2024-01-19 17:29:00
With the crisis and the rise in the costs of raw materials, packaging, wages and production costs, many manufacturers have found the solution to give the impression to consumers that their products have not increased. The trick? Shrinkflation. Behind this barbaric name, taken from the English verb “to shrink” which means to shrink. Less yoghurt in the pot, less pasta or chips in the packet, without touching the price, it’s a disguised way of passing the inflation pill. But, in the end, the consumer pays more, without realizing it. For Vooruit and the PS, this practice must be banned. A bill to this effect is on the table, to prevent shrinkflation or, at the very least, force manufacturers to mention the use of this practice on their packaging.
“It bothers me that companies deceive consumers,” said MP Kris Verduyckt (Vooruit), co-author of the bill, to our colleagues at Laatste Nieuws. “Shrinkflation is pure deception, with consumers suffering the financial consequences because companies want to satisfy their shareholders. This is why we want shrinkflation to be included in the law as a fraudulent commercial activity. Anyone who does not communicate regarding a change in content must be sanctioned by the economic inspectorate.”
Carrefour denounces brands that hide price increases… before also being called to order
While it seems difficult to outright ban the practice, requiring manufacturers to affix a sticker to their packaging to alert consumers of a change in the quantity of product in the package seems to be more convincing to opponents of the bill. . A sticker which should appear on packaging for two months.
In France too, the practice has prompted government intervention. The Ministry of the Economy is working on a draft decree which might come into force by the end of March, to respond to consumers’ demand to be better informed in the event of shrinkflation on certain products. A first version of this decree was submitted to Brussels to verify compliance with a 2015 European directive on the transparency of technical rules. Already last September, Bruno Lemaire had described the practice as a real “scam” while Elisabeth Borne also considered the process “shocking.” The 60 Million Consumers association has also been denouncing shrinkflation for years and does not hesitate to criticize the big brands that use it. Findus, Lipton IceTea, Lay’s, Amora… were thus publicly singled out.
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