Supermarkets in the UK are being urged to follow French stores and put warning labels on products that have been impacted by shrinkflation.
According to the Mail Online, the second biggest supermarket in France – Carrefour – has started identifying the products involved with labels stating: ‘This product has seen its weight decrease and the price charged by our supplier increase’.
Carrefour has initially identified 122 products from big brands, many of which sell products in the UK.
These include packs of Lay’s crisps, which are known as Walker’s in the UK, which went from 150 to 135 grams – at the same time the retail price effectively rose by 32% per kilo.
Additionally, Magnum ice creams were cut in size in the UK, where the number in a multipack reduced from four to three, while Pedigree’s Whiskas cat food pouches were reduced from 100g to 85g.
Use of this stealth tactic means the real food inflation rate is higher than current figures. The latest figures from Kantar put grocery inflation at 12.2%.
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Carrefour chief executive Alexandre Bompard was hit with backlash from manufacturers after he justified the addition of the shelf labels on French television.
He said: “This way we have the most reliable information possible for consumers, because it is unacceptable to do this to consumers.”
Head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, Susannah Streeter told the Mail Online: “It can be super-hard for shoppers to compare prices and work out whether they are getting a poor deal.
“Many shoppers are being hit with a double whammy, not only are budgets squeezed but they are time poor as well and they simply can’t afford to spend ages comparing the small print on products.”
She added: “Carrefour appears to be taking the lead and setting an example to the rest of the European grocery pack with this initiative.
“No-one wants to be put on the naughty shelf, so this will hopefully nudge the big consumer goods giants into making prices clearer for consumers.”
The news comes as British shoppers are being hit with “super-shrinkflation” as prices have risen at the same time that portion sizes have been cut, according to a new investigation.
