The battle to keep consumers means smaller packs of cookies and chips

Though inflation has moderated in recent years, prices on certain foods have stayed excruciatingly high

- Jennifer Williams

Consumer goods companies are enlarging their range of products—by making them smaller.

Diminutive snack and drink sizes are hitting store shelves as brands try to keep stretched consumers buying with lower-price options. PepsiCo now sells Lay's potato chips in half a dozen different-sized bags, costing from around 50 cents to roughly $5.

Campbell's now markets teensy packages of Pepperidge Farm cookies and Goldfish crackers. And Mondelez International has six different Milka chocolate bar sizes with prices from under $1 to $6.

Food, beverage and consumer-product companies are hoping that a wider range of shrunken size options can boost overall sales volumes, which have been pressured in recent quarters. Smaller-size offerings also tend to have higher profit margins.

"Consumers are going into small pack sizes to optimize their absolute budget," said Mondelez Finance Chief Luca Zaramella. "The $3, $4 as opposed to the $6, $7, particularly in snacks, are becoming a clear center of gravity."

Consumer-goods companies have long tailored packaging for cookies, chips and other items to a range of factors: on-the-go or lunch snacking, portion control, affordability.

The last one, however, critical in emerging markets for years, has recently become more important in the U.S., according to Rob Holston, head of the global and Americas consumer products sector group at EY.