'Shrinkflation' piling pressure on cash-strapped households

SO-CALLED shrinkflation is piling pressure on household grocery budgets, with coffee, toothpaste and even Gaviscon dwindling in product size, Which? has found.

- JOSIE CLARKE

Consumer groups say changes to pack sizes are often hard to spot on shelves

‘The consumer group asked shoppers to share some of the worst examples of shrinkflation they had seen at the supermarket in recent months, finding that not only are products getting smaller, but others are being downgraded with cheaper substitute ingredients.

Among the examples was Aquafresh Complete Care Original Toothpaste, which increased in price from £1.30 for 100ml to £2 for 75ml at Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ocado, a 105% rise per 100ml.

Bottles of Gaviscon Heartburn and Indigestion Liquid shrunk from 600ml to 500ml, while at Sainsbury's the price also stayed at £14, a 20% rise per 100ml.

Which? also found that Sainsbury's Scottish Oats have shrunk from 1kg to 500g while the price increased from £1.25 to £2.10, a 236% rise per 100g.

Nescafe Original Instant Coffee shrunk from 200g to 190g at Tesco, Morrisons and Asda, a rise of 5% per 100g.

Shoppers reported many examples of whole chocolate bars missing from multipacks, as the cost of the confectionery’s raw ingredients soar.

In one example, Which? found KitKat two-finger milk chocolate nar multipacks dropped from 21 bars to 18, while at Ocado the price also rose from £3.60 to £5.50, a jump of 53%.

Shoppers planning to buy chocolate tubs for the festive season may notice lighter boxes this year, the watchdog warned.

Quality Street chocolate tubs have been reduced from 600g to 550g, while the price for the smaller tub at Morrisons increased from £6 to £7 this year.