You may hear Grandma complaining about how there were more Quality Street chocolates in the tub back in her day this Christmas – and she would be right.
Shoppers are being struck by the double blow of shrinking products and soaring prices this year – yes, shrinkflation strikes again.
A new investigation by consumer group Which? reveals that many everyday items, even basic essentials, are getting smaller, with cheaper substitute ingredients being used to cut corners and maximise profits.
Shoppers who are getting ready for Christmas by buying their favourite festive chocolate will find noticeable differences this year.
Quality Street chocolate tubs have been reduced from 600g to 550g, while the price for the smaller tub at Morrisons increased from £6 to £7 this year.
One family even went out of their way to release an 18 year breakdown on their yearly purchase of the confectionary tub to show the gradual decline in numbers and flavours of chocolate.
Professor of Retail Marketing at Birmingham Business School, Sarah Montano told Metro: ‘Many consumers have already traded down on branded items, stopped buying products or changing where they shop meaning that there is little more that they can do.
‘As everyone gets ready for Christmas people are finding that their much-loved tubs of chocolate have further shrank with some tubs down to 500g.
‘It is a very difficult time for customers as these increases have been ongoing.
‘Actions that customers can take are to shop around, use loyalty card prices and look at food waste – at an average of £250 per person over the year, reducing food waste is a quick saving for everyone and the planet.’
Shrinkflation (size of product reduced but cost the same) and skimpflation, where the quality of the product is reduced by using cheaper products have become more noticeable.
Clare Moffat, tax and pensions expert at Royal London told Metro: ‘Food price inflation has swung from over 19% a year in March 2023 to 4.4% in May this year, but even at its lowest rates, the increase in food prices are still being felt.
‘Our latest Financial Resilience Report shows that households were spending, on average, £148 a month more on food in February 2025 compared to a year earlier.
‘Many are struggling, with one in five people telling us they have less than £100 in cash savings, and nearly the same number again saying they have nothing left or are overdrawn at the end of the month.’
Top tips for consumers
- Don’t panic – A rise in food inflation does not necessarily mean everything is going to become much more expensive all of a sudden, but it will mean that keeping an eye on food costs will be harder
- Rework your monthly budget – Prioritise essentials like rent/mortgage, bills, food and transport and cut/pause non-essentials like streaming service subscriptions
- Switch and save on essentials – Use comparison sites to get the best deals on energy providers, phone providers and other bills. Make sure you’re using supermarket apps to get discounts and deals, or use apps like Too Good To Go for cost effective food
- Ask for help early – Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your energy provider, bank, or landlord if you fall behind on payments, or if you see yourself falling behind. They might be able to offer support or repayment plans
- Check your benefit eligibility -You might be eligible for certain help through benefits, depending on your circumstances and your age. You can check on the Gov.co.uk website or you could use a free, confidential and independent benefits calculator from a charity like Turn2us Benefits Calculator to see what help you could receive
- Consider side hustles – Look for ways to boost your income whether it’s selling old clothes on platforms like Vinted, making money from a hobby, using the app Rover to get paid for dog sitting. You could also look into the Rent a Room Scheme
Source: Clare Moffat
It’s not just Christmas products that are the latest victims of shrinkflation, even basic essentials such as toothpaste and breakfast options are.
Aquafresh Complete Care Original Toothpaste has increased from £1.30 for 100ml to £2 for 75ml at Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado – a 105%.
Bottles of Gaviscon Heartburn and Indigestion Liquid have shrunk by 100ml, while the price at Sainsbury’s remained at £14.
Sainsbury’s Scottish Oats have halved in size from 1kg to 500g but instead of reducing the cost to reflect the change, the price has increased from £1.25 to £2.10.
If you wanted a cup of Nescafe Original Instant Coffee to go with your breakfast oats, you will notice it has shrunk from 200g to 190g in Tesco, Morrisons and Asda – a rise of 5% per 100g)
The cost of confectionary’s raw ingredients soaring has impacted the products on the shelves as several multipacks of chocolate bars have dropped drastically in size.
Which? found that KitKat Two-Finger Milk Chocolate Bar multipacks dropped from 21 bars to 18, while Ocado prices’ rose from £3.60 to £5.50.
The watchdog also found that the brand has reduced the amount of cocoa butter in their White KitKats with less than 20%.
This means they can no longer be marketed as a white chocolate product.
A spokesman for Nestle said: ‘Like every manufacturer, we’ve seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years making it much more expensive to manufacture our products.
‘As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible.
‘To continue to offer shoppers great value, it is sometimes necessary to adjust recipes of some of our products.
‘Retail pricing is at the discretion of individual retailers.’
This is similar to McVitie’s white digestives that do not contain any cocoa butter at all.
McVitie’s Penguin and Club bars also cannot be lawfully sold as a chocolate biscuit due to it containing more palm and shea oil than cocoa.
The beloved frog-shaped Cadbury bar, Freddo, has fell victim to shrinkflation as its multipacks reduced from five to four at Morrisons, Ocado and Tesco.
A spokeswoman for Mondelez International, which makes Cadbury products, said: ‘We understand the economic pressures that consumers continue to face and any changes to our product sizes is a last resort for our business.
‘However, as a food producer, we are continuing to experience significantly higher input costs across our supply chain, with ingredients such as cocoa and dairy, which are widely used in our products, costing far more than they have done previously.’
A spokesman for the Food and Drink Federation said cocoa prices rose sharply last year, reaching a 45-year high.
‘Alongside other rising costs, such as national insurance increases and a new packaging tax, manufacturers are paying nearly 40% more for ingredients and energy than they were in January 2020.
‘As a result, in some cases food manufacturers will have had to make changes to products to continue offering shoppers the food and drink they love at reasonable price points.’
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