Cereal and bread is getting smaller but you’re still paying the same amount due to shrinkflation, says the ONS
Our bread and cereals are getting smaller, but we're still having to pay the same amount
FIRST we learnt that our chocolates were getting smaller, but now new research reveals that bread and cereals are shrinking too.
In fact, research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that of all the categories tracked, cereals and bread were the worst sufferers when it comes to shrinkflation.
Last year, the ONS revealed that more than 2,500 products had suffered from shrinkflation - when products get smaller but their prices stay the same or go up.
Now, the research body has carried out further research to determine which categories are most affected by this trend.
After bread and cereals, the next three biggest categories were personal care products, meat, and confectionery.
The only category where products had exclusively got bigger was tobacco.
Mike Hardie, head of inflation at Office for National Statistics explained: “Over the last few years, consumers may have noticed that some companies have reduced the size of their products while the price remained the same, which is often attributed to operational and material cost rises.
"Our updated analysis of this subject indicates which type of products have decreased in size.
"The majority of size changes occurred in the food and drink sector.
"Every day staples such as bread and cereal are most likely to have seen reductions in size, while consumers may also find some chocolate products to be smaller now than they once were.”
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Sometimes, Brexit is blamed for shrinkflation, but the ONS has previously denied this.
The statistics body said in 2017: "Manufacturers’ costs may also be rising because of the recent fall in the value of the pound – leading some commentators to attribute shrinkflation to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
"But our analysis doesn’t show a noticeable change following the referendum that would point towards a Brexit effect.
"Furthermore, others (including Which?) had been observing these shrinking pack sizes long before the EU referendum, and several manufacturers have denied that this is a major factor."
Retailers often point to the rising cost of raw materials as an excuse for why our products are getting smaller.
But the ONS questioned this analysis pointing to falls in prices for sugar and cocoa.
The researcher said: "Sugar and cocoa are two of the most important ingredients in confectionery and their price has fluctuated considerably in recent years.
"The European import price of sugar has been slowly falling since the middle of 2014 and in March 2017 it reached its lowest level since the International Monetary Fund records began in 1991.
"The price of cocoa reached a five-year high in December 2015 but has fallen sharply over the last year."
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Famous examples include bigger gaps between the triangles in Toblerone to reduce the amount of chocolate.
Toblerone's manufacturers U-turned on this controversial decision, after an outcry from chocolate lovers, but the 33 per cent increase in weight was accompanied by a 200 per cent rise in the price.
Haribo also shrank packets of its favourite sweets, including Tangfastics, Starmix and Strawbs.
Meanwhile, Colman’s reduced the size of its tartare sauce jars by 100ml but kept prices the same.
And it's not just food that's shrinking either, even our loo roll is getting smaller. In 2017, the Sun revealed that Andrex had reduced the size of individual rolls by 21 sheets.
Some cheeky retailers are even reducing the size of products and putting prices up at the same time.
The ONS found that 110 products that got smaller between June 2015 and June 2017 got more expensive, 519 that shrunk stayed the same price, and only 129 that dropped in size actually got any cheaper.
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