Shrinkflation: McVities’ Digestives and Penguin bars to be hit with reduced packet sizes
A number of biscuit brands are to see reduced packet sizes after being hit by shrinkflation, including McVities’ Digestives and Penguin bars.
Shrinkflation – when a product is reduced in size but the price remains the same – is a retail tactic used by brands to counter soaring production costs.
It will see standard packs of McVitie’s Digestives cut from 400g to 360g, and multi-packs of Penguin and Club biscuits reduced from eight bars to seven.
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The iconic British biscuit brand confirmed its biscuit packs will be shrinking, and said to expect smaller packets to hit shelves in the coming weeks.
The biggest factor in the rise has been Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has pushed up the cost of commodity crops such as wheat and vegetable oils, which are widely used in the manufacture of Britain’s most popular biscuits.
“Like many businesses, we continue to see an unprecedented rise in input costs and inflationary pressures,” McVitie’s parent company, Pladis, said.
Quality Street tubs and Coffee Mate packaging have also been hit by size reductions, in what is yet another example of the ‘shrinkflation’ phenomenon.
Just this week, analysts Kantar said grocery price inflation hit a record of 16.7 per cent in January, potentially adding £788 to the average shopping bill.
4 Comments. Leave new
McVities digestive biscuits are a no buy option for me now.
Not for me either J G
These biscuits are ridiculously small now am surlrised you have the audacity to even sell them as biscuits !
Just noticed, the Mcvities Rich Tea being dipped into my tea, are that thin, you can barely dip them before they melt into the tea. Are we being taken to the cleaners