Shrinkflation hits Easter eggs: Choccies getting smaller – but prices stay the same

MANY of the nation’s favourite Easter chocolates have shrunk – but their prices have not fallen to match. Rather than an effort to spare our teeth and waistlines, the effective price hikes are another example of so-called ‘shrinkflation’. Pouches of Cadbury’s Mini Eggs have shrunk from 460g last year to 421g, yet the £4 price is the same. Rival Nestle has cut the size of its Smarties Mini Eggs pouches from 100g to 90g while prices have remained at £1 in Tesco and Asda. The figures were revealed in research for The Grocer magazine by retail analysts Brand View, which showed that Thorntons is also using the same tactic. Most of the best-selling eggs available under the brand, which is owned by chocolate giant Ferrero, are smaller this year. For example, the Thorntons Classic Egg provided 294g of chocolate 12 months ago, but the treat is now just 258g. The tactic of reducing pack sizes is used across the high street to effectively increase prices. The Office for National Statistics last year found as many as 2,529 products from loo rolls to teabags had shrunk in just five years. Consumer group Which? accused manufacturers and supermarkets of misleading customers because they never announce the cut in pack sizes. Ratula Chakraborty, a senior lecturer in business management at the University of East Anglia, said watchdogs such as the Competition and Markets Authority should require firms to give customers clear information when sizes are reduced. ‘Regulatory intervention is needed to tackle shrinkflation,’ she said. ‘The CMA should require retailers to inform consumers when product sizes [are reduced] so they are not misled by these sneaky changes.’ Both Thorntons and Mondelez, which owns Cadbury, said ‘resizing’ enabled them to maintain quality for the same price. Nestle said: ‘Where possible we drop the price to reflect any weight reduction but the final price is at the discretion of the retailer.’