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.
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McVities digestive biscuits are a no buy option for me now.