To think shrinkflation is getting out of control?

[Forwardthinkingturtle]

I’m sick of buying toothpaste in a huge box only to find that it’s a small tube 75ml. Even the ones that promise “25% extra free” are only 100ml which is what the standard size was a couple of years ago, so you’re not actually technically getting anything free!

Toilet rolls have shrunk and the quality is crap… excuse the pun.

I had a Magnum ice cream for the first time in a while and I honestly thought it was a mini sized one. They used to have 4 in a pack and now they only have 3.

Don’t even get me started on a Toblerone!

AIBU to despise the dishonesty of brands way more than the actual price inflation? Prices have risen but just be honest about what you’re selling (or not selling!) to us.

I've been having Total Fage proper Greek yoghurt for my breakfast for some years. About 18 months ago they slyly reduced the contents of the 500g tubs to 350g AND raised the price at the same time. The 1kg tubs have also reduced by 50g but are, therefore, better value than 2 of the 450g tubs.

A friend offered me a biscuit out of a Fox's chocolate assortment the other day. I'm a massive fan of the chocolate shortcake rounds, so am very familiar with them. Yes, the ones in this pack were considerably smaller than previously.

I always say the same thing when the size of products is craftily reduced: "Will I eventually be buying a feckin' EMPTY container?"

So do I, but sometimes they make the lids impossible to remove. Then I prop the bottle up and lean it against things so I can get the last dregs. I will not be beaten by their greed!!

I am boycotting celebrations this year. The point of buying a big tub is to have more than 3 chocolates in it. I swear it is smaller than the other available tubs, although this is opinion, not fact!

Stopped buying dove deodorant too. They did a condensed spray a few years ago, which was more product in same packaging, so less waste. They have since reversed that and now have less product in a big can.

The cheaper ingredients thing is a bugger too. Most chocolates taste of sadness these days, just sweetened wax. Don't understand why it is legal to call something shortbread if it is made with palm oil instead of butter.

I've noticed this with chicken breasts fuck knows what they are pumping them with.

Palm oil in everything is so awful. Is it a new development or have we had it forever and I just hadn't noticed??

have you seen bagels??!!! all hole with about 1cm of bagel around it, it's so narrow it can't hold any filling

It's so ridiculous now. I resent spending money on things like celebrations.
At least with cakes and biscuits, I can bake my own but why is so much of the food that we need substandard?
Unfortunately, I love crisps but they're way too expensive now to buy regularly.
Which is probably a good thing for me.
If people do start to take a stand, I wonder if companies will start to go out of business.

A lot of research goes into this. Price points are so important for buying decisions, particularly impulse purchases. So the product has to be tailored to fit the price point.

It is annoying, no question, but they'd make far fewer sales if they didn't do it this way.

Depending on how hard the plastic is, you could cut the bottle open with scissors to get the last dregs out? I’ve done this before with stuff that comes in tubes.

I bought a pack of carrots recently. Next day they were going rotten! I'd taken them out of the pack too. Food seems to go off so quickly

Local supermarket does its own stuffed pork - a log of pork stuffed with stuffing. During the worst of the inflation crisis the amount of stuffing increased and the pork became an increasingly thin veneer around the edge. However, I've recently noticed that this has improved again recently. More pork, less stuffing.

Products will tend to shrink to stick at a price point, and then they will introduce a larger product at a higher price point. People will accept the higher price point as better value than the shrunk product, but they wouldn't have accepted so easily going directly to the higher price point.

I was in Sainsburys a few days ago and heard a nun talking to her adult daughter about the roses/heroes etc tubs and saying how much smaller they are. She was saying how she used them (as most people do) to put bibs and bobs in but noticed the smaller size.

A nun? 😯 Mother Superior?
Yeah it's all enraging bollocks I agree.

Mum not Nun!!!!!!

yes a nun with an adult daughter! obviously didn't take the vow of celibacy v seriously 😁

That's fine, just tell us though so we can make an informed purchasing decision. People had to fight to have nutrition information and price per kilo, we should demand this too.

With the lid off hold the bottle upright and squeeze it. Hold it with the hole under a running tap and stop squeezing. Water will go in to fill the space created.

I have found that Amazon do 100ml tubes of Colgate Max Crystals. They are bulk buy and you can do a subscribe and save. £8.07 for 4 packs.
My mum always used to buy small tubes of toothpaste because for some weird reason she didn't like big tubes until I told her it was better value for money. Now they are all the same smaller size.
Toothbrushes have really shot up in price recently. Such basics should not be so expensive.

And chocolate bars have got so skinny that they’re almost see through! We’ll go to the supermarket, spend £150, come home and wonder where the rest of it is??!!

I have porridge for breakfast most days. It was £1 for 8 sachets only about 2 years ago. It’s now £1.35. All I can say is, I wish I’d had a 35% payrise in two years 🙄

I know it makes no odds to them but I just don't buy a lot of things any more unless they are on offer and a good offer not these 20p off ones you get now.

I've taken to buying the big bags of porridge as the sachets are expensive. The price has gone up still, but you do get a bit more.
Most things are small now though and loads more money. How families (especially those with children or babies ) cope with all this I've no idea. Everything seems very expensive now or in tiny packaging.

Stopped buying Tresemme shampoo many years ago because you could never get all of it out of the bottle. Lid wouldn't come off.. Tried cutting the bottle but that was too difficult. There was always loads in the bottom.

Now use a shampoo bar

This is my understanding of why we have shrinkflation too. The British shopper has pre determined price points in mind for things, so if the cost goes over they are unlikely to buy. So the manufacturer makes the item smaller/uses cheaper ingredients/uses less filling in order to keep sales up. It’s deceitful, but I guess with inflation and the increased costs of raw products plus energy and staffing a food shop would get unbelievably expensive and therefore it’s more palatable to make the sizes smaller and people pay the same.

I agree some manufacturers are on the take though especially with Christmas chocolates (they are such a rip off) and I also agree the reduction in size should be clear to the customer but I think we are just so used to cheap food in this country we’re not prepared to pay more (and some people can’t afford much more too).

Yes - bars like Double Decker and Toffee Crisp are half the thickness they used to be.

It's funny when they reduce the size of something, eg multipack crisps or choc bars and then proudly announce 'only 72 calories!' or something on the packet like we're all fucking stupid.

Yes, I'm well aware that I can reduce the calorie content.of pretty much anything I eat by just eating a fraction of it.