Nate
As inflation starts to ease and get closer to the Fed’s target rate of 2% (currently 3.18%), a less discussed topic that has the same effect of inflation on many consumer products is “shrinkflation.”
What is shrinkflation?
If you’re not familiar with the term, “shrinkflation” occurs when product sizes shrink, but prices stay the same. It’s like when you open a bag of chips to find out that it’s mostly air.
It occurs so frequently that there’s an entire subreddit dedicated to it. Here are some of the worst occurrences of shrinkflation people shared.
1. “This Shrinkflation Of Toblerone In The UK, Is Still Mind-Boggling”
2. “This is now “double stuffed””
3. “Smaller can, same price”
4. “Ah Yes ± 25ml, Thank You WD-40”
5. “Breyers Chocolate Chip used to be jammed with chocolate, now it’s almost just plain vanilla”
6. “Just opened this pack of Pringles it’s just disappointing”
7. “The Top Box Is From A Well Established Reoccurring Promotion”
8. “HelloFresh 10 oz Meat Package”
9. “Breyers Chocolate Chip Used To Be Jammed With Chocolate, Now It’s Almost Just Plain Vanilla”
10. “Sometimes I Like To Flip The Chips In The Store Shelves”
11. “This Is Insane”
12. “Same Price. Bought The Last One 3 Weeks Ago, And A New One Today For Thanksgiving”
13. “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.”
14. “When I Was A Teen, These Stretched The Length Of The Package. Those Were The Days”
15. “The Shrinkflation Of The Old Pringles Design (165g) To The New (134g)”
16. This Is Now ‘Double Stuffed'”
17. “Oreos Shipped With Three Cookies Face Down”
18. “Scott Toilet Paper – 2019 vs. 2021 Comparison”
19. “Now It’s Serious… Not My Dino Nuggets Too”
20. “They Couldn’t Even Wait Until The Old One Was Gone To Put Up The New Size”
21. “I Knew Something Was Fishy When I Bought My Creamer Yesterday”
22. “Big Mac Hit With The Shrink Ray?”
23. “Nugo Bars Advertised As 50g But Coming In At 41g”
24. “I Bought A New IKEA Utensil Holder And It Kept Tipping Over. Turns Out It’s The Same Dimensions And Material As The Old One I Have But It Weighs Over 50% Less”
25. “Is It Shrinkflation When They Just Lie About The Weight? Paid For 12 Oz Of Fish, Got 10.6 Including The Wrapping”
26. “I’ve Been Bamboozled”
27. “$0.99 For The Top One Last Year. Just Bought The Bottom One For $1.97”
28. “These Used To Be 6 To A Pack. Same Price Of Course”
29. “Softsoap Made Their Bottle Smaller. This Was Their Response”
30. “Cat Food. Was $55 For 24, 5.8 Oz Cans. Now $62 For 24, 5.1 Oz Cans. That’s .7 Oz. Less Per Can, And $7 More Per Case”
31. “I Fill Canisters With Our Dry Goods, The Past Year Things Have Gone From Filled To Nearly Spilling, To This”
32. “Monster Coming In With Some Scary 25% Shrinkflation”
33. “Yes, This Is New And Unused”
34. “This Must Be Their Way Of Saying “We Decreased The Amount But Kept The Container Size The Same” (Oikos Yogurt, 5.3 Oz)”
35. “Never Thought I’d Catch It So Blatantly Myself – Grocery Store In Canada”
36. “I Remember When The “Good Stuff” Mix-In Cup Was Full In Chobani Yogurts. Now Less Than Half”
37. “Oreo Filling Isn’t Just Thinner… Now It Doesn’t Even Reach The Edge”
38. “Pack Of Gum”
39. “Plenty Of Room To Spare”
40. “Wife Bought Paper Towels From A Chain Store Brand Today. Regular Roll Core For Comparison”
h/t Reddit