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As food prices continue to outpace inflation, consumers increasingly scour grocery store shelves for signs of shrinkflation — and they don’t have to look very far. Roughly one-third of consumer products have shrunk in size, but the price tag remains the same (or higher), CBS News reports. Some companies have denied using shrinkflation to protect profits, while others appear to be reversing the accused downsizing by putting some of the diminished product back.
PepsiCo, the owner of Lay’s, Doritos, Tostitos and Ruffles, announced it’s adding 20 per cent more product to “bonus” bags amid consumer complaints that they’re getting fewer chips for the same price, Today reports.
CEO Ramon Laguarta said on PepsiCo’s earnings call last week that it will add two or three more bags to 18-bag variety packs and more chips to select bags of Tostitos and Ruffles. Fox Business reports that the announcement follows a “surprise drop in revenue” for the company as North American consumers spend less on soft drinks and savoury snacks and opt for cheaper private-label products.
Laguarta said: “The cumulative impacts of inflationary pressures and higher borrowing costs over the last few years have continued to impact consumer budgets and spending patterns.”
According to an analysis by personal finance firm LendingTree, about 27 per cent of snacks have gotten smaller since the pandemic. Though household paper products, breakfast foods and candy have experienced the most shrinkflation, some savoury snacks, such as party-size bags of chips, aren’t just smaller but pricier, CBS News reports.
Lawyer Edgar Dworsky, creator of the website Consumer World, has tracked the downsizing of PepsiCo products in recent years, including the ounces shaved off of Tostitos’ Hint of Guacamole and Hint of Lime tortilla chips and Sour Cream & Onion Ruffles. “It’s about time,” Dworsky told CNN of PepsiCo’s decision to add chips to select bags. “Chip lovers have suffered through years of downsizings.”
In the Consumer World newsletter, Mouse Print, Dworsky warned against making assumptions about the move. “By definition, a ‘bonus pack’ is a temporary promotion whereby the new package has some additional content compared to the regular size. They did not announce a general upsizing of their products.
“So, enjoy the extra chips while they last.”
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