Consumer advocates are calling for indirect price increases to be marked, which come about through less content at the same price. They accuse some companies of using inflation to increase profits.
The Hamburg consumer advice center and the Foodwatch organization have called for labeling of products that are sold at the same price despite having less content. Such hidden price increases are hardly noticeable to consumers, but are now commonplace in supermarkets, explained Foodwatch. In times of rising living costs, this approach puts people under further financial strain.
“Shrinkflation” in the supermarket
An example of a hidden price increase, the so-called shrinkflation, is the current “sham package of the month for November” from the Hamburg consumer center. At first glance, Aldi’s Gutbio fennel tea has become cheaper at 1.19 euros instead of 1.49 euros, but there are only 20 instead of 25 tea bags in the pack. In addition, the contents of the respective bags have decreased. The bottom line is that the price increase is 50 percent, Foodwatch explained.
The company Danone has meanwhile reduced both the contents and the packaging of a yogurt alternative, but left the price the same. In the store, the difference between a 500 gram pack and a 400 gram pack can hardly be seen, Foodwatch complained.
“Deceiving consumers”
“Food companies and retail chains are exploiting inflation to increase their profits and deceive consumers,” complained Manuel Wiemann from Foodwatch. He called on Federal Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) to put a stop to this practice and to protect “people from secret price rip-offs”.
The Hamburg consumer advice center and Foodwatch are therefore insisting on labeling the affected products. For example, it would be conceivable to have a notice on the front of the packaging for twelve months to draw attention to the price increase.
Complaint record in August
At the end of August, consumer advocates reported a record number of complaints about hidden price increases. Suppliers are increasingly making products more expensive by selling less content in largely standard packaging, as the Hamburg Consumer Center and Stiftung Warentest announced.
The manufacturers’ practice is generally not illegal, as consumer advocates emphasized at the time – but it is “extremely non-transparent.” The change in content is often hidden or disguised, and in some cases it is communicated, but as if it were an advantage: it is then called “New Size” or “New Form for finer enjoyment”.