124 Of The Worst Examples Of “Shrinkflation” Shared In This Online Group

June 17, 2022

If you've noticed your bar of Toblerone looking rather small and a far cry from how you remember it in your childhood, rest assured, you’re not the only one. In fact, consumers around the world are increasingly paying more for a growing range of products in ways that don’t show up on receipts.

Think of shrunk portions, thinner rolls, lighter bags, smaller cans — in this way, companies try to offset rising labor and materials costs without scaring us all off. But are they really succeeding? Also known as shrinkflation, the phenomenon has surely been noticed and well documented by people don’t find it fair to pay the same for a lesser net weight.

One such online destination, a subreddit called “Shrinkflation,” is dedicated to sharing some of the most deliberate and annoying examples of paying more for less spotted in practice. Below we wrapped up a collection of posts from there.

#1 Sometimes I Like To Flip The Chips In The Store Shelves

Image credits: whoadan

#2 Terry's Chocolate Orange Is Now Just "Terry's Orange" With The Word "Chocolatey" In The Description

This indicates that the quality has been reduced to the point where they cannot legally call it chocolate anymore

Image credits: quiet_desperado

#3 This Shrinkflation Of Toblerone In The UK, Is Still Mind-Boggling

Image credits: y3rnaux

Shrinkflation is a form of retail camouflage in which consumers pay more for a growing range of products without actually realizing it. By shrinking usual product sizes and net weight, companies and businesses aim to cover rising labor and material costs without increasing the prices.

According to Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and lawyer who has authored a number of consumer protection laws, including the regulations under which the Massachusetts Lemon Law operates, consumers check the price every time they buy, but they don’t check the net weight. Dworsky has been tracking shrinkflation for more than 30 years, and he shares the results on his website Consumer World.

#4 The Shrinkflation Of The Old Pringles Design (165g) To The New (134g)

Image credits: eternalcollapse

#5 I’ve Been Bamboozled

Image credits: Guava_Lune

#6 This Is Insane

Image credits: Mitche420

“When the price of raw materials, like coffee beans or paper pulp goes up, manufacturers are faced with a choice: Do we raise the price knowing consumers will see it and grumble about it? Or do we give them a little bit less and accomplish the same thing? Often it’s easier to do the latter,” Dworsky told The Washington Post.

#7 When I Was A Teen, These Stretched The Length Of The Package. Those Were The Days

Image credits: slowlysoslowly

#8 Breyers Chocolate Chip Used To Be Jammed With Chocolate, Now It’s Almost Just Plain Vanilla

Image credits: 94_ny_rangers

#9 Recipe From Back When Cans Were 18oz, Not 15oz

Image credits: NeverBeenToMontreal

Dworsky also argues that when small bags of candy have been downsized, you are not likely to eat two bags instead. "But for orange juice, cereal, paper towels, toilet paper, peanut butter, whatever — consumers just have to buy it more often."

Although products don’t shrink by half and the changes are usually barely noticeable, these little differences add up to your pocketbook. If you're getting 10% to 12% less of a product, that's equivalent to a 10% price increase, and if you’re a regular consumer of that product, you will start feeling the difference pretty soon.

#10 This Must Be Their Way Of Saying “We Decreased The Amount But Kept The Container Size The Same” (Oikos Yogurt, 5.3 Oz)

Image credits: NotJimIrsay

#11 I Remember When The "Good Stuff" Mix-In Cup Was Full In Chobani Yogurts. Now Less Than Half

Image credits: SilverSideDown

#12 Ah Yes ± 25ml, Thank You WD-40

Image credits: nzeck

On the other hand, we can try to see the positive side of shrinkflation and argue that we may indeed be saving some calories. In the context of the obesity pandemic, this may be a small but important step. When six-packs of bagels go from 24 oz to 22 to 20 oz, the chances are you will still be buying the same number of packages but end up eating a lesser amount of food.