It is the phenomenon leaving shoppers with lighter baskets and a heftier bill to foot at the checkout.
And now, some of the worst culprits of so-called shrinkflation have been revealed as Britain’s favourite chocolate, porridge and coffee brands.
The term was first coined to describe when companies diminish the size or quantity of one of its products while the price remains the same or even increases – and those who do it are often met with fury from customers.
Earlier this month Kerrygold faced a backlash after its 250g butter offering was slashed to 200g despite selling at the same price in supermarkets like Asda and Waitrose.
Now, fresh research by consumer brand Which? has named-and-shamed some of the worst offenders of shrinkflation in the UK as household staples such as Nescafe, Cadbury, and Nestle.
One other example sure to stick in the throat of customers is Gaviscon, with the findings uncovering that the indigestion relief medicine has shrunk from 600ml to 500ml – but the price at Sainsbury’s remains at a hefty £14.
Elsewhere in the healthcare aisles, Aquafresh’s Complete Care Original Toothpaste has risen from £1.30 to £2 in supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado despite having waned from 100ml to 75ml.
For those who like a bowl of porridge with an early rise there is yet further bad news as Sainsbury’s Scottish Oats have shrunk from 1kg to 500g while the price increased from £1.25 to £2.10 – a 236 per cent rise per 100g.
And if you like a hot cup of coffee with your breakfast, the findings compound yet more misery.
Because Nescafe’s Original Instant Coffee has also reduced from a 200g jar to 190g at Tesco, Morrisons and Asda where it sells for £7 – totalling a rise of five per cent per 100g.
The research also delivers a blow to sweet-toothed Britons, who are regularly among the greatest victims of shrinkflation.
KitKat’s Two-Finger Milk Chocolate Bar multipacks dropped from 21 bars to 18 at a price rise of of 53 per cent in Ocado, which now sells the bars for £5.50 when it previously sold them for £3.60.
And with the Christmas season approaching, it looks like it is no longer the most wonderful time of the year for those who crave a sugary treat.
Some festive chocolates will be in much lighter boxes this year after the research uncovered Quality Street tubs have been reduced from 600g to 550g – though Morrisons have hiked the price from £6 to £7.
Meanwhile, Cadbury’s multipacks of Freddo and Fudge bars both went from five bars to four at Morrisons, Ocado and Tesco, yet the price of £1.40 didn’t change – making it a 25 per cent price increase per bar.
The Terry’s Chocolate Orange Ball Toffee Crunch price of £2 also did not change but the size dwindled from 152g to 145g at Tesco – another five per cent price increase on shoppers’ receipts.
Nestle’s KitKat bars stood out as one of the worst offenders of so-called shrinkflation after its multipacks rose in price by 53 per cent in supermarkets (Stock Image)
Not only are products getting smaller, the nation’s favourite snacks are also frequently missing key ingredients as manufacturers find ways to cut costs.
This separate issue, known as skimpflation, means White KitKats cannot be marketed as a white chocolate product because they no longer contain more than 20 per cent of cocoa butter.
It is a similar story for the British staples – most often paired with a hot cup of tea – of Penguin and Club bars which can no longer lawfully be sold as a chocolate biscuit due to the rising levels of palm oil and shea oil, and diminishing cocoa.
Also subject to skimpflation were McVitie’s white digestives, which do not contain any cocoa butter and thus cannot be marketed as a white chocolate biscuit.
Reena Sewraz, Which? Retail Editor, said: ‘Households are already under immense financial pressure with food bills inching up and the expense of Christmas looming on the horizon, so it can feel especially sneaky when manufacturers quietly reduce pack sizes or downgrade key ingredients.
‘Supermarkets must be more upfront about their prices so that it’s easy to see what the best value is.
‘This includes ensuring that their unit pricing is prominent, legible and consistent in-store and online to help customers easily compare costs across different brands and sizes of packaging – that way shoppers can be more confident they’re getting the best value.’
A spokesperson for Mondelez International, which makes Cadbury products, said ‘changes to our product sizes is a last resort for our business’ but added that it is experiencing higher than usual costs of ingredients such as cocoa and dairy.
Nescafe’s Original Instant Coffee has also diminished from 200g to 190g at Tesco, Morrisons and Asda – a rise of five per cent per 100g (stock image)
They said: ‘Meanwhile, other costs like energy and transport, also remain high. This means that our products continue to be much more expensive to make and while we have absorbed these costs where possible, we still face considerable challenges.
‘As a result of this difficult environment, we have had to make the decision to slightly reduce the weight of our Cadbury Fudge and Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo multipacks so that we can continue to provide consumers with the brands they love, without compromising on the great taste and quality they expect.’
Regarding its instant coffee, a spokesperson for Nescafe cited the increased costs of coffee, which they say makes it ‘much more expensive to manufacture our products’.
They added: ‘As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible. To maintain the same high quality and delicious taste that consumers know and love, it has sometimes been necessary to make adjustments to the weight or size of some of our products. Retail pricing is always at the discretion of individual retailers.’
On White KitKat’s, the spokesperson said it was combating the ‘significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years’ and had to make necessary adjustments.
A spokesperson for the Food & Drink Federation said: ‘Cocoa prices rose sharply last year, reaching a 45-year high. Alongside other rising costs – such as national insurance increases and a new packaging tax – manufacturers are paying nearly 40 per cent more for ingredients and energy than they were in January 2020.
‘As a result, in some cases food manufacturers will have had to make changes to products to continue offering shoppers the food and drink they love at reasonable price points.’
It is understood that manufacturers’ input costs such as ingredients rose by around 39 per cent between January 2020 and September 2025.
More than 20 per cent of food and drink manufacturers have also reported costs increasing by 10 per cent in the last year.
