The Anglo-Saxons, great fans of neologisms, have already created one tailored: shrinkflation, from to shrink (to shrink) and inflation (inflation). How does it work? Since inflation is back to gallopespecially in the United States, some companies have invented a new way to pass it on to consumers: the price remains the same, but the portion becomes smaller. Or, if you prefer, instead of charging more for the same thing, he charges the same, but for something less.
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From Dorito to Dove, the examples
Brooke Masters, in the Financial Times, lists some examples. In Dorito potato chips bags, there are now 5 fewer. 28 sheets have disappeared from the giant rolls of Cottonelle toilet paper. And the contents of Dove body cleanser bottles dropped from 24 to 22 ounces (0.7 to 0.65 liters) in the US. Noelle O’Mara of Tyson Foods admits: Prices are just one of the levers in our toolbox. The package / price architecture also becomes fundamental in these times of inflation.
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Raising prices scares customers
Even in the hospitality and catering sector, among the most affected by the pandemic, they are looking for creative variations of shrinkflation to avoid frightening potential customers with too high prices. The Hilton and Marriott hotel chains have both made room tidying optional: if not specifically requested, the room is left as it is. Others have delayed the reopening of breakfast buffets (suspended during pandemic peaks) to reduce costs. AND Walt Disney World has paid for the skip-the-line service, formerly free. In various restaurants, the chefs would instead have striven to use cheaper ingredients, reduce the vegetables on the side, restrict the offer of the menu to reduce waste. Peter Backman, restaurant consultant, explains that another strategy is to use decorative sauces and cut the meat diagonally to make portions seem more generous than they really are.
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The ecological excuse
The problem is that consumers don’t seem so easy to take by the nose. In the US, according to some surveys, customer satisfaction would have plummeted starting in 2018 and today to its lowest level since 2005. Perhaps this is why some companies apply shrinkflation by calling it another name. Mondelez, owner of Cadbury, says cutting down on Wispa chocolate bars is a proactive strategy to help fight obesity. While Pepsi-Cola claims the new bottles of Gatorade they have been redesigned to make them more aerodynamic and easier to grip (and not because they contain 14% less). Others bring up the deserving reduction of the ecological footprint. Claims that, Masters comments, appear to be true, but common sense suggests that the associated cost savings are not irrelevant.
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L’idea di Just Eat
Just Eat, food delivery chaininstead, it introduced a different way to cut costs: its waste reduction program allows customers to order smaller portions of French fries if they think a normal one is too much. But without deciding to reduce it for them.
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