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 2024 – Part 2

We continue our spring fling this week with six more products that have been subject to shrinkflation recently.

Crest 3D White

P&G has been downsizing toothpaste repeatedly. The tubes are getting smaller, but somehow the packaging seems to stay about the same. The latest change was found by Richard G who sent these pictures. The 3.8 oz. tubes of Crest 3D White recently went down half an ounce to 3.3 oz. Tom B. also reported that Crest Enamel Repair was downsized to 3.7 oz. from 4.1 oz.

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Crest 3D White

Dove Dark Chocolate

Once upon a time, these bags were over 10 ounces, now Dove dark chocolate bags are only 7.61 ounces. Thanks again to Richard G. for spotting this item.

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Dove Dark Chocolate

Tide

P&G appears to have removed some of the water from Tide Free & Gentle because bottles went from 92 oz. to 84 oz. but each one still claims to be able to do 64 loads of laundry. Thanks to Shannon R. for this picture.

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Tide Free & Gentle

And to add insult to injury, P&G downsized the big jugs of Tide Oxi Odor AGAIN. This time it lost another 14 ounces, but magically you still get 94 loads theoretically from the new version. Thanks to Brendan B. for spotting this.

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Tide Oxi Odor

Trader Joe’s Sparkling Water

Zhora V. spotted a big change in Trader Joe’s Sparkling water because the bottles didn’t feel as hefty as they used to. No wonder… the new ones are 8.5 ounces less. And it was now plain water instead of mineral water. What isn’t clear is how the price changed and when the new size was introduced.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Trader Joe's sparkling water

Walmart Equate Shampoo

Many brands of shampoo shrink over time, and store brands are no exception. If you see Head & Shoulders downsize, the retailer’s own brand can’t be far behind. Here, Walmart has removed an ounce from its Equate dandruff shampoo and conditioner.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Equate shampoo

If you find a product recently hit by shrinkflation, please take side-by-side pictures of the old and new, including the net weight or net count and email them to Edgar(at)ConsumerWorld.org . Thanks!

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France to Require Warnings on Downsized Products

In a major move, France is requiring stores to flag products on store shelves that have been subject to shrinkflation where the quantity decreases without a commensurate price drop. Until now, Brazil was believed to be the only country with a disclosure requirement.

In particular, according to a press release from the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention, the requirement covers:

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… from July 1, 2024 , for consumer products which have undergone a downward change in weight or volume leading to an increase in price per unit of measurement. specific obligation to inform consumers, relating to these developments. This information must be provided by distributors in large and medium-sized stores, in the immediate vicinity of the products concerned. It must appear in these physical stores during the two months following the marketing date of the industrial food and non-food products concerned (bottles of soda, packets of rice, laundry detergent or cans, for example), and this, whether national brand or private label products. Not affected by these provisions are prepackaged foodstuffs, the quantity of which may vary during preparation (deli section for example) and foodstuffs sold in bulk.

In other words, shoppers can expect to see signs on product displays whenever a product has been downsized but the price has stayed the same unit price or has been increaesed. The signs will have to be posted for two months. And some exemptions apply. (See NY Times story for additional background.)

What a great step forward for shoppers in France. Would something like this ever become law here on a national scale? Not a chance.

(Next week, we’ll resume our two-part series spotlighting products recently subject to shrinkflation.)

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Here We Shrink Again – Spring 2024 – Part 1

Some big brands are continuing to downsize their products despite some easing of the inflation rate… so shrinkflation continues in 2024. A half dozen products are below, and next week we’ll feature another six.

Oreo

People have been complaining about the dollop of creme inside regular Oreos seems to have gotten much smaller. We can’t tell if that is the case with the regular size packages of Oreos, but this product that has been 14.3 ounces for years, just went down 13.29. And similarly, the regular size package of Double Stuf Oreos also decreased.

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Oreo regular size pkg

Oreo Double Stuf

In addition, Oreo Thins, with less cream and a thinner cookie is reducing the number of cookies in each package by about four. The “family size” is now only 11.78 ounces down from 13.1. Thanks to Richard G. for spotting the change in Oreo Thins.

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Oreo Thins

Kellogg’s Froot Loops

Regular purchasers of Froot Loops might not have noticed a change in the net weight of their cereal because looking at old and new boxes on the supermarket shelf appear to be unchanged. Richard G. spotted the first change in January.

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Froot Loops

They have gone from 10.1 oz. to 8.9 oz. first and then to 7.9 oz. What magic did Kellogg’s perform?

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Froot Loops Tops

The way Kellogg’s accomplishes the package looking the same on the shelf, is to simply narrow the box. Soon they may not be able to stand up anymore. The two shown above were found at a CVS in March 2024 and both were priced the same. We asked Kellogg’s about the way they made the packaging change and if the 7.9 oz. size is made just for places like drugstores. They did not respond to us.

Cottonelle Ultra Clean

Toilet paper is one of the product categories where we see ever-shrinking rolls. And Cottonelle is no exception. The new Cottonelle is supposedly “thicker and stronger” but look how much small the new package is. The old 321-sheet rolls are now only 284-sheets. Thanks to our ace shrinkflation detective, Richard G. for spotting this change.

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Cottonelle

Puffs Tissues

These Puffs tissues lost eight tissues in every box, going from 56 down to 48. Thanks to Jack K. whose thoughts about Puffs led us to this example.

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Puffs

Ritz Bits

Snack foods have always been prime targets for shrinkflation. Here, Ritz Bits went from 8.8 ounces per bag down to 7.5.

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Ritz Bits

If you find a product recently hit by shrinkflation, please take side-by-side pictures of the old and new, including the net weight or net count and email them to Edgar(at)ConsumerWorld.org . Thanks!