Shrinkflation watch

[Raheem]

Jaffa cake heroes.

Nice to know I’m not going mad and things are getting smaller

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the increase is specifically on a three-pack of Jaffa cakes, which is a bit of a niche item.

 

[Dogsauce]

I mentioned something to a neighbour about the cost of Freddos a few weeks ago and he - British/English, fifties - hadn't heard of them!

I thought everyone knew about the Freddo inflation index, but he just muttered about the price or Big Macs.

I thought the actual metric was space raiders? Forever 10p then were suddenly 20p. I wish my wages were pegged to that commonly used inflationary index that year.

 

[Dogsauce]

The other cunt thing they are doing is increasing packaging to hide the shrinking content - note how many choc bar wrappers are quite baggy now, or how you get like nine biscuits in a packet that are placed in a plastic tray inside the wrapper so that they look about the size of a normal packet. Stack them up without this and you have barely half a normal pack. See also false bottoms in yogurts or tubs of cheese spread. No purpose other than deception. Waste of the world’s resources.

 

[Serge Forward]

Aye, and they pump it full of air to make it actually feel bigger, the crafty bleeders. Then when it opens with a pop, your heart sinks at the miniscule Twix that falls out.

Fun size is no fun

 

[pogofish]

I could never really see what was fun about any of those fun size things, unless the idea was that you would eat a handful at a time.

I have a vague memory of when they launched "fun size" products, the main market targeted was school packed lunches - where even then, it was unacceptable to shove a full-size 1970s chocolate bar into your kids lunchbox.

One or two fun sizes were acceptable though.

 

[pogofish]

My first thought when looking down that list was 'Where's the Wagon Wheels, everyone says they've shrunk, I need to know if they really have or if it's a trick or perception because of eating them when small versus when grown up.' I felt cheated by the lack of Wagon Wheels statistical evidence.

They have, no question - even though Burtons still deny it. The single-pack Wagon Wheel that was the norm in the 1970s was far bigger, although the small items sold today may be a bit thicker. The UK product has shrunk in stages, most recently in the last decade or so. So its not just memories of when I was smaller.

IIRC the Australian version of the product still retains the original size.

 

[Dogsauce]

I have a vague memory of when they launched "fun size" products, the main market targeted was school packed lunches - where even then, it was unacceptable to shove a full-size 1970s chocolate bar into your kids lunchbox.

One or two fun sizes were acceptable though.

Nobody had regular chocolate bars in their lunchboxes, it was those small chocolate-covered biscuits like Uniteds, Penguins or Trios that were dominant, sometimes wagon wheels or the disappointing waferyness of a Taxi bar (where the chocolate was sprayed on one molecule thick using a revolutionary scientific method). Though I bet they were still bigger than most regular chocolate bars are now.

 

[platinumsage]

You should see the size of the apples I had delivered last week

 

[pogofish]

Nobody had regular chocolate bars in their lunchboxes, it was those small chocolate-covered biscuits like Uniteds, Penguins or Trios that were dominant, sometimes wagon wheels or the disappointing waferyness of a Taxi bar (where the chocolate was sprayed on one molecule thick using a revolutionary scientific method). Though I bet they were still bigger than most regular chocolate bars are now.

Yes, I remember the Penguins and Trios - That's the lunchbox space the fun size makers went after.

 

[Aladdin]

tbf its being going on for years

What gets me is that back when bars were bigger we were all a lot thinner.

 

[Raheem]

They have, no question - even though Burtons still deny it. The single-pack Wagon Wheel that was the norm in the 1970s was far bigger, although the small items sold today may be a bit thicker. The UK product has shrunk in stages, most recently in the last decade or so. So its not just memories of when I was smaller.

IIRC the Australian version of the product still retains the original size.

Someone from Burtons was on TV a few years ago demonstrating their point by unwrapping a Waggon Wheel and placing it against the millionth Wagon Wheel, which had been put in a perspex display case in the early 70s. They were definitely the same size. Pretty convincing. People can remember all sorts of things that aren't true, particularly if lots of other people also believe the same thing.

 

[pogofish]

Someone from Burtons was on TV a few years ago demonstrating their point by unwrapping a Waggon Wheel and placing it against the millionth Wagon Wheel, which had been put in a perspex display case in the early 70s. They were definitely the same size. Pretty convincing. People can remember all sorts of things that aren't true, particularly if lots of other people also believe the same thing.

 

[pogofish]

Its not just foods that suffer this - has anyone else noticed how lavvy blocks have got smaller and softer/more quickly soluble these last few years. One used to last me several weeks, now a week is about all I get!

 

[Raheem]

This looks like a comparison between an Australian and British Wagon Wheel.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Its not just foods that suffer this - has anyone else noticed how lavvy blocks have got smaller and softer/more quickly soluble these last few years. One used to last me several weeks, now a week is about all I get!

Maybe your piss is more toxic?

 

[pogofish]

This looks like a comparison between an Australian and British Wagon Wheel.

It is, Arnotts remained wholly-owned by the Wagon Wheels original producer, whilst the British company had merged in to Associated British Foods by the 1960s before being sold to Burtons - The Australian company didn't get sold-off until sometime in the 2000s. The Australian product looks much closer to the Wheels of yore.

 

[Raheem]

It is, Arnotts remained wholly-owned by the Wagon Wheels original producer, whilst the British company had merged in to Associated British Foods by the 1960s before being sold to Burtons - The Australian company didn't get sold-off until sometime in the 2000s. The Australian product looks much closer to the Wheels of yore.

Or maybe you're just wrong.

A lot of people think Waggon Wheels have got smaller over the years, but it does seem to be just a mass delusion.

They've got heavier by almost 10g since the 70s, though. I would guess that, instead of shrinking them, Burtons have increased the amount of biscuit and used less of whatever the white stuff is.

 

[weltweit]

Sizes may be getting smaller but now they are promoting double packs ..

 

[ViolentPanda]

Or maybe you're just wrong.

A lot of people think Waggon Wheels have got smaller over the years, but it does seem to be just a mass delusion.

They've got heavier by almost 10g since the 70s, though. I would guess that, instead of shrinking them, Burtons have increased the amount of biscuit and used less of whatever the white stuff is.

Smegma. It's smegma. From Whales.

 

[pogofish]

Or maybe you're just wrong.

A lot of people think Waggon Wheels have got smaller over the years, but it does seem to be just a mass delusion.

They've got heavier by almost 10g since the 70s, though. I would guess that, instead of shrinking them, Burtons have increased the amount of biscuit and used less of whatever the white stuff is.

Burtons reduced the weight of a single wheel from 41g in 2006 to 36g in 2015 - That's no increase, even if they have found way of making them thicker in the interim.

And again, what Burtons did to Jammie Dodgers to secure the trademark really destroyed the product - I can remember when the Jammie Dodgers sold in the co-op were a big rectangular biscuit (approx size/shape of a playing card) with enough jam that when you squeezed it, it oozed through the holes in each side - go and try that with one of Burtons offerings today!

I can also remember when Lemon Puffs were proper crispy puff pastry and good - not the crumbly fuck-knows what they use today.

 

[pogofish]

Maybe your piss is more toxic?

I'm talking about cistern blocks!

 

[brogdale]

Thread regret.

 

[Raheem]

Burtons reduced the weight of a single wheel from 41g in 2006 to 36g in 2015

Go out, buy a pack of Waggon Wheels, and weigh one. Or find the weight of a six pack on a supermarket website.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Mars bars have gone ta fuck. They used to be massive in the 80s but they're tiny now.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I'm talking about cistern blocks!

You're claiming to have never pissed in your cistern, eh? Eh?

 

[Dogsauce]

Its not just foods that suffer this - has anyone else noticed how lavvy blocks have got smaller and softer/more quickly soluble these last few years. One used to last me several weeks, now a week is about all I get!

They’re not that soluble, as the mrs found out a couple of weeks ago when she found a loose pink one knocking around in a box of crap and thought it was a bath bomb. Couldn’t understand why it wasn’t fizzing…

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

My wife noticed today that andrex toilet paper has dropped in size since last month. She bought a new packet yesterday, but still had an old pack of six in the cupboard. I'd say it was at least a 10% reduction.

 

[Saul Goodman]

My wife noticed today that andrex toilet paper has dropped in size since last month. She bought a new packet yesterday, but still had an old pack of six in the cupboard. I'd say it was at least a 10% reduction.

It's gone to shit(?) . My fingers never used to breach their firm-yet-smooth plies of protective poo removal material, yet lately, on numerous occasions, I've found it necessary to scrub feacal matter from beneath my fingernails using other people's toothbrushes.

 

[weepiper]

That's a teaspoon.

 

[MrCurry]

tbf its being going on for years

A bit odd they give the weight of a 4 pack and 7 pack of snickers instead of just mentioning the weight of a single snickers bar. FWIW I’ve just weighed a single 2021 spec snickers bar (sold singly) and it’s 51g. Hopefully in a few years time someone can check that one for shrinkflation.

That might be a good way to use this thread - people post up the weight of various common products this year and in a few years time when we’ve all somehow not been banned, we can come back and check again.