McVitie's Digestives packets to shrink by seven biscuits due to rising costs post-Brexit

The size of a 500g packet of Digestives is to shrinking by 100g due to rising costs in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Pladis, the firm which owns UK brands including McVitie's and Jacob's, is to reduce a selection of pack sizes, it said.

Increased costs and the falling value of Sterling have made it more expensive to bake its variety of products, Pladis added.

As a result, a pack of McVitie's Digestives biscuits will now be 400g - equivalent to removing seven biscuits from a pack of 34.

The company, which produces a large range of Britain's favourite snacks, said it was the first change to McVitie's Digestives in many years.

Pladis said the changes to the biscuits, due to hit shelves at the end of January, marked the start of "selective changes to a small proportion" of its 700-strong portfolio of biscuits and snacks.

It added that the changes will also include the introduction of larger value packs.

Nick Bunker, Pladis UK & Ireland Managing Director, said: “The rising cost of ingredients and changes in the exchange rates means it has become more expensive to bake our products."

A Pladis spokeswoman added: "These changes are not in response to any one event. Like many other companies across the UK, we are making changes in response to changing market conditions and the increased cost of ingredients."

The firm said it conducted "extensive research" with 10,000 customers who said the "the taste and quality that makes Pladis’s biscuits and snacks the best in the market should never be compromised."

Pladis has already reduced the number of cakes in a standard box of Jaffa Cakes from 12 to 10, while recent months have seen changes to many other products including Maltesers and Toblerone.