We kick off the new year with some more products that were downsized over the past six months or so. Shrinkflation is alive and well and will continue in 2026.
| Viva Paper Towels |
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Like other brands of paper towels, Viva shortened their rolls last year, going from 94 sheets on the old double rolls to just 86 sheets. Thanks to Richard G. for this submission.
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| Mary’s Gone Crackers |
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Gregg Z. was very unhappy to see that his favorite crackers that he has been eating for 17 years was hit by shrinkflation. It survived in its original size until the current owner recently reduced the contents by over 25%.
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| Atkins Protein Bars |
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Ace product investigator Richard G. found another shrinking product. This time it is Atkins protein bars that seem to have gone on a diet. The old five pack is now a four pack. Now if only losing 20% of your own weight was that simple…
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| Charmin Mega Rolls |
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Continuing its downward trend, Charmin Ultra Soft mega size packages dropped 16 sheets from each roll, going from 224 sheets to just 208. Thanks to Brendan B. and Richard G. for this find.
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| Finish Ultimate Dishwashing Pods |
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At a visit to Target, MrConsumer did a double-take when he saw identical size boxes of Finish dishwashing detergents but one had 76 pods and the other just 62. And the larger package was cheaper!
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| Scotts Turf Builder |
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Shrinkflation is not limited to grocery products. Christopher D. discovered that fall weed and feed fertilizer from Scotts made a major change to his product. The bags decreased by three pounds making it only cover 4,000 square feet instead of the old 5,000 square feet. He also noticed that the percentage of nitrogen decreased. Even with all these decreases, the price did not go down at his store.
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If you find a product that has recently been downsized, please take a picture of the old and new version side-by-side if possible and send it to: Edgar(at symbol)MousePrint.org . Thanks.
I’ve felt for a while now that we’re never going to get away from shrinkflation. Especially for as long as the dollar isn’t tied to a hard value like gold.
No one goes to the store and buys, “1lb of sugar” anymore. People buy, “$5 worth of chips” or “$7 worth of soda”, so companies are predisposed to keeping the price the same and reducing the size of the package.
Some of this is higher costs for companies and some of this is just natural inflation, but as long as the value of the dollar is fungible it’s going to happen. I don’t want to delve too much into economics and market theory, but as an example, the value of 25lbs of sugar compared to gold is a much more stable number than 25lbs of sugar into non-gold backed dollars. Going back to a system where the US dollar is backed by gold would see more stabilized pricing because you’re no longer dealing with a dollar worth a fungible amount, instead you’re trading an item of intrinsic material value for another item of intrinsic material value.
A gold backed dollar is just as “fungible” as a non-gold backed dollar, no?
Something as simple as 12 cup coffee filters: Bought the usual (I thought) pack of filters (the house brand) at Price Chopper (NYS). I found they stood about a half inch shorter than previous. Yup, Flattened one on top of an old one and diameter has shrunk.
In the late 90s when I went to college and bought toilet paper on my own for the first time, one brand had 260 sheets and most of the other brands had shrunk to 200 sheets per roll. There was no such thing as 16=4 etc. It’s amazing that today a “roll” has 51 sheets on it.
I stopped buying all of these brands and just buy the Sams or Costco TP. No bad math required.
I’ve been fighting shrink-flation for years. I make my own powdered laundry detergent. I have my own washable toilet paper for urine only. I’ve stopped using paper towels and instead use rags or the end rolls of newspaper originally used for packing when I moved. I haven’t purchased a garbage bag in over 10 years. I recycle leaves for my compost pile and save the black leaf bags my neighbors put their leaves in. I also use dog food bags, plastic mulch bags, and other bags as garbage bags. I make certain any bag I use is completely full of garbage before I put it out in the trash. I make my own fertilizer for plants. This won’t work for everyone especially busy families with kids, but it works for me. I try to completely eliminate the use of products, when I can, if they have been down-sized.
I wish I had a picture of the old, but the newer 9-roll Charmin MEGA-rolls are visibly smaller and narrower. I’ll work on that.
Be careful about comparing rolls from a warehouse club versus those in a supermarket. They have different dimensions sometimes.