Shrinking treats take the cake
Choc horror .. McVitie’s under fire for shrinking Christmas Jaffa Cake yard to 28in with 8 less treats .. but same price
ANYONE hoping to have their cake and eat it this Christmas is in for a shock.
A festive “yard” of Jaffa Cakes has mysteriously shrunk in size – but the price hasn’t. This is one marketing ploy that really takes the biscuit.
BISCUIT giants McVitie’s have shrunk the size of their Christmas cracker of Jaffa Cakes to 28 inches – with EIGHT fewer treats.
The snack firm came under fire last year when a normal pack size was cut from 12 treats to 10. Now, they have reduced the number of Jaffa Cakes in their Christmas product from 48 to 40, without altering the price. The “yard” is on sale for £3 in Tesco and weighs in at just under 500g – compared to the 750g packet sold in previous years. On the company’s Amazon page, they are advertising the tube as “Jaffa Cakes Massive Xmas Tube ‘A Yard of Jaffa’”. despite it being 32 inches long, including four inches of content-free filler. The cracker contains four sections of the new standard size box of 10 that was phased into shops last September.
A disappointed customer said: “I always get a yard of Jaffa Cakes in the run-up to Christmas. I’m sorely disappointed they are smaller and contain fewer cakes.
“It’s the society we live in, I suppose. Multimillion pound companies shaving costs by conning the consumer with smaller products for the same price.
“Also, a dozen Jaffa Cakes is a perfect amount to share with a loved one – 10 just doesn’t quite do it.”
By stacking up 40 Jaffa Cakes alongside the new Christmas packaging, a larger proportion of the cracker’s length is made up of packaging. McVitie’s said: “It was over a year ago that we announced changes to the pack sizes of our Jaffa Cakes.
“These changes included more options for Jaffa lovers by introducing snack and sharing-style packs and also changing our standard packs from 12 cakes to 10.
“Our new seasonal ‘Jaffa Cracker’ consists of four individual packs of 10 cakes which are stacked and designed to be gifted over the festive period.
“We understand there are online independent retailers who are misleading consumers by selling McVitie’s products with incorrect information.
“Although this is not within our control, we take
appropriate measures to report these as soon as we’re made aware.”
The orange jelly-filled treats have a base of Genoise sponge and were first sold in the UK in the 20s. Often found in the biscuit aisle, its size is more akin to that of a biscuit than a cake.
Categorisation of Jaffa Cakes as a chocolate-covered cake rather than a biscuit was the subject of a tribunal in 1991 after McVitie’s argued they were a cake and VAT therefore didn’t have to be paid on it.
The court ruled in McVitie’s favour and no VAT is paid on the cake in the UK.