Questions for UK Retailers as Products Shrink in Size and Increase in Price
20 Apr 2016 --- McVitie’s Digestives and PepsiCo’s Tropicana have followed PG Tips and Hovis and been named and shamed by a consumer group, which has found evidence that food giants are shrinking the size of products while retailers are increasing the price.
The consumer watchdog Which? said: “The products on supermarket shelves are getting smaller, but the prices aren’t.”
The research found that McVitie’s Digestive dark chocolate biscuits had shrunk in size from 332 grams to 300 grams.
However despite decreasing in size by 10 percent, the packet of biscuits increased in price from £1.59 ($2.30) to £1.69 ($2.30) in Tesco.
The price of the biscuits, owned by United Biscuits, remained the same at Asda at £1 ($1.40).
Richard Hedland, editor of Which?, said: “Shrinking products can be a sneaky way of increasing prices. We want manufacturers and supermarkets to be upfront about shrinking products so consumers aren’t misled.”
According to the consumer group, the responsibility to set the price is with the retailers.
The research also found that a reduction in size of Tropicana from 1 litre to 850 ml did not lead to a price decrease in Asda, where the price remained the same at £2.48 ($3.50) after it shrank.
Another brand named and shamed was organic coffee brand Percol. The brand was shrunk from 227 grams to 200 grams.
It was originally priced at £3.90 ($5.60) in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose but when it shrank its price only fell to £6.65 ($9.60) and £3.75 ($5.40), which was not commensurate with the drop in size.
Percol said that its new recyclable packaging is more expensive and packs were £3.50 ($5.04) in many shops.
A number of other brands have been accused of ripping off consumers.
Cadbury has previously angered consumers by reducing the number of Crème Eggs in multi-packs from six eggs to five eggs.
McVities said its new pack size meant it can offer lower price and promotions, but didn't comment on whether it charged the supermarket less.
PepsiCo said it strives to produce competitively-priced products.
Last year, Which? carried out similar research which found that PG Tips, and Hovis Best of Both loaves shrunk in size despite the price remaining the same.
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