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Original poster

Worst/ craziest examples of shrinkflation?

131 replies

BluebellBlueballs · 15/02/2023 07:37

Manufacturers, we are not stupid. We know you are making everything smaller to look like we are paying the same or only a small increase in price for the same goods.

But have boxes of chocolate eggs ever come on anything less than six in a Bix? Not in all of time. Until yesterday when I got a box of oreo eggs which now has FIVE in the box.

And Toblerones are supposed to be a row of lovely peaks. Now the peaks have big fat valleys between them.

Anyone have any other examples of this?

OP posts:
Mmmmdanone · 15/02/2023 19:05

Pebble21uk · 15/02/2023 18:13

Nescafe Azera... tins used to be 100g and now reduced to 90g for the same price (or may have even gone up in price - I only buy it when it's on offer) 10g is actually quite substantial when it's such a fine powder!

I also think it doesn't taste as good as it did. So possibly using lower quality coffee beans too.

minipie · 15/02/2023 19:08

Not crazy but annoying, a standard pack of mince is now 400g when it used to be 500g. I’m ok with reducing meat consumption but the problem is all the recipes I use are based on a 500g pack. Gaaah

daisychain01 · 15/02/2023 19:56

Could you reduce all the other ingredients in your recipe by 20%?

Or just bung it all in there give it a good stir, and hope for the best, it'll probably be OK Grin

YerAWizardHarry · 15/02/2023 19:58

We would normally share a microwave bag of rice between 2 if having a meat and veg heavy curry. They’re teeeeny tiny now! Barely a full portion for 1 person

Original poster
BluebellBlueballs · 15/02/2023 20:11

isthismylifenow · 15/02/2023 16:29

It's definitely narrower here , but I'm not in the UK so perhaps different to yours. It seems the same length, just thinner. Even the chips are much smaller.

So I won't take offence by being called fat handed upthread for schnarfing too many Pringles. I feel like a need to buy a tube now for demo purposes of trying to get the chips out. In our house only my DD can now get into the tube (she is really small built) so we are a household of seemingly fat handed folk here 😀

Show quote history

You'd think it a major design flaw to make the tube narrower than the average person's hand. Surely they want us to have easy access?

OP posts:
MadeInChorley · 15/02/2023 20:21

The brands that bug me are the long established ones like Cadbury’s Roses where we can all remember that back in the day the chocolates mostly came wrapped in foil - green triangles, pink fudge etc or some twisty celophane. Now the same chocolates come individually wrapped in huge plastic wrappers with big “end bits” (can’t think of how else to put it) so that they appear to fill the box or tub, which is - naturally - the same size, bBut now with 50% less chocolate and a whopping load of non-recyclable plastic wrappers going to landfill. Not buying them ever again.

Original poster
BluebellBlueballs · 15/02/2023 20:36

MadeInChorley · 15/02/2023 20:21

The brands that bug me are the long established ones like Cadbury’s Roses where we can all remember that back in the day the chocolates mostly came wrapped in foil - green triangles, pink fudge etc or some twisty celophane. Now the same chocolates come individually wrapped in huge plastic wrappers with big “end bits” (can’t think of how else to put it) so that they appear to fill the box or tub, which is - naturally - the same size, bBut now with 50% less chocolate and a whopping load of non-recyclable plastic wrappers going to landfill. Not buying them ever again.

Chocolate tastes shite now compared to the 80s/90s

O for a time machine!

OP posts:
TheBitterBoy · 15/02/2023 20:43

My most annoying one is Tropicana Orange juice, they reduced the amount in the carton from 1L to 950ml a few years ago but kept the same size carton. The other day I picked up a full one, and thought it felt a bit light, and now it's only 900ml. Still the same size carton. It feels very sneaky to me.

MadeInChorley · 15/02/2023 20:45

Yes. It does. All the natural coco butters in the chocolate have been replaced with cheap and environmentally dubious palm oil. Cadbury’s chocolate tastes fake and greasy to me. And chocolate used to go rock solid in the fridge, like a brick. Now it’s still bite-able and goes soft at room temp. Yuck.

fastandthecurious1 · 15/02/2023 21:02

The chippy! Used to get loads for your money, now a mini fish and chips meal, kids sausage and chip meal and pie and chips £23!!

Itspoonotpoop · 15/02/2023 21:11

TheBitterBoy · 15/02/2023 20:43

My most annoying one is Tropicana Orange juice, they reduced the amount in the carton from 1L to 950ml a few years ago but kept the same size carton. The other day I picked up a full one, and thought it felt a bit light, and now it's only 900ml. Still the same size carton. It feels very sneaky to me.

😱 that's so sneaky!!

fetchacloth · 15/02/2023 21:31

fastandthecurious1 · 15/02/2023 21:02

The chippy! Used to get loads for your money, now a mini fish and chips meal, kids sausage and chip meal and pie and chips £23!!

It's shocking what these places charge now but I can understand it's the triple whammy of increased food, gas and electricity prices that are driving up their prices. Wages, business rates and rent are likely increased too so even more cost pressures to bear.
I really pity these businesses and fear for the future.

Original poster
BluebellBlueballs · 16/02/2023 04:52

fetchacloth · 15/02/2023 21:31

It's shocking what these places charge now but I can understand it's the triple whammy of increased food, gas and electricity prices that are driving up their prices. Wages, business rates and rent are likely increased too so even more cost pressures to bear.
I really pity these businesses and fear for the future.

Show quote history

I only get meaks out on deals or wowcher / groupon sites now. I'm going out tonight 2 course thai meal for 2, £12 total via Groupon with additional30% discountcode..

I've eaten there before and it's alright. Don't know how they do it would cost more as a takeaway!

OP posts:
TheTeenageYears · 16/02/2023 05:50

bussteward · 15/02/2023 11:17

I think some of these are made up/perception. Not the change in grams or number in a packet, but Toblerone would have to design and manufacture new moulds and change the machinery settings to drop in less chocolate to match the new mould. All of which costs money, Vs just increasing the price. And if you can’t get your hand into a Pringles tube it’s far more likely you’ve eaten too many Pringles than they’ve shrunk the tube…

The Toblerone thing is real but was done a few years ago - I remember outrage when there became more gaps than points www.google.com/search?q=toblerone+gaps+bigger&rlz=1CDGOYI_enJP707JP707&oq=toblerone+gaps&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i512j0i22i30i625j0i10i22i30i625j0i390l2.8355j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=z59l3FECEGjqKM

bananaAgogo · 16/02/2023 05:53

To be honest though, most of these comments are about sugary sweet stuff, or fatty stuff so they are probably doing you a favour, no?
Even Tropicana isn't decent OJ with all the additives in it. May as well be Sunny D

SilverGlitterBaubles · 16/02/2023 06:00

Jaffa cakes used to be a12 in a pack now 10. Coffee Nescafé Azera was 100g in a tin now 90g and the cost has rocketed.

Original poster
BluebellBlueballs · 16/02/2023 08:13

bananaAgogo · 16/02/2023 05:53

To be honest though, most of these comments are about sugary sweet stuff, or fatty stuff so they are probably doing you a favour, no?
Even Tropicana isn't decent OJ with all the additives in it. May as well be Sunny D

No they are not doing Anyone a favour if you have a knife and sond plastic sarnie bags you can cut them in half yourself!

OP posts:
xogossipgirlxo · 16/02/2023 10:39

YerAWizardHarry · 15/02/2023 19:58

We would normally share a microwave bag of rice between 2 if having a meat and veg heavy curry. They’re teeeeny tiny now! Barely a full portion for 1 person

Which brand? Uncle ben's is still the same, but I started buying it in 2020, no idea how big they were before. But yeah, I eat it myself, it's not for 2 people.

AdelineAurelia · 16/02/2023 10:42

Wispa bars seem tiny compared to how I remember them in the 80s. They were big chunky things then

xogossipgirlxo · 16/02/2023 10:42

bananaAgogo · 16/02/2023 05:53

To be honest though, most of these comments are about sugary sweet stuff, or fatty stuff so they are probably doing you a favour, no?
Even Tropicana isn't decent OJ with all the additives in it. May as well be Sunny D

Ripping off is never a favour, no matter what you choose to eat.

YerAWizardHarry · 16/02/2023 10:55

It’s usually the supermarket own brands, think it was Asda specifically

xogossipgirlxo · 16/02/2023 11:13

YerAWizardHarry · 16/02/2023 10:55

It’s usually the supermarket own brands, think it was Asda specifically

Asda's poppadoms shrank too 😔

TheBitterBoy · 16/02/2023 17:40

bananaAgogo · 16/02/2023 05:53

To be honest though, most of these comments are about sugary sweet stuff, or fatty stuff so they are probably doing you a favour, no?
Even Tropicana isn't decent OJ with all the additives in it. May as well be Sunny D

Ingredients in the Tropicana carton - Orange juice, not from concentrate.
Nothing else listed. Hardly SunnyD.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 16/02/2023 18:34

There’s no additives in Tropicana though..

WeirdPookah · 16/02/2023 19:46

When I bought of tub of butter spread, it wasn't full to the top. It was the same 1kg sized tub, but new printing said it was 900g. So even designed to trick you thinking it's the same at the shops.