Fewer chocolates in the box or milk in the ice cream: in order not to increase the prices on the shelves too much and risk scaring away customers worried about their wallets, some manufacturers are discreetly reducing the quantity, even the quality of their products, denounces the Foodwatch association. “Shrinkflation” (from the English verb shrink, to shrink), which consists in masking the price increases of products by reducing their weight, is in the sights of Foodwatch, which “fights for transparency in the agri-food sector “. In the program Complément d’Enquête broadcast Thursday evening on France 2, the association pinpoints six brands “which have changed the size of their flagship products in recent years”. Lindt’s Pyrenean milk chocolate boxes have been reduced by six bites, going from 30 to 24 and reducing the overall weight by 20%. While the price per kilo, recorded at the Carrefour distributor, has jumped 30% since 2020, the increase in the price of the box has been limited to 4%… To justify this, Lindt France explains that “the price per kilogram increased, reflecting the volatility and rising costs of (its) operations,” according to a letter sent to Foodwatch. transport, packaging), such as those of agricultural raw materials, for example cocoa. Ditto for Salvetat, owned by Danone, which reduced the size of its water bottles from 1.25 liters to 1.15 liters in 2020. There again, the result is the same: the price of the bottle increases little (+5%), while the price per liter has climbed by 15% at Intermarché. And Foodwatch points out, in passing, that the words “Generous format like the people of the South” have disappeared from the label. distributor is free to apply or not”, writes the consumer service of Danone France. The information on the packaging is, however, their own. In this period of high inflation, supermarket customers are very sensitive to the prices displayed and it can be dangerous to increase them too much, at the risk of the customer turning to the competition. Another example cited by Foodwatch, Kiri cheese, which reduced the portion size of its processed cheese by 10% a year and a half ago, with portions dropping from 20g to 18g. “At Auchan, the unit price does not seem to have changed but the price per kilo has increased by 11%”, notes the association. The Bel group explains that the cheese is sold “in a new, more natural recipe, without additives” and made in France from French milk. This required “substantial research and industrial investments to develop this recipe”. The increase in packaging also denounced Reducing quantities makes it possible to remain “competitive” while preserving margins, recently commented financial analyst John Plassard, from the Mirabaud fund manager. According to him, about 2% of food products sold in supermarkets could be affected by “shrinkflation”, cereals and chocolate bars in mind. “It’s a completely legal practice, provided that the weight of the product is clearly indicated on the packaging so as not to mislead the consumer”, explains Guillaume Forbin, lawyer specializing in consumer law at Kramer Levin. Foodwatch however regrets the “opacity” of the process and calls for better transparency in consumer information, via a petition. This “shrinkflation” is not confined to France. Many users of the TikTok social network in the United States have pinpointed a tendency to pack more vacuum in the same container. Another process: consumer specialist Olivier Dauvers points on his blog to the example of a box of baby food of the giant Nestlé, whose size has… increased, from 400 to 415 grams. It is sold much more expensive than the previous model (+23% of the price per kilo). But the pill passes thanks to the new packaging boasting a mixture now containing “5 cereals”, a supposedly better quality product.