<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/19/australian-supermarkets-should-use-shrinkflation-labels-to-warn-shoppers-and-shame-brands-advocate-says>
"Australian supermarkets should follow the lead of French giant Carrefour and
shame brands by alerting shoppers when a packaged food product has reduced in
size, a leading consumer group says.
Known as “shrinkflation”, food companies have been cutting the size of their
products but not the price, angering consumers already grappling with surging
household costs.
Ian Jarratt, from the Queensland Consumers Association, says shoppers could
make better buying choices if downsized products were more easily identifiable
on supermarket shelves.
“Manufacturers use shrinkflation to make sneaky price increases and improve or
maintain their margins because most shoppers are more aware of, and sensitive
to, higher selling prices than reductions in the amount in packages,” said
Jarratt, who helped lead the push for supermarkets to display unit pricing.
While shrinkflation is not a new practice, the inflationary period has sparked
a wave of downsizing as food companies try to reclaim, or boost, profits amid
rising costs.
The changes can be hard to detect, obscured by “new and improved” packaging.
Guardian Australia has tracked instances of smaller products appearing in a
supermarket’s low price promotions, despite them being more expensive than
their predecessors.
Shrinking jam jars were among the most complained about food items by
Guardian readers after a decision by well-known brands Cottee’s and Rose’s to
reduce their 500g jams to 375g without an equivalent price reduction.
The French supermarket chain Carrefour is trying to combat the shrinking trend
by putting labels on shelves warning shoppers of the practice, pressuring
packaged food suppliers."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
