"Shrinkflation"

[LindyLou2020]

I'm just having a bit of "downtime" - between finishing one task and about to start another. So browsing Mumsnet, and was reminded about something I've noticed over the past few weeks/months when doing my supermarket shop.
We can't fail to know about inflation, and also "shrinkflation, whereby manufacturers reduce the size of an item but the price stays the same or even increases.
Some examples I've noticed are:
Toothpaste - many tubes are now 75g but used to be 100g.
Go Ahead Crispy Fruit Slices bars - now 4 bars in a pack when there used to be 5.
Some loaves of bread are now 600g, down from 800.
Many cat food pouches are now 85g, down from 100g.
I don't really know what point I'm trying to make, other than to have a bit of a rant 😡, but you do have to be very savvy to this trick and choose carefully.
Have you come across any other glaring examples?

Lurpak butter - 200g down from 250g. So brazen!

Sure deodorant - used to be 250ml, now 200 and the unit price has gone up as well!

Really? I knew oils and spreads have been some of the worst culprits for price increases, but didn't know they'd shrunk as well 😠

Wow - well spotted!😣

Any more examples, guys? Let's name and shame😬

Not an essential but lucozade used to be 1l and is now 900ml!

No, not an essential, but sneaky nevertheless.....🙁

Used to get the ready made poppadom packets from Aldi. Have noticed that the size of the popadoms have nearly halved in size! Packaging is still the same tho! Have stopped getting them!

I didn't realise that about cat food. Was wondering why my cats would finish their food off and still beg me for more!

Tescos sauces like mint sauce, apple sauce, cranberry sauce etc. My husband picked some up and I asked where the normal sized jars are. He said these are the new smaller size but same price!

With perfect timing in relation to this thread, DH has just come in after nipping into Tesco on his way home from work as I'd forgotten to buy potatoes during my weekly shop.
Their bag of All Rounder British Potatoes has shrunk from 2.5kg to 2kg.
Do these guys really think that their customers are too thick to notice?🙄

Even Aldi have done it with ketchup the cheeky fuckers as my new and old bottle are next to each other in the cupboard and one is an inch shorter!

@ObsidianGrape
Yes, it was the same with my cats. And it was the cat food "shrinkflation" which gave rise to my noticing more and more examples........🤷‍♀️

yep noticed in a lot of shops

there is some profitering going on in the COL crisis though tesco near me had mouth wash for £7.50 co op down the road £4 and asda sell cheaper mouth wash for like £1

Other than butter, where you now need to buy two packets to cook a cake

The most annoying one I have found his Uncle Bens microwave packet rice. It has gone from 250 g to around 220 g. This means there’s not quite enough for two anymore.

Not only that but they’ve kept the packet identical size, so people don’t notice. This means that if you’re bunging it in the microwave for two minutes as you always have you end up with overcooking the rice. Bastards

You can definitely still get Sure deodorant in the normal 250/150ml cans. The 200ml is actually cheaper per ml than the 250ml, so is a better deal!

Sorry everyone - when I started this thread I didn't think to scroll down to "Similar Threads". Had I done so, I would have realised that there have been some on this same subject in previous months.
So apologies for going over old ground, but the examples of "shrinkflation" are not going away, and if we can warn each other it might make us feel we are at least doing something.

Definitely fewer Jaffa cakes in a box. I think it’s 10 down from 12 although can’t swear to it.
It is very sneaky and underhand.

Big galaxy bar, same size packet (not weight) but the chocolate inside is wafer thin!!

Coop donuts used to be 5 in a packet and last lot I bought had 4 in it!

Kettle Chips. Used to be 150g, which was just the right amount for DH and me to munch our way through in an evening. Now 130g, which just isn't enough.

Most bagels have got smaller.

I just wonder where it will end.

A bag of crisps with one crisp in? A sliver of cheese or Lurpak?

The one that really bugs me is the prawns in Lidl. It used to be that they came in smaller packs of 150g or larger packs of 300g. Great. I'd get the 300g and eat them for a few days in a rice dish. Now the larger size has shrunk to 210g! What an odd size. Who really benefits from this odd size difference of 60g between packs of prawns?

I don't like either option now. I got two x 210g last time, but then I was eating the prawns for too many days. I think I cooked them on Sunday and finished them on Friday - they tasted fine and I didn't have any stomach issues, but that seems too long to be fresh and healthy. I got 2 x 150g last time, which matches my size expectation, but then it's more expensive per weight, it's such a waste of packaging, and also the prawns themselves were smaller, I think. Not happy with either option, really.

I used to make a batch of brownies using two packets of dr oetker dark chocolate, 150g each. Picked up two packets last weekend without checking, got home, and they were only 100g each so I was short a whole packet. Very annoying.

But the thing is, if the size has gone down by say 20% in the case of butter - 250g to 200g, and the price has stayed the same; would you be happy to pay 25% more for the full size pack? Because that's what it works out as. Manufacturers know full well that sales dip faster when they put the price up than when they shrink the pack. And they have no choice but to so something (other than take lower profits but that's not how business, economics, or capitalism works) so they choose the most advantageous to themselves, clearly.