Food Packets Shrink As Prices Rise, Which? Says

Shoppers are being caught out by big brand products that are shrinking while the prices stay the same or even rise.

The consumer group Which? found that some packets are as much as 25% smaller than they were but are being sold with a higher price tag.

Birds Eye beef burgers are the biggest culprit, reducing from 16 to 12 in a pack while the price at Asda, Tesco and Morrisons has risen by 33p.

Other examples highlighted include Fry Light Extra Virgin Olive oil, the contents of which have shrunk by 24% but the price in Morrisons and Tesco has stayed the same.

And Patak's Tikka Masala sauce has reduced from 500g to 450g while the price at Morrisons and Waitrose is unchanged.

Unimpressed shopper Andrea Morris, in Thetford, told Sky News: "The marketing gurus are trying to get more money for their companies and I don't think it's right but it's up to consumers to be careful to watch what they buy."

The problem retailers face is that in many cases the wholesale prices have not fallen as the goods have got smaller.

The manufacturers have said that when faced with rising production costs they decided to shrink the package size rather than push up the price.

But more than half of shoppers questioned by Which? said they would rather pay more and keep the same size packets while the 37% that were happy to see smaller products said they should at least have been informed.

That is something consumer and marketing psychologist Dimitry Tsivrikos says is understandable.

"The thing for consumers is they are looking for transparency, they are looking to be treated equally and they also want to know how much they’re spending and what they're getting for their money," he said.

"So if there’s something that changes in the actual price of the product, they'd rather know about it than be tricked by smaller packages that maintain the same price."