Downsizing / Shrinkflation

Here are products that have shrunken in size as a sneaky way for manufacturers to pass on a hidden price increase.

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Here We Shrink Again – Spring 2026 – Part 1

We continue our never-ending series of stories spotlighting some of the various products that were reduced in size recently, otherwise known as shrinkflation.

Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Assortment

Keri M. who works in a retail store discovered that Hershey’s removed over five ounces of candy from the party size bag of dark chocolate snacks. The bags went from 29 ounces to just 23.9 ounces, but they both were priced at $19.99.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Hershey's Dark assortment

Quilted Northern Toilet Paper

Toilet paper is one of the most frequently downsized product categories. Tom G. discovered that Quilted Northern lopped off 40 sheets from each mega roll, going from 295 to just 255 sheets. In a six-pack, that removes almost a full roll of the newly downsized product.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Quilted Northern

Three years ago, the mega size went from 328 sheets on a roll to 295.

Quilted Northern strong

Iams Dog Food

Dry dog food is another category where the bags keep getting smaller and smaller. Brendan B. recently brought to our attention that Iams reduced their XL bags from 44 pounds to 38.5 — a five-and-a-half-pound reduction. (Some stores have a 40 oz. version.)

*MOUSE PRINT:

Iams dog food

Thomas’ Bagels

Bagels keep getting smaller. Factory-produced ones were once 24 ounces in a six-pack. Then they went to 22 ounces, and some reduced to 20 ounces, like Thomas’. Now those are down to 18 ounces with 30 fewer calories. Thanks to Richard G. for this submission.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Thomas' bagels

Oscar Mayer Beef Franks

It seems like frankfurters are getting smaller and smaller too. The latest brand to do that is Oscar Mayer which went from being a pound to 15 ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Oscar Mayer beef franks

Great Value Ground Coffee

Even Walmart gets into the downsizing act on their store brands. Here, the old 11.3 ounce cans of ground coffee became just 9.6 ounces. You probably lost about five cups of coffee in the process. Remember when ground coffee used to come in one-pound cans?

Great Value ground coffee

If you find a popular product that has been downsized recently, please send a picture of the old and the new version to Edgar(at symbol)MousePrint.org . Thanks

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Hershey Is Skimping on Reese’s Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter

The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups last week called out Hershey for cheapening some newer Reese’s products to no longer include real milk chocolate and real peanut butter. This is a dramatic a change from the decades-old promise of how the product is made (and a good example of skimpflation):

Writing a letter to the brand manager at Hershey’s for various Reese’s products, Brad Reese, asked:

“How does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reese’s as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reese’s trust in the first place?”

As an example, Reese’s miniature hearts that were marketed this Valentine’s Day, used to be made with real ingredients but now are made with cheaper composite chocolate and peanut butter creme.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Reese's skimpflation

It appears that real peanut butter was not used in last year’s version of the mini-hearts either.

On his Linked-in page, Mr. Reese gave another example of the traditional ingredients missing from revamped Reese’s products:

Reese's mini eggs

He explained:

Today, February 3, 2026, The Hershey Company launched REESE’S Mini Eggs Unwrapped. When a brand like REESE’S built on two ingredients; Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter, quietly swaps both, that’s not innovation. That’s a breach. And the proof is right on the REESE’S packs shown below.

Front of pack: “Chocolate Candy” and “Peanut Butter Creme.”

Back of pack: Vegetable oils where “Cocoa Butter” once stood. Hydrogenated oils where real “Peanut Butter” once led.

The original Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have not been changed… yet.

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Here We Shrink Again – Winter 2026 – Part 2

We continue this week spotlighting some of the various products that were reduced in size toward the end of last year.

Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix

Gene B. found a great example of a product — Krusteaz pancake mix — that was substantially downsized by over 20% without any reduction in price. And the packages head-on look the same. Thanks also to David S. who spotted the change.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Krusteaz pancake mix

Hungry Jack Syrup

Well, if you get fewer pancakes out of your pancake mix, you also need less syrup. So the makers of Hungry Jack put the old fellow on a diet it seems by reducing their large bottles by 13% — from 27.6 ounces down to 24.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Hungry Jack syrup

Post Premier Protein Cereal

The attack on breakfast products continues with several varieties of Post protein cereals recently shrinking. The 11-ounce boxes became just 9 ounces, but to look at them side-by-side, they look the same size. Thanks to Jeff W. for sending the picture of the chocolate variety.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Post Premier Chocolate cereal

Post Premier cereal

Flamingo Estate Shampoo

Gabriel C. found that a favorite and very expensive shampoo ($50 bottle) had downsized from almost 17 ounces to only 12 ounces. And almost unbelievably, the price stayed the same. Were they really not making enough profit that they had to shrink the $50 bottle???

*MOUSE PRINT:

Flamingo Estate shampoo

Hershey’s Snack Size Chocolate

Grant in Iowa discovered that Hershey’s snack size chocolate lost almost two ounces per bag, going from 19.8 ounces down to 18 ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Hershey's snack size

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.