As inflation causes the cost of everyday purchases to soar, shoppers are also being hit by ‘shrink-flation’, as many food manufacturers opt to make their products smaller instead of increasing the price.
Ron Stutter, a spokesman for the consumer action group ‘Regulation In Pricing Of Food Favourites’ (RIPOFF) said, 'It’s time for manufacturers to stop treating their customers like they’re stupid. They keep making products smaller and thinking no one will notice, which is just inflation by stealth. These days many popular food items have become so small they’re hardly worth the bother. A Freddo used to be an affordable treat, but now they’re so tiny you can’t even find them in the shop without the aid of a powerful microscope. No one wants prices to go up, but at least that would be more honest. If they are going to make things smaller instead of increasing prices, they should rebrand the products so people would know what to expect, and they wouldn’t be so disappointed.
'For example, a tub of Quality Street used to be massive - it would last from Christmas Day until Pancake Day. The tubs have become noticeably smaller every year, and now they’re so small they only contain about 6 sweets, and the Toffee Pennies are more like Toffee Halfpennies. The manufacturers should be transparent about the shrinkage, and rename the tubs ‘Less Quantity Street’. A Finger of Fudge is nowhere near the size of a finger – ‘Little Toe of Fudge’ would be a more accurate description. Monster Munch were a crunchy mouthful, but they’ve shrunk so much they should now be sold as ‘Mini Munch’. Topics used to have a hazelnut in every bite, but these days you’re lucky if you can find even a tiny fragment of hazelnut. The allergy warning on the label should read ‘May contain nuts - but we’re not making any promises’. Production of ‘fun-sized’ chocolate bars such as Mars, Snickers and Bounty is pointless, as the full-sized versions have become even smaller than the ‘fun-sized’ varieties. Mini Cheddars should be renamed ‘Miniscule Cheddars’, and Polos should be called ‘Holos’, as they now contain more hole than mint.'
It has not been possible to get in touch with the food manufacturers to ask for their comments, as the contact information on their product packaging was too small to read.
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