Mar 31, 2022
Spotted thanks to the awesome Contagious newsletter. On Monday, Mondelēz said that it had reduced the size of its Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars from 200 grams to 180 grams with no commensurate reduction in price. And earlier in March, Frito-Lays confirmed that regular bags of Doritos would now contain five fewer chips, while Charmin has slimmed its toilet rolls from 264 sheets to 244. Welcome to the era of Shrinkflation.
So What?
Shrinkflation - the act of reducing the size of a product without adjusting the price. And it’s not just limited to products. Service providers have also started to ‘shrink’ their offers without cutting the price. Both the Hilton and Marriott hotel chains are now asking guests to opt-in if they want daily housekeeping.
Brands have become more sophisticated at giving people a bit less bang for their buck, proclaiming ‘healthier portions’ or putting less yoghurt in a pot to 'leave room for toppings’. Explore the history of ‘price pack architecture’ with this Reddit community. Because the internet forgets nothing!