adjust fill level to suit.

Personally I would prefer it if the price increased and the size stayed the same. As mentioned, the amount of tuna in a tin has reduced. It used to be enough for 4 rounds of bread, now it isn't. Do you use 1 and a bit tins, or have three sandwiches? Similar with crisps, do you make do with a 25g packet, or open a second one, thus consuming 50g rather than the 40g?

Persil Non-bio powder has a habit of being 'more concentrated' so they put less weight in a box of exactly the same size. Presumably, in a laboratory setting, it is correct that you can use less powder to achieve the same result but does the average punter recalculate how much powder to put in the machine or just put the same amount in out of habit? Pricing is allover the place. Tesco for a while now has been fixed at £5 but did alternate between £9 and £4.50 and other prices in between. The same box from Morrisons (March 2021) was also £5 but 'on offer' with a full price of £11!

6/09

85g per stated wash

50 washes per box

4.25kg box

6/14

70g per stated wash

45 washes per box

3.185kg box

7/19

65g per stated wash

40 washes per box

2.6kg box

6/21

50g per stated wash

37 washes per box

1.85kg box

Some examples:
I once bought a loaf of Warburtons bread, putting it in the freezer I thought that's a bit small compared to the one already in there - it was only 750g instead of 800g but the same price.

Wagon wheels, it is claimed, have not shrunk at all. A well known comedian was booked to do a biscuit industry event, they tried the wagon wheels line and it was not at all well received, the representative insisting that they have always been that size. I cannot comment, I have never bought one.

Yorkie used to have 6 segments - with one letter printed on each chunk, now it has only five chunks so must be an orkie or a yorki.

Tuna:
250g / 150g drained in 2002
185g / 130g drained
160g / 112g drained
145g / 102g drained currently

 

[david1212]

Personally I would prefer it if the price increased and the size stayed the same. As mentioned, the amount of tuna in a tin has reduced. It used to be enough for 4 rounds of bread, now it isn't. Do you use 1 and a bit tins, or have three sandwiches? Similar with crisps, do you make do with a 25g packet, or open a second one, thus consuming 50g rather than the 40g?

Persil Non-bio powder has a habit of being 'more concentrated' so they put less weight in a box of exactly the same size. Presumably, in a laboratory setting, it is correct that you can use less powder to achieve the same result but does the average punter recalculate how much powder to put in the machine or just put the same amount in out of habit? Pricing is allover the place. Tesco for a while now has been fixed at £5 but did alternate between £9 and £4.50 and other prices in between. The same box from Morrisons (March 2021) was also £5 but 'on offer' with a full price of £11!

6/09

85g per stated wash

50 washes per box

4.25kg box

6/14

70g per stated wash

45 washes per box

3.185kg box

7/19

65g per stated wash

40 washes per box

2.6kg box

6/21

50g per stated wash

37 washes per box

1.85kg box

Some examples:
I once bought a loaf of Warburtons bread, putting it in the freezer I thought that's a bit small compared to the one already in there - it was only 750g instead of 800g but the same price.

Wagon wheels, it is claimed, have not shrunk at all. A well known comedian was booked to do a biscuit industry event, they tried the wagon wheels line and it was not at all well received, the representative insisting that they have always been that size. I cannot comment, I have never bought one.

Yorkie used to have 6 segments - with one letter printed on each chunk, now it has only five chunks so must be an orkie or a yorki.

Tuna:
250g / 150g drained in 2002
185g / 130g drained
160g / 112g drained
145g / 102g drained currently

Generally I too would rather the price increased.

I've not yet seen the 145/102g tins of tuna yet - the last I bought in Aldi were 160/112g.
In batch cooking once they dropped to xxx / 120g I started using three tins rather than two. This is around the same time as the larger tins disappeared from the shelves.

I've just looked at the Aldi & Hovis bread I normally buy and both are still 800g.

A jar of lemon curd is an odd 411g, back in time that would have been 454g.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Generally I too would rather the price increased.

Perhaps the concept of price increases doesn't work too well in retail environments where a uniform selling price is the key selling proposition, i.e. your archetypal "pound" or "99p" shop.

 

[Gloster]

What is the betting that the next move will be to change to ‘traditional British measures’. It will, of course, be pure coincidence that every measure chosen ‘for your convenience’ will be smaller.

 

[Butts]

What is the betting that the next move will be to change to ‘traditional British measures’. It will, of course, be pure coincidence that every measure chosen ‘for your convenience’ will be smaller.

Ah Cans of Coke would go back to being 12 1/2 Fluid Ounces

 

[birchesgreen]

Monster Munch definitely seem smaller now than when i was a kid, and its not just because my hands are bigger.

 

[yorksrob]

I've got a tub of Quality Street (empty) dated 2014 - 820g, another dated 2019 - 720g, currently advertised at Tesco - 650g. (An earlier tin had 1.2kg.)


Kit Kat is similar, Poundland and Iceland both charge £1 for multipacks, 5 bars + 1 free. Tesco charge £1.50 for 9 bars, bog standard price. (I don't ever remember packs of 5 bars.)

What annoys me when they reduce the size of chocolate bars or weight of crisp packets is how the companies pretend this is for health reasons, even claiming on occasion that customers actually ask for a smaller bar/ packet. If someone really cannot manage the whole bar or packet, why don't they share them with others (like me)?

To be fair with Quality Street, you can still buy a fairly big tin for around a tenner. I wonder whether this actually more accurately reflects the cost of one of the big tins back in the day when the currency was worth more.

 

[eoff]

If I think back long enough I used to purchase 100g Cadbury's bars (milk or Bournville) with my lunch a couple of times a week, then that size vanished and the prices increased and I stopped buying them.
I used to purchase confectionary in the station on the way home and the prices rose and packets got smaller so I stopped that.

I never buy single items in retail outlets now, as a family we only purchase multi-buys, multi-packs (being aware of product sizes)
or special offers deals.

And lots of other changes I don't like...
Quality St/ Roses, sometimes get them as gifts, they are just not the same. Boring wrappers, whirl no longer defined.
Revels not he same.
Walnut Whips not the same.
Cadbury's Dairy Milk does not taste the same to me as it used to.
Creme Eggs, not the same taste.
Mars bar, the size is a joke.
Marathon Bars/ Opal Fruits, I don't purchase anything where the name has changed which only leaves US trips for the former.

 

[Dai Corner]

A railway related example might be TOCs reducing the hours during which off-peak tickets are valid so passengers get less flexibility for their money.

In the insurance world, things like replacing lost mobile phones with refurbished ones instead of brand new or not covering leaving the bath taps on causing a flood.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Cadbury's Dairy Milk does not taste the same to me as it used to.
Creme Eggs, not the same taste.

Both been "re-formulated" in recent years, this following the change in Cadbury's ownership in/after 2005, and are almost undoubtedly now made using cheaper / inferior quality ingredients. "Shrinkflation" of sorts!

 

[yorksrob]

Both been "re-formulated" in recent years, this following the change in Cadbury's ownership in/after 2005, and are almost undoubtedly now made using cheaper / inferior quality ingredients. "Shrinkflation" of sorts!

The head honcho at Kraft was called to a select committee over when that company broke its employment promises after the takeover of Cadburys. She didn't turn up.

Given the recipe changes as well, she should have been disbarred from running a company in this country.