Cadbury’s two-finger gesture to fans of its biscuits

CADBURY has cut the number of chocolate fingers in a pack by two biscuits.

In the latest example of ‘shrinkflation’ – where brands or supermarkets reduce a product’s size often without cutting the cost – the chocolate finger boxes have come down by 11 grams to 114g.

This is equivalent to two biscuits, bringing the total number down to 22. It comes just weeks after the number of Cadbury creme eggs in multi-packs was reduced from six to five. The cost per egg rose from 50.8p to 57p.

Biscuit maker Burton’s, which produces Cadbury’s finger biscuits, said it did reduce the wholesale price of packs to supermarkets to reflect the lower weight, but it had no say over whether this was passed on to customers. Boxes

‘Sneaky way of putting up costs’

have come down from £1 to 80p at Tesco, but the price at Sainsbury’s has risen from £1 to £1.50 over the past year, according to figures from price comparison website My Supermarket.

Cadbury has something of a track record for shrinking products. Before Christmas Burton’s reduced Cadbury Collection biscuit tins from 380g to 335g – while the price stayed at £5.

In 2011, 140g Dairy Milk bars were reduced to 120g, losing the equivalent of two chunks, and tins of Roses shrunk from 975g to 850g, snatching away 11 chocolates.

But the brand is just one of a host of manufacturers and stores that have been shrinking their goods. Last month the Daily Mail revealed PG Tips had reduced the amount of tea in their teabags without lowering the price.

Richard Lloyd, of consumer group Which?, said: ‘Shrinking products can be a sneaky way of putting up costs for consumers because pack sizes shrink but the prices don’t.

‘It’s now time for action on dodgy pricing practices that stop people from easily comparing products.’