Tesco has cut 50g from the weight of its entire range of own-label ready meals and raised prices for some chilled products.
Insiders like Assosia have produced data that shows the retailer has swapped its 450g ready meals for new 400g packs, and its 800g ready meals for 750g ones.
Its Sweet Potato Red Thai Curry & Jasmine Rice 450g, has been replaced with a 400g version and risen in price from £2.75 to £2.80.
The retailer’s Cottage Pie 800g, meanwhile, has been replaced with a 750g version at the same price of £3.50, the data shows.
It comes as Tesco’s annual pre-tax profits reached £2.03billion, as reported in their annual earnings statement in February.
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Tesco, however, isn’t the only retailer to have shrunk its own-label ready meals over the past year.
Assosia data shows Morrisons and Sainsbury’s made similar moves towards the end of last year – reducing value in some ready meal products by cutting down weight and hiking up price.
It comes as FMCG brands have been shrinking their products to mitigate soaring input costs, so called ‘shrinkflation’.
As inflation continues to push up the price of grocery products, manufacturer and consumer goods company Unilever has increased prices for Marmite, Pot Noodle, Dove soap and Magnum multipacks while also reducing packaging size.
A spokesperson for Unilever told The Grocer: “We regularly review our product sizes and pricing, and we are committed to ensuring shoppers enjoy great value for money from our brands.”
They added: “The retail price of our products is always at the sole discretion of the retailer and we, like all manufacturers, only provide a recommended retail price.”
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