In an article published recently on the Choice website, the organisation said the latest example of a food company downsizing its products without adjusting its pricing is Smith’s crinkle cut potato chips, which were recently slashed from 175g to 170g per pack, or about three chips less.
The company, owned by American food and beverage giant, PepsiCo, has reportedly said it needed to shrink the pack size to make up for higher manufacturing costs. Choice said no notification was given to consumers, who may not have noticed the 5g reduction when the new packs started appearing on supermarket shelves earlier this year.
PepsiCo’s Red Rock Deli potato chips fell from 185g to 165g per pack last year without a corresponding fall in price. And Smith’s Potato Crisps and Doritos Corn Chips pack sizes went from 200g to 175g in 2010.
Smith’s isn’t the only culprit when it comes to giving consumers less and less. Earlier this year Cadbury reduced the size of its iconic Freddo Frog product from 15g to 12g without didn’t change the recommended retail price.
