Unilever’s Shrinkflation Tactics: How Consumers Are Paying More for Less

2023-09-06 17:09:57

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The agri-food and hygiene products giant is offering large retailers new formats for its potatoes, ice cream and even dishwasher salts. Each time, the quantity drops and the price rises: a textbook case of “shrinkflation”, which makes it possible to make money on the back of the consumer.

It is an internal document that Liberation has obtained. It details the commercial proposals of the Unilever group to its distributors for the period September to December 2023. A certain number of products manufactured by the Anglo-Dutch agrifood giant are screened: ice creams, soups, hygiene products… And it appears from this note that the price increases per kilogram or per liter range from 2% to… 96%! With the continuous waltz of labels caused by inflation which still points to more than 12% in food, the consumer most often sees nothing but fire. He does not know that he is getting less for his money.

Thus in the range of Findus hash browns, the reference “3599741007241” replaces the reference “35997400004081” and the box goes from 600 grams to 590 grams while the price rises by 68%. A typical example of the so-called “shrinkflation” technique (a portmanteau between English to shrink, or “shrink”, and “inflation”), which consists of compressing the quantity sold while increasing the price. In itself, the practice is not considered illegal since there remains the obligation to display the price per kg or per liter on the shelves. However, during his last intervention on food prices, the minister

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