Yahoo Finance Nestle confirms ‘shrinkflation’ of iconic chocolate: ‘Difficult situation’
Nestle has reduced the size of its ‘fun size’ Kit Kats due to rising costs.
Have you noticed Kit Kat chocolate bars are a bit smaller? You’re not imagining it. Nestle has confirmed the iconic chocolate is the latest victim of “shrinkflation”.
Shrinkflation is when a product gets smaller in size but its price remains the same - or sometimes even increases. It means you are essentially paying the same price for a product but getting less.
One Aussie shared a picture of two Kit Kat bars side by side showing a dramatic difference in their size.
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Nestle has now confirmed the size of their ‘fun size’ Kit Kats has indeed become smaller, with the confectionary company reducing the weight by 3 grams, from 17 to 14 grams. That’s a 17 per cent reduction.
“We found ourselves in the situation where pretty much everything we needed to make Kit Kats has been increasing in price for the past couple of years,” Nestle director of corporate affairs Margaret Stuart told 3AW.
“Cocoa is now at record prices, sugar has gone up significantly, transport and shipping all well above inflation, wages and energy have also gone up.”
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Stuart said this “really difficult situation” meant the company had made the decision to reduce the size of the Kit Kats about six months ago, rather than increase prices.
Kit Kat ‘fun size’ share packs currently cost $5.50 for an 11-piece pack and $6 for an 18-piece pack.
“These are not decisions that we take lightly because we know people don’t like it but they also don’t like price rises either,” Stuart said.
While Stuart said Nestle had not reduced the size of any other ‘mini’ products, she could not promise it wouldn’t happen in the future.
“This is an environment where we do need to keep costs under control. We know people don’t want increased prices but I’m never going to make a promise that things aren’t going to change in the future,” she said.
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Finder personal finance expert Sarah Megginson said shoppers were “catching on and expressing their frustration” with companies' shrinkflation tactics.
“There are ways to tackle shrinkflation and make sure you’re getting the most value out of what you’re buying,” Megginson previously told Yahoo Finance. “However, it really puts the onus on you as a consumer to be on alert.”
She told shoppers to remain vigilant and always read the product label.
