There are not a few of us who keep a summer afternoon in a small corner of our memory enjoying an ice cream: almond, Maxibon, cream sandwich. Any of these cravings was enough to satisfy not only our temptation, but our stomachs. Ice creams have always been a sufficient size. Until now. Its size has been reduced considerably, and the truth is that it does not only happen with those products.
It’s called reduflation. And you won’t like it.
The controversy. “Sorry for worrying in the summer about summer issues but don’t you think that the magnums get smaller every year???””, a Twitter post accompanied by a photo showing a small ice cream started the contest on the social network. “And at €2.20, no less”, answered other. It is the discontent of many consumers when they realize that what they have been buying all their lives has been shrinking by magic (or by a commercial strategy).
What started as an anecdote ended up becoming a general debate. “The same with the Cornetos. A joke. But they lose, because I don’t plan to buy it again.” pointed other. A conversation that, in the end, tried to understand why the two-liter bottle of Pepsi is now a liter and a half, costing the same.
Sorry for worrying about summer issues in the summer but don’t you think that the magnums get smaller every year??? pic.twitter.com/LMMc9uZH4H
— Sori (@soysori) July 9, 2021
Reduflation, a phenomenon. They are not your illusions nor has Magnum embarked on an indiscreet crusade against its clients. Everything derives from a phenomenon that some experts call reduflation (reduction inflation). For some years, consumers from different countries have observed that some favorite products have smaller sizes in weight or volume, but maintaining the prices of before.
The proof. To measure this phenomenon, several BBC journalists analyzed over the last four years 19 products from different manufacturers and discovered that 18 of them had undergone reductions in size. The United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics reveals that in the last five years more than 2,529 products have shrunk in size without changing prices. The phenomenon is evident in snackscereals, oils, tuna, olives, softeners, detergents and soft drinks, among others.
Basically, the bags now bring more air what a product.
Examples and reasons. The vegetables that came in bags of 500 grams went to 400 grams. Biscuit packages, which were traditionally 140 grams, now contain 103 grams. The phenomenon affects all countries. A notorious case was the reduction in 2016 of Swiss Toblerone chocolate bars. Although many consumers attributed it to the purpose of limiting calorie restrictions, outrage grew over keeping the price the same.
Finally, the company Mondelez International publicly accepted that the decision to change the shape of the bar, with the consequent loss of 10% of its weight, was intended to keep the product accessible to customers due to the high international costs of cocoa. Nestlé has assured that sometimes it also reduced the weight of its products to reduce calories or to equate the production process in different countries.
Impact. In the United Kingdom, a country where more studies have been carried out in this regard, the National Statistics Office (ONS) rules out that the decisions of the manufacturers, despite the high number of affected products, have had a significant effect on prices at a global level. . “It should not be surprising because the CPI includes a huge sample of the prices of goods and services from the entire economy, including the prices of energy, housing, transportation, health or education,” they stress.
Against the greedy. They even point out that in the subcategory of food and non-alcoholic beverages there is no significant impact either. But where it has had an influence has been in the prices of products such as sugar, jam, sweets and chocolates. The reduction has made these items more expensive by 1.22%. It is a way to covertly raise prices for those with a sweet tooth.
Most brands have defended their strategy due to the increase in the price of raw materials such as cocoa or sugar. However, the European import price of sugar has been declining since mid-2014 and in March 2017 reached its lowest level. The price of cocoa peaked in December 2015 (due to droughts in the three largest exporting countries), but has fallen sharply in recent years. Excuse or not, the reality is undeniable: your favorite Magnum is smaller and more expensive than ever before.