Is it time something was done about shrinkflation?

[Frugalityfromnowon]

Please tell me I'm not alone in finding this is now getting really out of hand?

I'm annoyed about it too but what can we do? Jealous of everyone who stock piled olive oil

Give an example?

If its food stuffs our portion sizes need to shrink, although the price therefore needs to shrink along with it of course

Like what, pay more?

Pretty much every biscuit or chocolate has shrunk. Multipacks have dropped down in numbers but the prices have hiked.

Im sure there was a thread previously where everyone shared what they’d noticed had shrunk.

What are you thinking can be done??

The price is listed, the weight is listed.

Stuff like chocolate and biscuits we only get in Aldi or Lidl, much better quality but without the high prices

Same for coffee/tea/household stuff, I only get these in Home Bargains or aldi/lidl

Coffee jars in some places are like 7 quid

Toilet paper annoys me - they have made the tube bigger. Took me a while to figure out why we were going through it quicker. Not environmentally friendly either!!

I guess making products smaller and wrapping them in plastic etc is eco unfriendly too as there is larger packaging to product ratio

Shrinkflation = keep the product the same (mostly) price, reduce the amount (or amount of expensive ingredient in it - e.g olive oil/butter)

Alternative = keep the product the same size/quality - price will have to go up

Potato waffles , used to get 12 for £1 then the box reduced to 10 but the price was still £1 now it’s 10 for £2.35! Yes they are rubbish but one example I noticed.

The only vote you have is your £, so don't buy it if you think it's overpriced. I try very hard just to buy fresh food as loosely packaged as possible, so shrinking isn't an issue.

Unfortunately we can’t ‘do’ anything about it. Costs have risen across the economy so that is how companies are remaining profitable and in business.

Everyone loves free market economics when it gets them a higher salary or cheap goods from China, but it also means that prices rise as costs go up.

But sorry that you are feeling the pinch. Are you eligible for any support?

I always get the Sainsbury's with the big fat rolls and small inner tubes. Lasts much longer.
The worst is the 3 ply stuff (especially if you have girls!).

I just don't see how you could legislate, short of saying that e.g. chocolate can only come in 100g bars etc. But it does annoy me; it makes it so much harder to compare products. All large chocolate bars used to be a standard 100g, now I have to pick through 80g, 90g etc, all being marketed as in the same product segment.

I suppose the real question is would you rather have shrinking sizes or higher prices?
Worst possible scenario is cheaper ingredients, so the taste and quality is worse.

I would rather have higher prices, same sizes, but perhaps the introduction of new "half-sized" options at a lower price.

But the prices are higher?

Things that were 5 for £1 are now £1.25 for 4.

I would like there to be stricter rules about making the quantity information on the packet visible.
I think people should be allowed to sell things in whatever quantity they like but as companies shrink products they have also been making it harder to find the size information on the packet, clearly deliberately. It’s often absolutely tiny and really hard to locate.

If you are going hungry the only thing you can do as an individual is ensure you're claiming all assistance you're entitled to, or earn more.

Supermarkets are sneaky too because while most things are counted per 100g or 1kg, sometimes they do things per 'unit'. So you can look at a pack of apples and its costed per 100g, then the next pack of apples along its costed per unit and theres 6 in the pack, so xp per apple, same with potatoes or lemons or whatnot

I cant compare those prices to work out whats better value

They do it with other products too but I cant think of others off the top of my head.

If the 4.2kg box of laundry detergent shrinks to 3.8kg for the same price, it doesn't last as long so you end up paying more, anyhow.

If a 750g bag of frozen peas shrinks to 650g for the same price, they get eaten sooner and you end up paying more.

I agree with this. Many of the nation can do with having smaller portion sizes.

What do you want to do??

many things cost more to produce and therefore have to be more ecpensive to buy.
last summer was awful around europe for growing produce for starters - less availability = higher prices

What’s happened to olive oil?

Exactly. Better to keep the 4.2kg laundry detergent and 750g peas, put up the price accordingly, but also make available a 2.0kg detergent and 350g peas at appropriate prices.

In France they've introduced a law requiring manufacturers to flag up the smaller pack size so that customers know they are getting less- seems sensible. But ultimately sizes will come down or prices will go up or a bit of both- we are a poorer country than we were.