The dirty trick supermarkets use to sneakily jack up prices – and it’s getting out of hand

You may have noticed that the items in your shopping basket are getting smaller, whether it’s a box of cereal getting smaller or a packet of chips getting lighter.

But a new report has exposed the true extent of the US ‘shrinkflation’, and how many Americans are being shortchanged.

Shrinkflation is when products shrink in size or quantity while the price remains the same or even increases.

Of nearly 100 everyday products analyzed by Credit boomit found that a third had shrunk in the past five years.

“People are already frustrated that things cost more,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. ‘Shrinkage inflation only makes things worse. It all boils down to the fact that many Americans feel pressured every month to pay for the basic things they can’t live without.”

Household paper products, including toilet paper and paper towels, saw the greatest change in volume over the period.

The research shows that the number of sheets has been reduced in approximately 60 percent of household paper products.

12 mega rolls of Angel Soft toilet paper dropped from 429 to 320 sheets per roll.

This equates to a 25.4 percent reduction in size – the most of any product.

While the cost of 12 Angel Soft mega rolls has dropped from $9.97 to $8.44, the price per 100 sheets has increased from 19 cents to 22 cents, meaning consumers are paying 13.5 percent more per 100 sheets.

Another Angel Soft product, 18 mega rolls, followed with the largest change in size: a 24.7 percent contraction.

Next to Angel Soft, the three-roll Bounty Select-A-Size paper towels saw the second largest decrease in size, shrinking 18.2 percent from 165 sheets per roll to 135.

It also increased in price over the period from $19.88 to $22.18.

After household paper products, breakfast products were the most likely to shrink, LendingTree found.

Family-sized Frosted Flakes shrank the majority of the grains analyzed. It fell 9.6 percent, from 24 ounces to 21.7 ounces.

Subsequently, Raisin Bran family size dropped 7.9 percent from 24 ounces to 22.1 ounces. It also saw the biggest increase in price per ounce, from 15 cents to 23 cents.

LendingTree researchers compared Walmart prices and product sizes from 2019 and 2020 through August and September 2024 to find out which items had changed the most.

In addition to the majority decreasing in size, it also turned out that only two items had decreased in price during the time period.

Looking at candy, party-size Reese’s miniatures and party-pack Rolo chewy caramels decreased the most in size, both down 11 percent from 40 ounces to 35.6 ounces.

Folger’s classic roasted coffee shrank 16 percent, while also rising from $9.96 to $14.87.

In terms of snacks, a FunPops freeze population of 36 has been reduced by 20 percent – ​​the most of any product in this category.

Meanwhile, a large bag of Lay’s sour cream and onion chips shrank 15.3 percent as the price rose from $3.98 to $5.44.

A party-sized bag of Cheetos dropped 14.3 percent in size, in addition to a whopping 135.3 percent increase in price per ounce.

The majority of Americans have noticed or experienced shrinkflation, the report found.

About 71 percent have noticed at least one incident in the past year, while 57 percent have experienced multiple incidents.

LendingTree’s Schulz said companies prefer downsizing over increasing prices because they know customers don’t like it when this happens.

“Shrinkage is a sneaky way around that,” he said.

‘Instead of raising the price of something, companies make the product smaller while the price remains the same.

‘If it’s done smartly, customers might not even notice. The problem is that if they do, it leaves a bad taste in the customer’s mouth because it feels so deceptive.”

The report comes as two Democratic lawmakers accused Coca Cola, PepsiCo and General Mills of favoring consumers through shrinkflation.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Madeleine Dean wrote a letter to the companies’ CEOs, accusing them of subtly reducing the amount of cereal and soft drinks sold in stores.

“Unfortunately, this price gouging is a widespread problem, with corporate profits driving more than half of inflation,” they said.