In all the silence, the package size of some foods has been reduced.
It should not be unclear to anyone that the prices of some foodstuffs have risen. But how many have noticed that even though the price is the same, the package size may have been reduced?
One way companies use to reduce the pressure on price increases is shrinkflation.
Flora margarine was reduced last summer. Some of the coffee packages no longer weigh half a kilo, but for example 425 g or 450 g.
It’s not a completely new phenomenon, by the way.
500 g is no longer the standard size of coffee packets. Petteri Paalasmaa
For example, Toblerone made consumers angry in 2016 when it lengthened the interval between the “valleys” in its triangular bar. This allowed us to reduce the amount of chocolate and lighten the weight of the bar, but the price remained the same.
Fazer’s bars underwent a mold change already in 2010, when bars weighing 44–45 grams were changed to 37–39 grams, depending on the flavor. At that time, the shape of the bars was developed into a round-edged shape based on consumer feedback.
In 2018, changes were made to some of the boxes containing Fazer’s wrapped pretzels, when a new form of gift packaging went on sale.
Taffel Kartano potato chips used to weigh 200 grams, now 180 grams. Ville Rinne
In addition to chocolates, the sizes of some chip bags have also changed.
Communications Director of Orkla Finland I was Nina notes that the degree of filling and weight in potato chips can vary greatly between different products.
– We do not have a standard weight for all potato chip products. The bag size is the same, but the possible degree of filling and weight varies by product. For example, the size of the potato affects how much product can be put in the bag, Olin says.
According to him, changes have been made to the degree of filling, i.e. how much product is put in the bag, in some large bags of potato chips that have been on the market for a long time in the last ten years. It’s about 10 to 50 grams.
The reason is partly to protect the product, as the air in the chip bag helps keep the chips intact. But also steadily rising raw material costs and the desire to keep the price reasonable.
– However, it is good to note that we do not determine the final consumer price, it is always up to the store to decide.