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 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.

*MOUSE PRINT:

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.

*MOUSE PRINT:

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.

*MOUSE PRINT:

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?

*MOUSE PRINT:

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.

*MOUSE PRINT:

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.

*MOUSE PRINT:

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!

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Oy Vey: Passover Matzo Packages Shrink

Shoppers may do a double take when checking out the Passover food display at some local supermarkets this year because the traditional five-pound bundles of some brands of matzo have been downsized to just four pounds.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Manischewitz matzo packages4-lb. and 5-lb. Manischewitz matzo bundles

Both Manischewitz and Yehuda, two leading brands of kosher foods, just introduced four-pound packages of this Passover staple in addition to their traditional bundle which has five one-pound packages and has been around for decades. (In the late ’50s or early ’60s, my father used to take me to the Horowitz-Margareten matzo factory in New York to buy five-pound packages of matzah.)

“Passover matzo has been one of the few products that has escaped shrinkflation until now,” explained Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky. “On top of that, some stores are raising prices too, so it is a double whammy for shoppers.”

Kayco, which owns Manischewitz and distributes the Yehuda brand, explained that “consumer need” drove the decision to offer both four and five-pound bundles, with individual supermarkets deciding which they will carry. It also said that raw materials and packaging costs have gone up.

Stop & Shop, a leading supermarket chain in the Northeast, where the new four-pound packages were first spotted in Boston, said in an emailed statement in part:

Stop & Shop is now stocking both 4- and 5-pound matzos at our stores for our customers who celebrate Passover. What we heard from many of our customers is that they didn’t utilize all of the product in the 5-pound bundles, which comes at a higher price point, so we now offer both sizes to help our customers save money and reduce waste. … Like other retailers across the country, we have faced increased costs from our Kosher suppliers in 2024 so customers may see higher prices on some items.

In fact, the new four-pound Manischewitz and Yehuda matzo bundles are on sale at Stop & Shop in Boston for $5.99 this year, a dollar more than last year’s price for the five-pound size. That translates to a 50-percent price increase per pound. For decades, Stop & Shop and some other chains have sold five-pound packages for only $4.99 perhaps as a loss leader. The five-pound bundles are $6.99 this year at Stop & Shop, for example – a 40-percent price hike. (See update at the end of this story.)

4 and 5 pound matzo at S&S in Brookline, MA4-lb and 5-lb matzo bundles at a Brookline, MA Stop & Shop

Not all major matzo manufacturers have followed Kayco’s lead. The makers of Streit’s and Aviv matzo say they have not downsized their brands. For its part, a manager at Aron Streit, Inc. said in reply to a customer’s question, “I am not sure what our competitors are thinking or doing, but we are still only selling five-pound bundles and definitely are not changing that anytime soon.”

The manufacturer of Aviv matzo, a popular Israeli brand sold in the United States, speculated that perhaps Kayco was jumping on the shrinkflation bandwagon.

Not all supermarket chains have moved away from the traditional size and price for Passover matzo. Star Market and Shaw’s in New England and Jewel-Osco in Chicago, divisions of Albertsons Companies, for example, still offer five-pound packages of Manischewitz, Yehuda, and Streit’s matzo for $4.99 on sale. And they are even offering an additional $1-off digital coupon on Streit’s.

5-lb matzo bundles for $4.99 at Star Market in Boston

A spot-check of Passover product sale prices this year at Stop & Shop in New Jersey compared to their sale prices last year reveals some significant price increases.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Passover price comparison

Shrinkflation has hit other Passover products in recent years. Yehuda matzo farfel went from a nine-ounce canister to an eight-ounce box. And Goodman’s macaroons, which were traditionally sold in 10-oz. cans, were downsized to nine ounces last year and came packaged in resealable bags.

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Goodman's macaroons

April 5 UPDATE

Stop & Shop in Monroe Township, New Jersey, in their April 5 – 11 circular, advertised some of the key items in our comparison at a lower sale price:

Updated Passover prices

And Stop & Shop stores in the Boston area also lowered some prices as of April 5. For example, four and five-pound bundles of matzo as pictured above are one dollar less.

If you spot a newly downsized product, please send details and pictures to: Edgar(at)MousePrint.org .

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Blue Bunny No Longer Real Ice Cream

Blue Bunny ice cream has been a rebel. When other brands downsized to 56 ounces, they stayed at half a gallon. Subsequently when the industry moved to a 48-ounce container, Blue Bunny didn’t follow. But ultimately, they did conform to the now standard 48-ounce size.

The company also saw other brands in the ice cream business like Breyer’s convert some of their real ice cream flavors to “frozen dairy desserts” — a product no longer allowed by federal law to be called “ice cream” because it has less than the required 10% milkfat. Back in 2016, Blue Bunny told Mouse Print*:

[other brands are] electing to stray from the true definition of ice cream and deliver frozen dairy dessert… the quality of our ice cream has not been ignored, in fact our ice cream is better than ever!

Fast forward a few years and so much for that noble stance. Our friend, the Ingredient Inspector, discovered a very inconspicuous change that Blue Bunny appears to have made three years ago. The words “ice cream” quietly disappeared from most of their 48-ounce containers, and “frozen dairy dessert” appeared next to the net weight.

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Blue Bunny frozen dairy dessert

Even the best of us would not likely spot that change. But how does that wording change translate in the composition of the product?

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Blue Bunny ingredients

Instead of milk and cream as the primary ingredients in the real ice cream product, now skim milk and whey powder predominate in the revised version, and they’ve added coconut oil.

I bet that most Blue Bunny customers never realized the product changed, making this an early example of skimpflation.

For more examples of the ingredients changes in Blue Bunny “frozen dairy dessert” please see the detailed story at the Ingredient Inspector.