Hello.
My name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yor the
Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
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She's on the Money, She's on the money.
Have you ever gone to buy something you've bought a million times, noticed something was a little different, like maybe it was smaller. Well, chances are you haven't suddenly grown, but it has gotten smaller. You're not being gas lit. It's called shrink flation. We are talking about it on today's show. My name is Becksied and this is a She's on the Money.
I VICKI d hello, excited for this.
Becky s like it's not good to do it, but that kind of sounds they I'll take.
It, you know, I'll just call you back. It's all good. Okay, it's all good.
You are shrinking my name.
Yeah, exactly. I didn't even know you could shrink Beck.
You can do.
Or just be just B B. Beck. Same amount of life, the same amount of effort. Yeah. No, all right, Well let's move on because we're talking about shrink flation today and I am salty about this. Guys like we'll get to the English muffin conundrum a little bit later. But shrink flation, as you introduced, is basically when a brand starts selling less for more by reducing the size of their products but keeping the price the same, which is just really rude.
It's rude.
We all want more tim Tams, not less.
Listen ar sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.
So usually these changes aren't that obvious. So in some cases you only realize the product is smaller when you open the packet and find one less biscuit or bar or cake or whatever it is. I feel like sometimes you don't even notice. It's somebody else pointing it out and being like, Beck, did you know that they have two less biscuits in this packet? And you're like, you're right, it used to be ten.
What the heck in and you can't mentally prepare for something like that. You don't know what it's coming. It's so rude, really sad.
It's one of those things that grinds my gears. And so I said to you, let's do a whole episode on it.
And here we are mainly a therapy session.
I would say, I'm gonna let loose because you know what you shouldn't get between a pregnant woman and two English muffins.
That's true. Actually, no true words have ever been spoken. But a little bit later in the episode, we are going to talk about specific products. So hold onto that English muffins.
Oh, we're going to name and shame.
I'm kind of scared, but we are going to give you some tips on how to spot it and what other tricks to be wary of in the supermarket. But first feed, what is happening to the cost of food in Australia right now?
Oh, it's cooked, Beck, It's absolutely cooked in my scientific opinion, not pun intended, No, not necessarily stretch. Actually, that was pretty good. It's pretty good for we are funny. We should go out on our own and do a comedy podcast. Okay, no, not me. I'm not funny, but the price of food staples is definitely rising, and it is putting a lot of pressure on household budgets. A study by Deacon University recently released in August, Beck found I've written down four
dot points. Are you ready? I'm ready. Milk prices rose by twenty percent in the twenty four months to July this year. In the past twelve months, egg prices have increased by ten percent. Canned tuna, she's a staple, she's by twenty five percent. That one feels random. That one feels real rude too, because that's like everybody's cheap budget uni meal virtually, if you're having a bit of a week where there's too much month left in your budget. Yes,
I feel like can tuna some rice? Some frozen veggies always whips up a quick little tuna morne and it's cheap twenty five percent more for you tuna.
Hmmmm.
It feels I don't know, like maybe call me ignorant, but like fish are not charging more for their own.
That is not the logic behind getting more expencted. Do do you know what I find even more rude about this? Frozen veggies they're up by eighteen percent, and is that not meant to be the cheaper option is that's a real shame? What the heck?
Can the certain businesses did do very poorly and some did really well actually over the pandemic.
It definitely wasn't the toilet paper company is doing poorly well.
That's for sure. But supermarkets did really well over the pandemic. They did, you know, the rich get richer as they say.
Yes, the pandemic felt like it was a bit of
a license for supermarkets to basically print money. So at the same time that Deacon UNI their analysis came out in August, will worst net profit increased four point six percent to one point two billion dollars for the full financial year, while overall sales hit sixty four point twenty nine billion dollars, derived from its Australian and New Zealand supermarket operations as well as discount chain bigw and our second biggest chain, Coals, also revealed a four point eight
percent full year profit of one point one at billion dollars.
Wow, I feel like I should be surprised, but maybe I'm not.
I don't know if you've noticed, like complete side note, have you seen the news that's coming out where they're putting like all of these like safety gates and stuff in at the supermarkets because they're obviously trying to lower theft. Did you think that maybe if you lowered the prices so people could afford groceries, maybe they wouldn't steal them,
because it's not like you're not making profit. Like we literally have your annual reports here and Coal's made one point one billion dollars profit and will Worths obviously had sales of over sixty four billion dollars. Like, you guys are kind of cooked because you're coming out here saying it's significantly eating into our profits if people are stealing food. Do you know people go to Kohal's and they do steal food when they can't afford it. Yeah, it's an
unwritten rule. Back Like if I look over and there might be somebody putting an avocado through as a brown onion, I didn't see it. I didn't see it. That's not my business. Like, no, it's not my business. I'm no snitch, Like I don't know your life, your job, but it's not my point. Obviously that's illegal and we shouldn't be doing it. But like I'm not going to sneech on somebody who's trying to do the best.
I don't want to sound like boomer. I also don't want to say the word boomer.
Definitely have a boomer opinion in this circumstance, I think, I think.
So we're on that side. But you know, if things weren't automated and we didn't have self checkout, we had actual people serving us, then.
Well, actual people who got paid actual wages, then maybe people were placed by robots exactly. Mince me through as brown onions. That's so strange.
That really old of me to say.
Yeah, but that would impact their profitage, it would make less profit if they had to pay more wages. Obviously, paying people are living wage is just a bit too much to us, that makes sense. Yeah, so tomy is a bit to that. Don't ask for laughing wages and the ability to afford mince me, my.
Gosh, I know that is a lot to ask. Actually, why is shrink flation all of a sudden a thing.
It's not all of a sudden a thing. Oh, it's like been around for a very long time, but it's happening globally and brands and supermarkets. I feel like getting away with it. Oh, like you've probably heard of it. We just complain a little bit, and then we go back to our normal lives, like people don't notice it. Obviously, after the break, I'm going to name and shame my
favorite products that have been shrink flated. And it's not because when you were little things seemed bigger m m. Like you know, when you were little, you're like, oh, that used to be massive, and then you see it when you're an adult you like gaslight yourself. You're like, oh,
it must be because I'm bigger. So it's like when you used to like drive past the McDonald's sign and you'd see the Macason You're be like, wow, those golden arch is a huge naw, you drive past it and you're like, hmm, it's just a sign, Victoria, Like it's not, you know, totally as big as you think it is. But the truth is some of our favorite products have shrunk. Yes, we're not gaslighting ourselves anymore. We're just going to call
it out. But obviously it's happening globally and I've had enough, so we're doing a whole podcast on it. Who knows this is probably gonna fall on deaf years. Let's be honest, but in this cost of living crisis, many brands don't actually want to be putting their prices up because customers might turn away from their products or you know, look at a company and be like, oh my gosh, like I can't believe in a cost of living crisis back they're putting up their prices the audacity, so they're taking
stuff away from us hoping that we don't notice. And by not being transparent about these changes to their product, I just think that's really deceptive and I don't like it. Brands should honestly be so upfront about this and not try and hoodwink customers. Like how many times have you seen the advertising on a packet, you know, and they're like, oh, you get a bonus one razor in this packet, or you get a bonus two extra biscuits in this packet.
There should be some kind of law where if you're going to reduce a packet size on a standard product, do you have to be like, by the way, there's two less biscuits in here. Now, I can't believe it's not what if I mean a sleeve of Marie Clear biscuits to make a recipe and you're going to take some Marie Clear biscuits away from me. Now I've put too much butter in my recipe.
Totally because one pack used to get you a whole whole cheesecake base.
I don't like it Now I might have to buy more. But there is evidence that supermarkets have used the pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis to not only sell more goods, but also increase their profit from sales. Critics call this inflationary profiteering back although there has been minimal response from the government and regulators. No, I'm talking about it.
That's really one not happy about that all right.
In France, though big food manufacturers have promised a lower prices amid a threat from the government to imp those financial sanctions, given prices of many wholesale foods have been falling for months. That's good. It's to protect the consumer, absolutely, okay. It's kind of saying like, hey, can't do this, like.
It's not okay, God, I wish we'd do that here.
Hey, Albo, can we talk about me getting more biscuits?
I think we should maybe call Elbow after They'll do it on the break. So stick around because After the break, we are going to talk about some specific products that are doing this and also give you hot tips on how to spot it and what else to look out for.
Straight under the bus, go and straight under the bus, Straight under the bus. After the break, you're going to your list of brands that are never going to sponsor this podcast. Stick around, don't go anywhere.
Okay, here we are back, and no one is safe, not a single person.
So not a single person, not a single product, not a single Thredo frog.
Exactly, good segue.
What are some examples? The Fredo Frog noticed the fronts decreased in size by twenty five percent. That's one out of ten. Cannot recommend.
This is one of those moments where I thought, Okay, maybe it's just because I'm getting older.
And yeah, like they're not that big.
No.
Do you remember the giant frettos and a giant caramel like kwalas that people would sell at primary school for the fundraisers, right, they were like a dollar and they were massive, and I remember only being able to eat half, probably because I was younger, So this is definitely playing into it. Only being able to eat half because they were so like big. Anyway, I recently found one. By recently, I mean like a year ago. I found one that I'd stashed away in my bedroom at my parents' house
a million years ago. Oh, completely off, we're not going to open it. But I looked at it and I was like, oh, is this like a super sized one? Like, where did the No, it wasn't. It was just the regular size. Oh but from the early two thousands. Wow, bit's rude.
They do have those big ones, but your thing's bigger than the big ones.
Yeah. Absolutely, so they still have the big ones, but like, they definitely are smaller and fun size, like any type of fun sized chocolate bar. Like Beck. You know that you walk into our office at reception, there is a lollly jar right anyone. It's free for all. Anyone can open the lolli jar and help themselves to like little Snickers or a Mars bar. They're half the size that they used to be. That's so true, which is why I always grab two because obviously this inflation is not going.
To get me exactly two Little Sneakers bars is one old school sneakers bars, So I agree with that.
I have a bone to pick as well. Please, it's my favorite muffins, like we're excited about. I gave these guys a whole shout out on my newslater a couple of weeks ago because I'm obviously obsessed with muffins at the moment right specifically English muffins, but my favorite boutique English Muffin Company thirteen ninety nine. A packet beck used
to be six in a packet. You'd be like, Okay, well maybe I'll buy a packet and I only eat them on the weekend because they are pretty good with pro mart and a little bit of avocado on the top of them, bougie at home brunch. Now there's only four in a packet, same price.
That is so sneaky. And I assume they didn't tell anyone about this, no.
And I didn't notice until my husband was like, oh, have you got extra muffins, because like I usually eat one muffin and he eats two or three muffins, sure, and we didn't have that. I was like, well, if you eat three, that's the whole packet. And he's like, that never happens. What are you talking about?
And I was like, ther jassy, Oh wow, okay, I'm a little bit scared and if they're listening to this.
And if Nery Lane, that's unacceptable. Honestly, you should not be getting in the way of a pregnant woman and an English muffin with butter and jam on it. Are
you joking? It's a dangerous the audacity, honestly. But I think it's interesting because we all get up in arms about this, right, Like, there are so many examples of different biscuit packets that have two less biscuits, yes, or packaging where you open it and it's got like you know, it might be a pill packet and you might have got pan at all, and there's just like blank rows
and you're like, what the heck in is this? The packaging stays the same, so you pick it up off the shelf, you don't second guess it, but then there's less product in the package. What I'm going to do this week, actually because I just love everyone being thrown under a bus, I'm going to do a thread in our Facebook group of give me your best examples of shrink flation, and I'm going to make everybody comment literal examples of what shrink flation is.
That's a good idea. I'm actually excited to see this.
Yeah, It's going to be really funny because I think everyone's going to comment on it and be like, oh, I didn't even notice that one. Yes, exactly, like we're ipping arms about you know, Fredo Frog totally, but like what about bigger staples, like what about packets of pasta, packets of rice, things, cereal exactly, things that we actually have to purchase that are actually, you know, necessary during a cost of living crisis.
I totally agree, but you know how sometimes they sell the half loaves of bread now just I guess for if you don't want to be buying a whole one, but that's exact same price as a regular, which is so unacceptable. It's not really shrink flation, but it's still kind of like it's another getting away with that kind of thing, you know.
On that note, though, no, do you freeze bread sometimes happens. Do you actually get through a loaf of bread before it goes off and you have to throw it out?
Not usually? Beck, Not usually.
I am like the Queen of freezing bread. Like I buy bread, I chuck it in the freezer. That is it. That is how bread lives in our house. And one of my girlfriends came over to stay recently and she was like, do you have any bread, like, I'll make some toast because she stayed over the night. And I was like, yeah, yeah, it's just in the freezer. And she's like, what is wrong with you? And I was like, is this not how normal people store loaves of bread? Like,
is this not how this happens? Because like you pull the bread out. Sure in my house. I don't know about you, Beck, but I basically just eat toast, Like I'm not making sandwiches with the bread. I don't need it to be super fresh. Although if you let it defrost properly, it stays fresh, right, But you chuck it in the toaster, wham bam, thank you, ma'am, fresh toast every single time. It just your frosts really quickly because it's so skinny.
But how about the I would call it a wrestle, maybe a tug of war between you and the bread.
Oh do you separate the bread before you put it in the freezer? Like you're not like sectioning them, You're just pulling them apart so that when they go they're like loosely packed, like you know, sure, sure so, Beck, if you're not freezing your bread, you should be freezing your bread because I just think it makes sense. I see where you're coming from. Its way, if you're throwing
away bread. One out of ten poor form anyway, Neil Chahan, who is a shrink flation expert, but you didn't know that existed, Beck, He began compiling a list of the worst examples of product downsizing that he's been able to find, and I have them all for you right here. Are you ready?
I'm ready?
All right, So I've listed them out. In Australia, sizes are decreasing across the board for everything from household products to your favorite snacks glad rap straight under the bus glad Raps bulk option shrunk by twenty five percent, with a quotea value pack going from four hundred meters to three hundred meters in length. Recently, Oh never would have
noticed that one out of ten. Buying coke in a glass bottle, which already costs more, as you guys know, because it clearly tastes better, also comes at a loss, as the new bottles were found to hold fifteen percent less of the soft drink.
Wow.
Pringles, don't get me started. Pringles are the worst at shrink flation. They used to sell one hundred and sixty five grams of chips. It's now reduced down to one hundred and thirty four grams. But the company made the chips themselves smaller instead of shrinking their packaging.
That's kind of clever, kind of clever.
But like now when you pull them out, like, how am I going to make the Women's Weekly duck cake for my future kid? If it doesn't have two pringles as the mouse.
You've got a pringle as a.
Duck cake, okay? Or I'll make you one one day, please, all right. Smith's chips, which are obviously crinkle cut, are the only type of chips anyone should be eating, got smaller as well, with their bags going from two hundred grams a bag to one hundred and seventy grams of bag in recent years. A standard block of Cadbury chocolate, which used to be two hundred and fifty grams, is now two hundred grams as of a few years away.
It's recently faced another cut. We're now one hundred and eighty grams a block for a Cadbury block of deer Erry milk.
It's going to be zero grams soon.
You're going to get like one bite, they're going to gas light out sin to thinking that whole block of chocolate is the size of a Fredo frog.
So true, that's true.
Wheatbits packets gone from one point five kilos down to one point two kilos, which is a three hundred gram reduction for the iconic breakfast, which has now again been reduced to one point one two kilos. She's losing weight dramatically. Crunchy nut It hyped its prices by fifty seven percent after losing thirty grams in twenty twenty two, meaning shoppers went from paying ninety cents for the delicious cereal up to a dollar forty one for the same hundred grams. It's a lot.
That is a lot.
That's a lot in many supermarkets. The five hundred grams of Coddy's jams, they've recently been replaced with a three hundred and seventy five gram alternative, representing twenty five percent as a decrease in size, and the shelf price fell less than seven percent. You're getting less for more. And Maxibond, which is obviously a very popular Peter's ice.
Cream, not the Maxibond, No, that.
Has decreased in size. I mean they did well, and they actually publicly came out and said we're reducing the size. I don't know what kind of press they got from that, but it went from one hundred and two grams from maxibond down to ninety four gram which attributed to increased cost. Wow. I like that they out of themselves now like it's costing us more, so we're going to give you less. And I think people we like that. We like transparent.
I like that a lot we do. So you mentioned many of these examples do go un announced. But is it like recorded or measured anywhere.
Yes, CPI, my friends. So the ABS they track the prices of goods and services year on year that make up household costs. It takes into account changes in product size as well, which is really good. They are treated as a price increase given the end result is that essentially you get less for your money than you were before and you need to buy more to compensate. So yes, the ABS track said and CPI is really interesting because CPI is based on essentially the cost of goods and
services the increase. But the way that they do that is by taking a basket of regular goods and services and measuring year on year how much that would cost you. So back in the fifties, are basket goods and services you know from a supermarket would have cost you, let's pretend twenty dollars, and now that same basket will cost you like one hundred and twenty dollars. So it's interesting to co. Okay, well, bread used to cost a dollar a loaf, and now it costs like seven dollars depending
on where you're getting it. So it's an interesting conundrum. But also I don't know, as you guys know love the abs.
I mean, you wouldn't want to check it every time you go out, but maybe I would. But what are the best ways in the shops to determine the better deal and cross compare similar items?
You know, price hands down, it's now a legal requirement that every single sales ticket has the unit price on it, so it will say, oh, this is a dollar for one hundred grams, and you can kind of compare the different products. You can see, oh, the home brand one is a dollar for one hundred grams, but the branded version of you know, rolldoats, which to me, I cannot tell the difference. Like I do not care how much money I end up having one day, I will always,
always always buy home brand oats. Yeah, cannot tell me that one is better that I cannot see it anyway. It will tell you the difference between the goas and what you're actually getting bang for buck, because sometimes they're like, you know, three hundred and seventy five grams versus two hundred grams, and you're like, oh, well that two hundred grams looks cheaper because it's smaller box, but it might actually be more expensive because you're getting less for more. Gotcha,
make that makes sense. So obviously unipricing is really important. It did become mandatory in two thousand and eight to make sure that you're all good. Give an example of that. Obviously, we mentioned before the cottige jam. It went from five hundred grams it used to cost sixty cents per hundred grams back the new three hundred and seventy five jar
that sells for seventy five cents per hundred grams. So obviously the diminished job he is in Cole's quote every day category implying that it's at a lower cost, but you're actually getting less for more, right, we don't like that, No, not at all. Also, home brand jam slaps like, oh, you cannot tell me that jam isn't jam jams jam right unless it's like that real bougie like raspberry jam that has the like patent lid that looks a little bit French. Oh that's bougie, but like you're just buying
that when you get scones right, totally exactly. Unfortunately, there is actually no legal requirement for food manufacturers to alert customers of a change in their product size. As we're saying before, it probably should, but they don't have to so long as the new quantity and unit price is appropriately displayed. So apparently it's on U bec to kind
of like those things I don't like it. You need to also look out for changed packaging and buzzwords like new on the box or pack it, because this can indicate that a product has drunk, but it probably has retained its old price. Okay, there's an app though, beck because obviously this is overwhelming. It is called Frugal fr ugl no E on the end, which is an Australian grocery price comparison and list building app that might help you keep track of these changes.
That's very good. I know right, I'm cray that literally as soon as we're done here, crazy. So what are some other things to keep an eye out for?
If anything? Oh, my favorite is that two for one, whether they're like, oh I get two for one or like, you know, buy two get one free, like it might not actually be cheaper, or so you might be buying a product but you don't ultimately need lots of like
how often do you actually buy that certain product? If it makes sense for you, great, it might be a money win, But just keep an eye out because marketing, they spend millions of dollars each and every single year as a supermarket to work out how to sell you more stuff back.
They know what they're doing.
They know what they're doing. It's not some like nice thing where they're like, oh this week or now roll thoughts, we're going to do two for one and you go, oh my gosh, how kind are they? They're not being kind of their own hearts exactly, and then be weary of the way supermarkets are organized. So this is about user experience. They are designed to make you leave with
more stuff. I don't know if you've noticed this, but all of the essentials of a supermarket are around the outside edge of the supermarket when you walk in, so you'll have fresh produce and the deli and all the like milk and stuff will be across the back, and the bread and the cheese they'll be on the other side, so you have to walk around, so inadvertently you have to go down the aisles for things that you might not necessarily need, and then they also try to upsell
you at checkout. They're having all the gums and the lollies and the things sitting there so that you go, oh, actually, I do need a gum. You're gonna jump in the car straight after this, or I do need a drink, or I do want this. Like they are smart. They have spent millions, if not billions, on marketing and making sure that your user experience gets you into the store but gets you buying more in the store. So it's interesting to I guess look into stuff like that, but
just be wary. To save money in a supermarket, one of the best recommendations is to stick to the outside and don't go down the middle aisles.
Totally. I'm a sucker for checkout gum though.
Wou just new it's just a beck thing to be into.
It really is lose math bars anyway.
When they're a dollar, you're like, well, it's only a dollar.
It's gonna save you money in the link exactly.
But it's a smaller Mars bar through a door.
Oh that's true. I think this is a really good place to leave it for now.
I couldn't agree more. I am done because I'm mad about the muffins.
Yes, let's go download Frugal.
YEP ten out of ten and we would obviously love to hear from you. But happy Wednesday, my friends, and we will see you for Friday drinks on Friday.
Bye, guys.
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