It's the inflation that no one expects to see.
Manufacturers are quietly cutting container sizes without lowering prices across the board, from toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips. It's known as "shrinkflation," and it's happening all around the world.
In the United States, a tiny box of Kleenex now contains 60 tissues, up from 65 just a few months ago. Chobani Flips yogurts have been reduced in size from 5.3 to 4.5 ounces. Nestle reduced the size of its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins in the United Kingdom from 100 to 90 grams. A bar of Vim dish soap in India has decreased from 155 to 135 grams.Experts claim shrinkflation isn't a new phenomenon. However, it becomes more common during periods of high inflation, as businesses struggle to keep up with rising costs for ingredients, packaging, labor, and transportation. According to S&P Global, global consumer price inflation increased by 7% in May, and this trend is expected to continue through September.
"It comes in waves," says the narrator. "We're in the midst of a tidal wave of inflation right now," said Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and former Massachusetts assistant attorney general who has chronicled shrinkflation on his Consumer World website for decades.
Last fall, Dworsky noticed smaller boxes in the cereal aisle, and shrinkflation took off from there. He can provide hundreds of instances, like Cottonelle Ultra Clean Care toilet paper, which has shrunk from 340 sheets per roll to 312, and Folgers coffee, which has shrunk from 51 to 43.5 ounces but still claims to make up to 400 cups. (Folgers claims to be employing a new method to produce lighter-weight beans.)Manufacturers prefer shrinkflation because they know buyers will notice price rises but won't keep track of net weights or minor details like the number of sheets on a roll of toilet paper, according to Dworsky. Companies might also use techniques to divert attention away from downsizing, such as labeling smaller products with eye-catching new labels.
Fritos did exactly that. Fritos Scoops "Party Size" bags used to be 18 ounces, and some are still available at a Texas grocery store. However, practically every other major retailer is now advertising 15.5-ounce "Party Size" Fritos Scoops, which are more expensive.
When asked about Fritos, PepsiCo did not comment. It did, however, agree that Gatorade bottles are shrinking. The company has lately begun replacing 32-ounce bottles with 28-ounce bottles that are tapered in the middle to make them easier to grip. The transition has been planned for years and is unrelated to the present economic context, according to PepsiCo. When asked why the 28-ounce version is more expensive, it did not comment.Similarly, Kimberly-Clark, the company that makes Cottonelle and Kleenex, did not respond to requests for comment on the smaller container sizes. When asked about Pantene Pro-V Curl Perfection conditioner, which has been shrunk from 12 fluid ounces to 10.4 fluid ounces but still costs $3.99, Proctor & Gamble Co. did not comment.
The number of bars per box of Earth's Best Organic Sunny Day Snack Bars has decreased from eight to seven, although the price is at $3.69 in numerous retailers. The brand's owner, Hain Celestial Group, did not respond to an email requesting comment.
Some businesses are up front about the changes. Calbee Inc., a Japanese snack company, announced weight reductions of 10% — and price increases of 10% — for many of its items in May, including veggie chips and crispy edamame. A substantial increase in the cost of raw materials was blamed by the corporation.
In January, Domino's Pizza announced that its 10-piece chicken wings would be reduced to eight pieces for the same $7.99 carryout pricing. The high cost of chicken was cited by Domino's.
According to Byas Anand, head of corporate relations for Dabur India, a consumer care and food company, "down-switching" — another word for shrinkflation — is largely done in rural regions, where people are poorer and more price sensitive. Companies simply raise prices in cities.
"It's something my organization has been doing openly for a long time," Anand remarked.
Some customers who have noticed the downsizing have taken to social media to share their experiences. Others claim that shrinkflation has influenced their shopping choices.
Alex Aspacher, who lives in Haskins, Ohio, does a lot of the grocery shopping and meal preparation for his family of four. When the one-pound box of sliced Swiss cheese he used to buy shrank to 12 ounces but the price remained the same, he noticed. He now looks for bargains or purchases a block of cheese and slices it himself.
When Aspacher began reading about increasing salaries for grocery workers, he knew prices would climb. But the rate of change — and the shrinking packaging — have taken him by surprise.
"I was prepared to some extent," Aspacher remarked, "but there hasn't been a limit to it thus far." "I'm hoping we can find that ceiling soon."
The tendency can sometimes revert. As inflation falls, manufacturers may be forced to decrease their prices or reintroduce larger packaging as a result of competition. But, according to Dworsky, once a product has shrunk in size, it frequently stays that way.
"Upsizing is a rare occurrence," he remarked.
Many organizations, according to Hitendra Chaturvedi, a supply chain management professor at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business, are battling with labor shortages and rising raw material costs.
However, in other situations, earnings — or sales minus operating costs — are also expanding exponentially, which Chaturvedi finds concerning.
He cites Mondelez International, which came under fire this spring for reducing the size of its Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate in the United Kingdom but keeping the price the same. Operating income increased by 21% in 2021, but dropped 15% in the first quarter as cost constraints increased. PepsiCo, on the other hand, increased its operating profit by 11 percent in 2021 and 128 percent in the first quarter.
"I'm not saying they're profiteering," Chaturvedi remarked, "but it smells like it." "Are supply restrictions being used as a weapon to increase profits?"
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