Shrinkflation or Skimpflation? Which? reveals the supermarket groceries getting downsized and downgraded

At a time when grocery prices are still very high, the consumer champion has found that over three quarters of people (77%) have noticed ‘shrinkflation’ where popular products are downsized without an equivalent price drop, while around a third (36%) told Which? they had noticed ‘skimpflation’ where popular foods are downgraded to include cheaper ingredients.

Among the worst examples of shrinkflation shared with Which? was Listerine Fresh Burst mouthwash, which shrank from 600ml to 500ml. To add insult to injury, at Tesco it went up in price by 52p – meaning shoppers paid 21 per cent more for 17 per cent less. When Which? worked out the increase to the unit price per 100ml, it showed a price increase of a staggering 46 per cent.

Similarly PG Tips The Tasty Decaf Pyramid tea bags went from containing 180 teabags to just 140 at a number of supermarkets. While many retailers also dropped the price, at Ocado the price actually rose from £4 to £5.09 despite the size reduction - that’s 22 per cent less tea for a 27 per cent higher price, or a 64 per cent cost increase per tea bag.

Many products were downsized. Which? found Andrex Flushable Washlets Toilet Wipes decreasing from 40 to 36 in a pack, Bisto Best Chicken Gravy Granules from 250g to 230g, Cadbury’s Brunch Chocolate Chip Bars from six to five in a pack, Colgate Triple Action Toothpaste 100ml to 75ml and Kettle Chips Sea Salt and Crushed Black Peppercorns Crisps from 150g to 130g.

Also becoming noticeably smaller was Lurpak Slightly Salted Butter Box from 225g to 180g, McVitie’s Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits from 433g to 400g, Yeo Valley Organic Salted Spreadable from 500g to 400g and Coffee Mate Original Whitener from 500g to 450g.

While some products were downsized, Which? found others were downgraded to include fewer expensive ingredients. Which? found Tesco Finest sausages were reduced from 97 per cent pork to 90 per cent. Similarly Yeo Valley Spreadable Butter went from containing 54 per cent butter to 50 per cent butter and Morrisons Guacamole (150g) went from 80 per cent avocado to 77 per cent.

Subtle recipe changes were also seen in Tesco Beef Lasagne (1.5kg) from 23 per cent beef to 19 per cent, Tesco Tex Mex Chicken Enchiladas (480g) from 27 per cent chicken to 20 per cent and

Morrisons The Best Lasagne Al Forno (400g) from 30 per cent beef to 26 per cent.

When approached by Which?, manufacturers said that changes often reflected their own costs or helped to keep products more affordable for consumers. They told us that  in some cases the changes had improved the flavour or healthiness of a product.

When Which? spoke to shoppers, nearly half (45%) said they would prefer product sizes to stay the same and prices to increase. Around a third (36%) said they would rather see prices remain the same and product sizes decrease.

Presented with the claim made by some manufacturers that reducing size - rather than increasing price - helps consumers, three quarters of people (75%) told Which? shrinkflation is not a transparent practice and three quarters (76%) said it is not helpful.

Over half (53%) of the people surveyed by Which? said supermarkets should be responsible for flagging shrinkflation to consumers while a third (32%) said food manufacturers should be responsible.

Which? believes that any changes, whether to the size of a product or to the recipe, should be clear so that consumers can make an informed choice about whether a product is right for them or seek an alternative. This is one of the reasons why Which? has been campaigning for clearer unit pricing.

Ele Clark, Which? Retail Editor, said:

“Our research shows that while some popular products are subtly decreasing either in size or quality, the same can’t be said for their prices – which means shoppers are inadvertently paying more for less.

“Supermarkets and manufacturers must be more upfront by making sure changes to popular products are clear, and by ensuring that unit pricing is prominent, legible and consistent in-store and online so that shoppers can easily compare prices across different brands and pack sizes.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

In autumn 2023, Which? asked readers to share examples of shrink and skimpflation they had encountered.

Which? also surveyed 1,568 British adults in October 2023. Fieldwork was carried out online by Deltapoll.

Which? has been campaigning to improve unit pricing. In September 2022 it revealed inconsistent, hard-to read and missing unit pricing. Which? has also been working with the Competition and Markets Authority, and now the government is taking forward proposals for better unit pricing.

Shrinkflation examples:

Products that have all shrunk but without a proportional price drop

• Listerine - went from 600ml to 500ml at Asda and Tesco
• PG Tips Tasty Decaf Pyramid tea bags went from 180 bags to 140 at Morrisons, Ocado and Waitrose
• Andrex Classic Clean Flushable Washlets Moist Toilet Tissue Wipes - from 40 to 36 in a pack at Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco
• Bisto Best Chicken Gravy Granules - from 250g to 230g at Asda and Morrisons
• Cadbury’s Brunch Chocolate Chip Bars - from six to five in a pack at Asda, Morrisons, Ocado and Tesco
• Coffee Mate Original Whitener - from 500g to 450g at Tesco
• Colgate Triple Action Toothpaste - from 100ml to 75ml at Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco
• Kettle Chips Sea Salt and Crushed Black Peppercorns Crisps - from 150g to 130g at Tesco
• Lurpak Slightly Salted Butter - from 225g to 180g at Morrisons and Sainsbury's
• McVitie’s Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits - from 433g to 400g at Morrisons and Tesco
• Yeo Valley Organic Salted Spreadable - from 500g to 400g at Sainsbury’s and Tesco

Skimpflation examples:

• Tesco Finest sausages - from 97% pork to 90%
• Morrisons Guacamole (150g) – from 80% avocado to 77%
• Morrisons The Best Lasagne Al Forno (400g) – from 30% beef to 26%
• Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Lasagne Ready Meal (400g) – from 28% beef to 26%
• Tesco Beef Lasagne (1.5kg) – from 23% beef to 19%
• Tesco Tex Mex Chicken Enchiladas (480g) – from 27% chicken to 20%
• Waitrose Butter Chicken Curry – from 47% chicken to 41%
• Yeo Valley Spreadable Butter – from 54% butter to 50%

RoRs:   

Which? contacted all the supermarkets mentioned with all the examples, although only Waitrose provided a comment for publication. 

Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the BRC, said: “Given the challenges facing households from the cost of living squeeze, retailers are solely focused to find ways to limit rising prices for customers against the rising cost of production, while maintaining the excellent quality of products. For branded goods - not produced by the food retailers themselves – changes to size and pricing are largely determined by the brands themselves, reflecting the costs of production they face. Prices and sizes of all products are clearly labelled so that customers can make informed decisions about their purchases.”

A spokesperson for Arla, which makes Lurpak, said, “Our new 400g spreadable and 200g block options have not been kept at the same price – the prices have reduced in proportion with the pack size reduction. Not only has the price reduced because of the smaller pack size, but the price has also reduced per kg. 

“Pricing is always set by the individual retailers, but as a farmer owned co-operative we work extremely closely with our retail partners to ensure we deliver tasty, quality dairy at the best possible price for both shoppers and our farmer owners.

“The introduction of the new spreadable and block butter pack sizes were driven by research with over 2,500 shoppers. Our research showed that the new pack sizes and price points were the most appealing to a greater proportion of shoppers. This reduction in size allowed us to offer a better value pack to shoppers and hence encourage new shoppers to the category.”

Nestle, which makes Coffee Mate Original, said: “Like every manufacturer, we have faced significant increases in the cost of raw materials, energy, packaging and transportation, making it more expensive to manufacture our products. We are doing everything we can to manage these costs in the short-term, but in order to maintain the highest standards of quality, it is sometimes necessary to make minor adjustments to the weights of our products. Our priority remains to ensure that consumers have affordable access to the products and brands they know and love while still paying fair prices to our suppliers. Retail pricing is at the sole discretion of individual retailers.”

A spokesman for Kenvue, which makes Listerine, said:"We understand that affordability is a big priority for shoppers, and we continue to improve our products to ensure the highest quality at the best possible value for money. Like many other manufacturers, we are faced with cost increases - especially in raw material and production costs and have had to adjust our prices. The current recommended retail price (RRP) for Listerine reflects these cost increases and our ongoing investment in the product. While we as the manufacturer set the RRP, the final pricing decision is at the sole discretion of retailers."

PG Tips manufacturer Lipton Teas said: "The average price of a PG Tips decaf tea bag fell 10% between January 2021 and January 2022, according to Nielsen national pricing data. Pricing is at the absolute discretion of the retailers of course and there may well be promotional instore activity affecting Which?’s research. The value of today’s PG Tips has also never been greater. We recently invested 50 million pounds into our new best ever product, which is appearing on store shelves now. Work on every stage of production, from the tea fields of Kenya to our Manchester factory to the latest tea bag technology, has created even faster infusion and an unrivalled flavour for Britain’s tea lovers."

A Waitrose spokesperson said: "Our focus is always on our customers and our new curry recipes performed better than the previous range in bench marking tests. We've kept the same prices since this change and we continue to use industry leading higher welfare chicken from British farms across our entire ready meals range."

On the pack size changes, a Yeo Valley spokesperson said: “Yeo Valley Organic shared the news with consumers ahead of the changes in-store through its website and email. There’s no hiding from the fact that cost of producing high-quality tasty organic food has never been higher. While pricing is set by retailers, we made the hard decision to reduce the pack size to help keep organic as accessible as possible. We also continue to reward our consumers through our loyalty scheme Yeokens; with tokens on every butter pack to be earned towards offers discounts, days out and chances to win amazing prizes.”

On its recipe change, the spokesperson added: “Following extensive testing with consumers, in 2022 the technology development and know-how made it possible to develop a Yeo Valley Organic Spreadable recipe,  where the level of butter and total fat in the product could be reduced without compromising on taste and quality."

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