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Companies haven’t made their products this tiny—yet. But your favorite foods may have gotten smaller.
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STANDARDS
NCSS: Production, Distribution, and Consumption • Science, Technology, and Society • Global Connections
Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.5, RH.6-8.7, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.4, SL.6-8.1
ECONOMICS
The Big Shrink
This sneaky business strategy saves companies money—at your expense. Find out what you can do about it.
Question: Why might shoppers notice price more than size?
You just got takeout from your favorite restaurant, but instead of digging in, you do a double take. Your meal seems smaller than last time, but the price hasn’t changed. Am I imagining things? you wonder.
You might not be. For decades, companies have saved money by decreasing product sizes while keeping prices the same. The practice is known as shrinkflation. Consumers may not realize they are getting less for the same amount of money. “It’s a sneaky price increase,” explains Edgar Dworsky. He is a consumer advocate who educates shoppers.
Shrinkflation isn’t new, but more and more consumers are speaking out against it. TikTok food critic Keith Lee, for one, recently accused Chipotle Mexican Grill of putting less chicken into its burrito bowls. “Where’s the chicken at?” he asked in a video that racked up more than 2 million likes. (Chipotle officials publicly denied that any changes had been made.) And in a 2024 survey from Purdue University in Indiana, more than three-quarters of shoppers reported noticing shrinkflation at the grocery store.
Clever Tactics?
The coffee company Chock full o’Nuts was one of the first to put shrinkflation into practice. In 1988, the company reduced its 16-ounce coffee can to 13 ounces without lowering the price. Since then, the strategy has become common.
Often the changes are hard to spot. For example, a company might indent the bottom of a peanut butter jar so less product fits inside. Or it might make a cereal box thinner instead of shorter, so the change is less noticeable on a store shelf.
Some businesses try to hide downsizing with clever
Companies say shrinkflation is needed to prevent them from losing money. This is especially true when the cost of making a product increases—if, say, a key ingredient like the milk in ice cream becomes more expensive. That can happen during times of high
Hidden Price Hikes
This graph shows how much the unit price* of certain goods increased from January 2019 to October 2023, taking shrinkflation into account.
* Unit price is the cost of a product per unit of measurement, such as an ounce.
Type of Products and Its Percent Increase in Unit Price
Household Paper Products: 34.9%
Candy and Chewing Gum: 29.7%
Snacks: 26.4%
Ice Cream and Related Products: 21.4%
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
During the Covid-19
But why not just raise prices instead? Businesses don’t want to lose customers, Dworsky says, and people typically pay more attention to price than to quantity. As a result, people are more likely to switch brands over a price increase than a change in quantity or size.
“They’re likely to notice if the candy bar went from a dollar to a dollar and a quarter but less likely to notice if the size got a little smaller,” explains Dworsky.
Pushing Back
Matt Rourke/AP Images
Still, consumers are becoming less accepting of shrinkflation. That may be due in part to a frustration with higher prices in general, experts say. Plus, social media platforms like TikTok let people share shrinkflation complaints with a wide audience.
In some countries, like Brazil and France, laws require companies to disclose when they downsize a product without dropping the price. Many people think U.S. companies should have to do the same.
For now, Dworsky suggests shoppers track the size of items they buy often. For example: Do you know how many ounces are in your shampoo bottle? Or the number of your favorite granola bars in a box?
If you notice a change, you can figure out how much value you are getting for your money by calculating the unit price. That is how much a product costs per unit of measurement, such as an ounce. To find it, divide a product’s price by its number of units. (The unit price of a 10-ounce drink that costs $5 is 50 cents. That means each ounce costs you 50 cents.) Then you can compare product prices—and try to find a brand that’s a better value.
Your decision can make a difference. Businesses notice when people stop buying their products. The dollar, says Dworsky, “really speaks loudly to companies.”
—with additional reporting by Rebecca Zissou
YOUR TURN
Shrinkflation PSA Contest
Create a public service announcement (PSA) informing people about shrinkflation. Design a poster, pamphlet, or slideshow that explains the practice and provides tips for consumers. Use information from the article and your own experiences. Three winners will each get a JS notebook!
Note: Entries must be submitted by a legal resident of the U.S. age 18 or older who is the teacher, parent, or guardian of the student. Click here for details.
