Shrinkflation 101

Maybe it's the fact that there’s more space between those little mountains on that piece of Toblerone you’ve been eating; more space than there was in 2012. Maybe your Gatorade makes a litre less than it did way back in 2021, in the lockdown. Maybe it’s how that bag of Lays chips that you so gleefully munch on every single day keeps on getting more ‘half-empty’ than ‘half-full.’ From higher prices and lower amounts, you’re not wrong if you feel a twinge of suspicion that maybe you’re not getting as much food from the packet as you were back in the day. I mean, there’s over a 35g difference in your Toblerons since 2012, and mind you, taking into account that the thing was only 175 grams, to begin with, you’ve lost 20% of the beloved chocolate in just 13 years. ‘Tip of the iceberg,’ however, barely even describes this situation. 

No company is fully honest. I know that you know that, everyone knows that. Under every kind, well-meaning, benevolent mascot or face of the company is a more obsessive, darker,  smarter person who’s constantly pulling the strings, cutting the costs and all of this is an act that goes by the name of “shrinkflation.”

It’s true when they say “money is the root of all evil.” Money is like a corrupting fruit, spreading and rooting itself into product-making companies and people in high positions, reaching for their souls as it turns them to one want, to one wish: to make more and more money. Silently, with no advertising, with no mention at all, they cut off just a bit of the product. They reduce more and more and more, keep going and have no intention of ever stopping. 

Take the Toblerone example. They reduced thirty-five grams of chocolate from the entire bar in just 13 years. That’s the equivalent of 5 snicker bars. The cost didn’t change. The prices only went up with time. The prices go up, the mass and weight go down, the people’s pockets get lighter and the companies get heavier. In many regions, Coke (by PepsiCo) was sold in 2-litre bottles. Over the years, however, they slowly kept decreasing the amount they were selling, never advertising it and confining the real amount of Coke you're getting to the small print on the bottle neck, and now, for the same price as the 2-litre Coke, you’re only getting 1.75L. That’s 250ml gone from each bottle. Cadbury’s has changed its bar design time and time again, and they’ve got it down from 200g to only 150g. Another 25% gone.

'Shrinkflation' is growing. With every chocolate bar you see and every soft drink or chips packet you consume, there’s a good chance that for the same price, you’d get a whole lot more of it just 4-5 years ago. You’re getting played by all these companies, and they’re not stopping anytime soon. Just look it up once. McVitie’s Biscuits, Snickers, and so many other companies I haven't even named yet have done it before, and they’re going to do it again. Watch out, because 'shrinkflation' is more than just a silly idea or dream now. It’s a problem, and it’s growing, fast.