As the cost of living increases under batshit inflation rates a bunch of foods and other supermarket products are shrinking in size while remaining at the same price. I really need to start a veggie patch now.
Australian consumer advocacy group Choice released data on Friday on a new wave of “shrinkflation”. It told shoppers to be wary companies were shrinking the proportions of pre-packaged products while still charging the same price, or more.
It found several examples of supermarket products that had downsized, including cereal, chocolate blocks and pet food.
One victim is tragically the best cereal ever: Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut, which sold for $6 for a 670g box in 2019 but now sells for $9 for a 640g box. My eyes are watering.
This means the per weight price has increased by 57 per cent in less than two years from $0.90 per 100g to $1.41 per 100g. It’s yum, but fuck.
You can also no longer find 500g boxes of Fruit Loops as it’s been replaced by a 460g version which Choice found was still selling for the same price as the former bigger box.
Cadbury chocolate blocks — the ones with stuff in them like the Mixed Roast Nuts, Fruit & Nut and Nuts & Salted Toffee flavours — are also now just 165g, smaller than the plain blocks of Dairy Milk which are still 180g. But they’re all the same price of $5.
A Cadbury spokesperson told Choice this was because the new shape was a “chunkier” eating experience and that nuts were more expensive. Idk what a chunky eating experience is but it sounds intimidating.
Bags of some pet foods have not only shrunk but also increased in price, including Nestlé-owned Purina ONE cat food which has gone from 1.5kg bags for $15.45 to 1.4kg bags for $16.50.
A spokesperson for Nestlé said it was trying to keep its products affordable but that the company was facing “significant increases” in the cost of raw materials, packaging and transport.
Well I’ve already stopped driving because petrol is so expensive so I guess now’s the time I stop eating chocolate and sugary cereals and feeding my cat…
