As food prices rise, picking up the family meal at the grocery has become more expensive. However because of 'shrinkflation' your grocery bill might be staying the same – but your grocery basket may be getting smaller. Here are the products that are getting smaller and what you can do to combat shrinkflation.
What is shrinkflation?
Families are up in arms about the subtle changes happening in supermarkets with some popular grocery products being reduced in size, despite their prices remaining the same (and in some cases increasing) due to shrinkflation. Products may change in overall size or the number of items in the package may go down.
Shrinkflation is used by manufacturers and retailers to protect their profit margins when prices are rising, according to Proactive Investors . Some retailers and manufacturers defend the practice as part of their efforts to keep the price of their good steady while dealing with rising costs of ingredients or processing.
Chocolate is often an ingredient hit by shrinkflation, according to research, including household favourites from Cadbury’s and Mcvities.
Below, we share some of the popular grocery products that have been affected by shrinkflation. Further down we outline exactly what shrinkflation is and tell you more about what other non-food products are being affected.
Cadbury chocolate buttons
Yes, it's true. Packets of Cadburys chocolate buttons have indeed reduced in quantity ... by almost 25%.
This has meant that supermarket prices have been able to remain the same – but the quantity has changed!
The fact is that 'Big Share' bags of Dairy Milk buttons have undergone a 23% reduction.
This means that where you used to get a pleasing 240g of those yummy chocolate buttons, you now only get 184.8g.
This may be good for your kids' waistlines, but it isn't great for your purse strings – although Asda and Tesco may be hoping you didn't notice by keeping their prices fixed for now at £2.
Onions
Even the humble onion is not safe from shrinkflation. This shopping staple for families has been hit – at least if you buy them in packets.
Buying bulk packets of veggie products is meant to be economical though, isn't it? Not so fast ...
Try weighing a bag of onions in the supermarket and comparing it with loose onions. you might be surprised with the results.
Andy Webb writing for The Metro has written, 'To experiment I put a pack of onions on the scales the other day. Priced at £1.60 for four, they worked out at £1 using the price for loose onions. So loose, for the exact same product, would save you more than 35 per cent'
Now THAT is food for thought!
Ben's Original rice
Families love the convenience of Ben's rice. But while the name is Ben's Original, the portion sizes are not the same.
Originally they each contained 250g of product. Well, watch out because this has been slashed down by 30g, reducing the amount to just 220g.
Thankfully you can still buy the product at Tesco for 99p and at Sainsbury's for £1 – for now, at least!
Magnum ice cream bars
The name is big but Magnum's ice cream bars have been reduced from 110ml to 100ml.
The latest news is that multipacks have been downsized from 4 individual ice cream bars to 3.
The price remains the same at £3.
New Covent Garden chicken soup
Fans of tasty up-market New Covent Garden chicken soup cartons have discovered that while the £2 price tag has remained untouched, the contents have decreased 40g to 560g per carton.
What's more, originally the soup's protein content consisted of 35g of real chicken meat, whereas now this is down to 28g, meaning the soup no longer packs as significant a nutritional punch as before.
La Famiglia Rana Classic Italian Tagliatelle Bolognese kit
For £4 you get 408g of product – but this popular food kit has made changes in other ways: by adjusting the key ingredient.
Previously it featured 67g of beef. That's now t has 52g of meat – and it's beef MIXED with pork. An important difference for those who don't eat pork.
Vesta Chow mein
Everybody loves a Chinese, and this popular ready-made version of a takeaway favourite has made its way into many family shopping baskets.
BUT be aware: The new version now has 4g of dried cooked beef, whereas previously it featured 11g – quite a bit more!
The price has also increased by a whole quid – meaning you'll have to fork out £2.25 now.
What does shrinkflation mean for you?
While prices may be kept the same, shrinkflation disguises the fact that you do not get as much for your money as before. You may notice that it becomes more and more difficult to stretch your groceries for the same number of days. The cost per item or cost per gram goes up.
What products are being affected by Shrinkflation?
A whole host of food items have been affected by shrinkflation, including some of our favourites.
These include:
- Toblerone
- Uncle Ben’s rice
- Cadbury chocolate buttons
- Magnum ice-cream bars
- New Covent Garden chicken soup
- La Famiglia Rana Classic Italian Tagliatelle Bolognese kit
- Vesta Chow mein
But there are plenty more – from grocery basics to family multipacks and even non-food products like shampoo and laundry detergent!
Shrinkflation with shampoo, detergent and more
According to The Mirror , ' Huge hair care brands including Pantene, Tresemmé, Aussie shampoo and L’Oréal are reducing the sizes of their shampoos and putting their prices up despite the cost of living crisis'
The publication reports, 'a bottle of Pantene Repair and Protect shampoo has lost 100ml but costs 25p more. Tresemmé fans still pay £6 but get 680ml, not 900ml, while Head & Shoulders is £4.99 for 400ml, down from 500ml.'
According to Chronicle Live , ' Laundry detergent has also shrunk in some cases, with Persil boxes now being packed with 75g less washing powder for the same price, meaning that shoppers now get 37 washes from a pack instead of 40.'
What can you do about shrinkflation?
Shrinkflation isn't going to come to a halt any time soon, but that doesn't mean you can't still be a savvy spender at the supermarket.
How to beat shrinkflation: our top tips
- Never take prices for granted – Do your research and check for changes in the quantities of what you're actually getting, so that you can make informed decisions about what you spend your precious money on.
- Always check the price per unit – This will help you to decide which options are actually the cheapest, regardless of different sizes or brands, so you can get better value for your money. Find it below the price on the shelf label. Sometimes you'll even find that 2 of the smaller version is cheaper than 1 of the larger ones.
- Do the math – Sometimes shops mixes up the units on the shelf labels. You might see one price per 100g, and another per 1kg. Don't be shy about using your phone's calculator or doing the mental math in the aisle to ensure you're comparing like-for-like.
- Compare loose veggies with packs – Sometimes your supermarket's loose vegetables will be cheaper, sometimes larger packs or multipacks will be. It can vary according to the type of vegetable too.
- Look for alternatives – You may love certain brand names, but shrinkflation could provide the perfect opportunity to try something new. For example, while you might have to switch from am ore expensive brand of ice cream, you could step down in price and top it with sprinkles.
When it comes to shrinkflation, it's important to look at the info on the box – and think outside of the box too!
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