shrinkflation

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No Joke: Thomas’ Upsizes Its English Muffins

This story is just in time for April Fools’ Day… but it’s no joke.

It is very rare in the food industry to find a product that has been upsized rather than downsized. But Thomas’ English Muffins recently made their packages a tiny bit larger, going from 12 to 13 ounces for six muffins.

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Thomas' English Muffins

We asked the company why they made this unusual move. All a customer service rep would say is that it was a business decision in part because they were getting feedback that the muffins were too small. She could not explain the 25% increase in calories, however.

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Here We Downsize Again – Summer 2020

Here is the latest roster of products that manufacturers have reduced in size in order to pass on a sneaky price increase.

 

Dawn

P&G has continually downsized Dawn Dishwashing Liquid through the years. The latest change: they knocked another ounce off their smallest bottle… it is now down to just seven ounces.

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Dawn

 

Lay’s Potato Chips

One of the most downsized products over the years has been potato chips. The big bag gets smaller and smaller until the point where they reintroduce the large size again, but of course at a much higher price. This time around, maybe because parties are getting smaller on account of COVID-19, Lay’s is chipping away at the party size bag shrinking it from 15.25 ounces to 13 ounces.

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Lay's Potato Chips

Thanks to our ace downsizing spotter, Richard G. for this submission.

 

Walmart Great Value Paper Towels

LeAnne W. came across a huge downsizing at Walmart recently. Their own brand of paper towels, Great Value, was downsized from 168 sheets on a roll to just 120. And the price remained the same at $14.97. Some value.

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Great Value paper towels

 

Dollar Tree Flour Tortillas

MrConsumer’s go-to place for flour tortillas is Dollar Tree. They sell one-pound packages with a dozen tortillas for a buck. Last winter, the tortillas seemed smaller, but the package still said 16 ounces. Then they introduced 12 ounce packages but still with 12 inside. I am happy to report that the 12 ounce bags were short-lived. They are back up to full-size and a full pound.

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Tortillas

 

Keebler Club Crackers

It looked like Keebler Club crackers had been downsized from 13.7 ounces to 12.5, thus eliminating a dozen crackers from each box.

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Keebler Club Crackers

But thanks to reader Jim’s research, it turns out not to be the case. The “snack stack” box was the only “original” variety carried at MrConsumer’s local store. Visiting another store, the comparable “original” Club Cracker box was in stock, and in fact was still 13.7 ounces. The only thing eliminated from the product was the Keebler name and the Keebler elves. Perhaps even cartoon characters are not safe if a company downsizes its workforce.

Keebler now Kellogg's

If you find a product that has recently been downsized, please try to take a sharp picture of the old and new side-by-side and send it to us.

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Here We Downsize Again – Winter 2020

We start the new decade with an old trick — inconspicuously reducing the package size of products as a sneaky way to raise prices. You pay the same price but get less for your money. Here are our latest discoveries. (If you find a product that has been downsized, please take a clear picture of both the old and new size packages and submit it here. )

 

Charmin

The folks at P&G are doing it again on supermarket shelves right now. Newly designed packages of Charmin toilet tissue are sitting next to the current version.

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Charmin

The difference is that each “mega” roll now has 20 fewer sheets. And just a reminder… the Charmin of 50 years ago in the Mr. Whipple days had 600-650 single-ply sheets per roll. Thanks to our ace downsizing detective Richard Ginn for spotting this change.

 

Powerade

Another item right in the midst of being downsized now is Powerade. The Coca-Cola Company is reducing the size of its 32-ounce bottles of this sports drink to just 28 ounces. Thanks to consumer reporter John Matarese of WCPO-TV for this tip.

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Powerade

 

Puffs

Paper products continue to be downsized regularly. The makers of Puffs tissues reduced the size of its cube-shaped boxes from 56 tissues to 48.

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Puffs

Thanks to Liz B. for pointing out how this product changed.

 

Hershey’s Kisses

One of the nasty tricks that some product makers do sometimes when downsizing an item is to make the package size bigger than the old one, but now contain less. In this case, a number of Hershey’s chocolate products sold in large bags lost two ounces last fall. Here, even though it is still called “family size,” these bags of Hershey’s kisses went down from 18 ounces to 16. 1. And their 12-ounce “classic size” bags went from 12 ounces to just 10. But that size got renamed “share size.”

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Hershey's Kisses

 

Angel Soft Toilet Tissue

Finally, the downsizing angels pulled a double-whammy on your fanny.

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Angel Soft

Not only did they trim 30 sheets off of each roll of their toilet paper, Angel Soft made each sheet more narrow. The four-inch square tissues are now only 3.8-inches wide. Thanks to Richard Ginn for finding this change last fall.