Higher Prices and Smaller Packages: 15 Grocery Items Suffering from “Shrinkflation”

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Have you noticed that some of your favorite snacks or household items are running out faster than usual? Did that box of Cheerios vanish quicker than expected?

Maybe your kids are sneaking a second breakfast, but most likely, you are experiencing this new trend, which is referred to as ‘Shrinkflation.’ Manufacturers are trying to save money and choosing to raise prices or offer smaller options.

Next time you are shopping, stop and look at prices and sizes. From toothpaste to ice cream, companies are hiding their overhead cost by cleverly shrinking their products.

1. Gatorade

Gatorade
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Gatorade thought they were being clever when they redesigned their 32-oz bottles to be, as they described it, “more aerodynamic and easier to grab.” The bottle remained the same size as the older bottles, but the slimmer body reduced the fluid ounces to 28 oz. That’s a 14% drop in product.

Did the price drop by 14% as well? Of course not. We are paying the same amount for less Gatorade.

2. Walmart Great Value Paper Towels

Woman buying paper towels
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If you have noticed that you are burning through a roll of paper towels faster than usual, you are not going crazy. These Wal-Mart brand paper towels are another victim of shrinkflation. These rolls went from 168 sheets down to only 120 sheets. That’s only 71% of the original packaging, which can significantly impact your budget.

Prices for this product have remained the same despite the reduction in volume. Come on, Wal-Mart! We thought we could trust you.

3. Pringles

Pringles
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Next time you find yourself wandering down the chip aisle at your local grocery store, look at the Pringles cans. Savvy customers will notice that different flavors have different weights. While some might be 5.5 ounces, others are only 5.2 ounces. Still, both cans have the same price tag.

Is this Pringle’s grand scheme to rob us of chips? It seems like they are following the path of other brands in reducing their volume. Be sure to look at the net weight next time you crave some Pringle potato chips.

4. Dorito’s

Ranch Doritos
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It looks like Doritos is taking a page from its competitors’ books. Like Pringles, the popular brand of corn chips is slowly selling smaller amounts of chips in the same size as years past.

Customers have noticed that Doritos bags can have weights varying from 9.25 oz to 9.75 oz. That depressing feeling when you open a fresh bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and realize it is half-air is not going away anytime soon. In fact, look for that trend to continue.

5. Royal Canin’s Cat Food

Royal Canin's Cat Food
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Has your cat confronted you with feeding them less lately? Are they constantly begging for more food? Check their can of dinner, and you might find it much smaller than it once was.

Executives from Mars, Royal Canin’s parent company, admitted that they reduced their cans of cat food from 5.9 ounces to 5.1 ounces. They claimed the high demand for pet food during the pandemic forced them to reduce the size of the cans. Now, in 2024, with the pandemic mostly in our rearview mirror, the cans continue to be smaller while the price stays the same.

6. General Mills Cereal

General Mills Cereal
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General Mills makes some of your family’s favorite cereals. Brands like Cheerios, Chex, Lucky Charms, Trix, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch are all showing signs of shrinkflation in 2024. Family-size boxes of these cereals have dropped in size by 10%. What was once 19.3 ounces they are now 18.1 ounces.

Cereal is already expensive, and if you have a big family, you could be spending a lot more on breakfast going forward.

7. Cottonelle’s Ultra Clean Care Toilet Paper

Toilet Paper
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Cottonelle recently reduced the size of its bathroom rolls by almost 10%. Previous rolls had 340 sheets, while newer packages contain rolls with only 312 sheets. Toilet paper is usually bought in large quantities, so maybe Cottonelle is banking on consumers who do not notice the shrinking product.

Luckily, consumers are smarter than they thought and have called out the brand for taking away sheets while keeping the same price.

8. Bounty Paper Towels

Bounty Paper Towels
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Bounty is one of the go-to brands for many people who are shopping for paper towels. The brand recently reduced the number of sheets per roll from 165 to 147.

Don’t worry, though. You won’t miss those extra 18 sheets because Bounty says the newer product is more absorbent. So, they are saying this fancy new paper towel technology is so advanced that you can clean your messes for less. I guess we will have to see.

9. Crest 3D White Radiant Mint Toothpaste

Crest 3D White Radiant Mint Toothpaste
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Keep squeezing your toothpaste from the bottom because you will want to get every drop you can from it. Toothpaste companies are not immune to following the trend of shrinking products. Crest reduced their tubes from 4.1 to 3.8 ounces. This may not seem like a mega drop in size, but those add up over time.

10. Folgers Coffee

Folgers Coffee
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Coffee companies know we love our coffee. It fuels us up to start our busy days and keeps us going through midday crashes. That being said, they know they have a hold on us and can get away with selling us a diminished product.

Folgers recently reduced the size of its coffee containers from 51 ounces to 43.5 ounces. However, Folgers claims it still makes the same number of cups due to using lighter beans. To me, that sounds like they are offering a weaker brew with a smaller portion.

11. Tillamook Ice Cream

Tillamook Ice Cream
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The premium ice cream company Tillamook makes some of the best on the market. Fans have recently pointed out that their containers have gotten smaller since they last bought some.

Tillamook has indeed reduced its containers from 56 ounces to 48 ounces. Brand ambassadors claim that they approved this reduction due to the rising cost of ingredients and manufacturing. At least they are being honest with their valued customers instead of trying to sneak the shrinking under their noses.

12. Hefty’s Mega Pack Trash Bags

Hefty Mega Pack Trash Bags
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Hefty went from offering packs of garbage bags from 90 down to 80. There are still a lot of trash bags, and it might take you a while to notice that you lost 10 bags, but like other victims of shrinkflation, these prices add up and can severely hurt your wallet over time.

13. Domino’s

Domino's
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If you are a fan of the pizza franchise Domino’s, you might have noticed their side dishes have gotten smaller. Due to the high cost of protein, the pizza chain has changed their 10-piece wing order down to 8 pieces.

The company has been making other cuts to try to improve efficiency. In the future, you might see deals offered online only to save the labor costs of employees answering the phones. That sounds like a fantastic plan. If it works, can we have our chicken back, though?

14. Quaker’s Life Cereal

Quaker's Life Cereal
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Life cereal went from a 24.8-ounce box to a 22.3-ounce box. They also tried to save face by changing the wording on the box from ‘Giant’ to ‘Family-Sized’ to make the shrinking less shocking. But to mess with our heads even more, they actually made the box bigger!?

So we went from giant-sized to family-sized, reduced the amount of cereal, and packaged it in a bigger box… Does any of this make sense?

15. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Reese’s peanut butter cup
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Listen, you can take away some of my paper towels or fill my bag of chips with more air, but take away some of my peanut butter cups, and you’ve got me upset. Reese’s famous peanut butter cups went from 1.6 ounces to 1.5 ounces. I know it is only a fraction smaller, but it is just not right to ration candy.

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