Shrinkflation has hit 2,500 products in five years
Not just chocolate bars that are shrinking
Toilet rolls, coffee, fruit juice and many other goods
Effects of shrinkflation been seen for good number of years Consumer Association of Ireland
Shrinkflation is stealth inflation, form of financialfraud
Punishesvulnerable working and middle classes
Gold is hedge against inflation and shrinkflation
Editor: Mark O’Byrne
Oompa Loompa doo-pa-dee dooI’ve got another puzzle for you
so sing the Oompa Loompas in Roald Dahl’s classicCharlie and the Chocolate Factory. They sing this after each revolting child suffers a mishap during their visit to his glorious production plant. One child’s mishap results in him being shrunk down to a tiny miniature version, in perfect proportion to his full-size self.
This might have given confectioners and manufacturers an idea. Over 2,500 products have fallen victim to shrinkflation. A phenomenon whereby a product’s price either increases or remains the same whilst the size and or quality is reduced.
Currencies have been and are being debased in recent years and now goods and products are being reduced in size and debased.
It seems that despite a massive global financial crisis, rising debt levels, increasing inflation, especially in rents and mortgages, and a decline in real household income there is virtually nothing that will make people realise how vulnerable and fraudulent the current financial system is.
But shrinkflation and chocolate bars might be the catalysts required to get people to wake up. UsIrish area nation of sweet-tooths and chocolate lovers. When they feel short-changed in the confectionary department, hell hath no fury like a sugar-addict scorned.
To make matters worse, the phenomenon has now gone past chocolate bars and includes a whole variety of household items from fruit juice to toilet paper.
As a result, shrinkflation is now official and not just your greedy brain telling you there used to be more chocolate in that Toblerone.
Of course, we knew it was a real thing as we’ve been warning about thepernicious effects of shrinkflation. But the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) has declared it’s real so that means it really is and nowpeople are beginning to become concerned and rightly so.
TheConsumer Association of Irelandtold the Irish Examiner that it has noticed the effects of shrinkflation fora good number of years.
Dermott Jewell, Policy and Council Advisor said
The suggestions that this is done in this way to help the consumer is unacceptable That it is solely down to increased costs of ingredients is misleadingThe consumer focuses upon price and ingredients – quantity has been well down their list of ‘need to watch’ factors – and manufacturers know and have taken advantage of this.
What has been ‘shrinkflated’?
Info and data courtesy ofBBC
McVitie’s packet of dark chocolate digestive biscuits have shrunk from 332g to 300g, a 10% reduction. According to Which?Tesco sold the biscuits for 1.59 before they shrank and even increased to 1.69 afterwards. Now the 300g packet is currently being sold for 1.50 in Tesco’s website a 6% reduction in price for a product that is 10% smaller.
Tropicana reduced the size of its carton of Creations Pure Premium Orange & Raspberry juice from one litre to 850ml. It is now available on Asda’s website for a slightly cheaper price of 2.30 a price reduction of 7%, even as the quantity was reduced by 15%.
A packet of Percol Fairtrade Guatemala Coffee has shrunk in size from 227g to 200g, a reduction of 12%. This coffee was 3.90 in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose before the reduction, and 3.65 and 3.75 respectively after, according to Which?
The tube of Sensodyne Total Care Extra Fresh toothpaste decreased in size from 100ml to 75ml, a 25% reduction, Which? found during its research. Tesco had the product on sale for 2.40, reduced from 3.60, before it shrank to its present size. After the reduction it was priced at 3.49.
Which? found that a standard Andrex four-pack toilet roll had been cut down from 2