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 2

We continue this week spotlighting some of the various products that were reduced in size recently.

Dawn Platinum

Dawn Platinum claims to be “new and improved” yet their claim for cleaning efficiency remains the same — “Removes 99% of grease and food residue.” One thing for sure is, the new bottle will clean fewer dishes because it went from 32 ounces to just 30.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Dawn Platinum

Febreze Air Freshener

Carolina M. didn’t want to make a stink about it but she tipped us off to some shrinking Febreze spray cans going from 8.8 ounces to 8.1 ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Febreze

Smucker’s Strawberry Jam

Richard G. discovered reports that Smucker’s strawberry jam recently lost two ounces from each jar going down to 30 ounces. Maybe they need to change their slogan — “with a name like Smucker’s it is sure to be good smaller.”

*MOUSE PRINT:

Smucker's strawberry jam

Kellogg’s Corn Pops

Cereal is another category where shrinkflation is very common. This time the shrink ray hit Kellogg’s Corn Pops, going from 18.1 ounces down to 16.4. That’s about two fewer cups of cereal per box. The new boxes hide the drop in net weight by becoming more narrow, but look about the same size head-on in the supermarket aisle. Sneaky.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Kellogg's Corn Pops

Swiffer Dusters

Glenn S. found that there are now fewer Swiffer dusters in a box than previously. The old box of 28 has gone down to 24.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Swiffer

Kirkland Fabric Softener

Store brands are not immune from shrinkflation. Here, Costco’s Kirkland brand of fabric softener dramatically downsized from 187 ounces yielding 276 loads to 150 ounces and 257 loads. Presumably the cap has changed too. Thanks to Nora F. for this submission.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Kirkland Ultra fabric softener

If you spot a product that has been recently downsized, please take a picture of the old and the new one and send them to: Edgar(at symbol)MousePrint.org . Thanks.

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

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.