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Date Published: 24/06/2022

ARCHIVED - Major Spanish food brands in price probe over shrinking package sizes

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Spain's consumer organisation has lodged a formal complaint against six manufacturers for a practice known as 'retail shrinkflation'

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Major Spanish food brands in price probe over shrinking package sizes

As production and shipping costs rise globally, many shoppers may have noticed various products have become smaller but the price remains the same. This is known as shrinkflation, a practice which is apparently becoming more common amongst manufacturers grappling with increasing overheads.

This week, Spain's consumer organisation OCU announced that it has filed a complaint with the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) against food brands Pastas Gallo, Danone, Pescanova, Colacao, Tulipán and Campofrío for allegedly doing just that.

OCU has reportedly discovered these companies are "giving less quantity while charging the same price", for example: offering 120 grams of a product in a package that should contain 150 grams without reducing the price.

"This practice allows manufacturers to avoid the revenue penalty caused by the rise in food prices as a result of the energy crisis," said OCU, another blow to consumers who have already experienced an 11% rise in the average cost of a shopping basket in the last 12 months.

The shrinkflation probe is ongoing and the OCU hasn't ruled out lodging formal complaints against "more products and companies".

"Shrinkflation means the consumer does not have complete information about the true nature and characteristics of the product, leading them to make erroneous decisions that can affect manufacturers who clearly raise the price, and are therefore penalised," added the consumer organisation.

According to an OCU study, at least 7% of the products in a basic shopping basket have been affected by this "opaque" practice. Now, the CNMV will have to determine whether or not there have been valid cases of unfair practice and competition.

Now read: Farmers forecast a chicken shortage in Spain by October

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