Companies hate raising prices, or more specifically customers hate it when prices are raised so companies don't like to do it. especially in foods. As such the go-to dance to keep up with inflation is to reduce the size while keeping the price the same as long as possible, when this becomes too noticeable the size is returned to original the price is increased and a big 20% more is added to the package. Repeat as needed.

Note that this is the most charitable interpretation where the customer deception is fairly minor(inflation happens, gotta sneak that price increase in there some how) Stuff like deceptive packaging(make it look like there is more than is actually present) punts it into the outright evil category.

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Night_Thastus 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yep. People blame companies, but ultimately they are doing what the customer 'wants'. Same with things like separate fees for credit cards, or shipping. Customers don't like seeing an extra fee, so companies roll it all together - even if it often means they end up paying more in the long run.

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8note 2 hours ago | parent [-]

the customer doesnt want higher prices or smaller items. This is a dirty trick to try and make customers not notice that the quality is worse

ultimately the company is taking part in the government's goal to keep a certain level of inflation, rather than just its own desire to screw customers and make the number go up. If the government wasnt in on it, there would be regulations around shrinkflation

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Night_Thastus 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Companies like Mars, Inc don't care a hoot about what the level of inflation is. They care about their shareholders, who care about stock growth. Anything else is completely and totally irrelevant for them.

Higher prices -> customer unhappy -> less sales -> stock price go down

Smaller bars -> hopefully customer doesn't notice -> same sales -> stock OK

That's the only logic in here. The prices of the ingredients have gone up, so they're forced with that choice.

	▲	pessimizer 28 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The real problems are that: 1) they're colluding to do this, or more accurately that they don't have to collude to do this, since the brands have all been bought up by monopolies. Shrinkflation would be obvious if it sat next to the original products on the shelves. Instead, Mars or Unilever etc. own almost entire categories of food and control how they are shelved. 2) They aren't being regulated to make the distinction clear to customers, and even allowed to intentionally obscure it by doing things like blowing more air into a less full chip bag, and 3) the fact that modern food companies are simply holding companies for portfolios of historic trademarks that they can use to trade on the history of those brands while cheapening the ingredients. On 3), we've long since arrived in a period when the generic is usually better than the brand name, because the generic has to compete on cost for value, and the brand has assumed value from the brand-loyal that allows the ingredients to be cheapened without losing customers. It's the brand that is premium, not what's in the package. I actually think the metric system offered a bit of concealment on shrinkflation - things were once sold in standard unit sizes, and sometimes selling them (especially the fancy ones) in metric unit sizes got people used to seeing strange long decimal standard unit sizes in things they were used to buying by the pound or the quart. Gallons of milk didn't shrink, but I think the fact that a lot of us were drinking fancy imported coffees gave those room to go crazy with bag sizes. The flour I buy is still in a 5lb bag, but if flour sellers all decided to go 2 kilos one day at the same price, a lot of people wouldn't notice (or would get used to it.)

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28304283409234 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I also note you completely forgot about the other strategy: taking the losses out of the ludicrous profits.

	▲	bell-cot 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Corporations are made out of humans. They're about as eager to cut their own profits as human workers are to reduce their own wages.