Food suppliers are cutting pack sizes and raising checkout prices in response to rising costs, analysts have warned. Shoppers should watch out for supermarkets and food brands sneaking through price rises by shrinking pack sizes – known as “shrinkflation” – as they wrestle with rising commodity, energy and labour costs.
Recent examples include Walkers, which cut two bags of crisps from its 24-bag multipacks while the price stayed at £3.50. Smith’s Frazzles and Chipsticks now sell in a pack of six bags instead of eight for £1. Bags of KP peanuts are now 225g instead of 250g for £2.50. Persil now has 75g less washing powder in a box for the same price of about £5, meaning that shoppers now get 37 washes from a pack, down from 40. Tesco cut the weight of its 70p mozzarella cheese pack from 270g to 240g, an effective 12.5% price increase.
Steve Dresser, an analyst at Grocery Insight, said: “Ultimately the customer, despite not paying more, is not getting the same value, so they lose out. Your shopping bill may not have gone up but your pack has gone down by 20g to 30g.” Savoury snacks saw some of the biggest rise in prices in the grocery aisles in the four weeks to 5 September, up 7.6% according to analysts at Kantar, while crisps rose 5.4%.
Bryan Roberts, a retail analyst at Shopfloor Insights, said supermarket suppliers often see shrinkflation as an easier way to offset higher costs than a straight price rise. Dresser added that brands and retailers were likely to be tempted to introduce shrinkflation to offset price rises, but adapting packaging and products took longer than other methods. Retailers have also turned to other techniques, including cutting down on promotions or reducing the level of discount, and introducing more own-label goods.
Sue Davies at consumer rights group Which? said: “Consumers are facing enough financial pressure from the rising cost of living without having to check packet sizes when they’re doing the weekly shop. Manufacturers and retailers may have legitimate reasons to make changes to the size of their products, but they must be upfront with their customers so that people can make an informed choice about how to spend their money.”
