Nestle’s Walnut Whip not “shrinkflation,” company says

21 Aug 2017 --- Nestlé has denied that its new nut-free version of the company’s Walnut Whip product is an example of “shrinkflation,” seen as a general trend in the UK toward products getting smaller following the Brexit referendum result.

New vanilla and caramel versions of the Walnut Whip, a cone of milk chocolate with a fondant filling, will go on sale this week under the Nestlé Whip brand with no walnuts included. A mint variant will also follow next month. It has already been nicknamed the “Walnot Whip” by some. 

On Twitter, the food writer Debora Robertson spoke for many when she wrote: “They've taken the walnut off the top of the walnut whip so now it's just a whip and I don't know who we are anymore.”

“Shrinkflation” phenomenon
The change in direction for the Walnut Whip comes amid surging walnut prices in the UK and the phenomenon that is being called “shrinkflation.” Recent developments in the UK in this vein have included bigger “valleys” appearing in Toblerone bars and popular Mars brand Maltesers losing 15 percent of the chocolate in each packet.

However, the company does not see the development the same way. “The new range of Nestlé Whips are not an example of product “shrinkflation”,” Nestlé Corporate Media Relations Manager Sylwia Gorska tells FoodingredientsFirst. “We are expanding the range of our iconic Walnut Whip and launching new variants of Nestlé Whip: Delicate Vanilla, Delicious Caramel and Delightful Mint to offer more choice with and without the walnut.”

The company points out that the new flavors without walnut are not replacing Walnut Whip, as the traditional Walnut Whip can still be purchased in a single pack all year-round and in a six-pack carton at Christmas. A Nestlé spokesperson emphasized: “Walnut Whip remains on sale alongside our new Vanilla, Caramel and Mint versions that represent an expansion of the range. This means there is something for consumers wanting to try something new as well as for long-standing fans of our century old walnut product.”

“This isn't the first time that the Whip has appeared in different flavors without the walnut,” adds Gorska. “Other versions include the Lemon Whip in the year 2000 and the Maple & Pecan Whip in 2002.”

By Paul Creasy