Customers don’t like price increases, so many manufacturers prefer to save on the content. It comes down to the same thing, but it’s not as obvious. The Hamburg consumer advice center takes a close look and regularly chooses the “deceptive package of the month”.
The current cheat pack of the month are the Pringles chips. Manufacturer Kellogg has shrunk the stack of chips imperceptibly. Instead of 200 grams, there are only 185 grams in the tube, and at the same time many retailers have increased the price by 20 cents. Pringles has been playing the hidden price increase game for many years, like them Consumer Center Hamburg has documented: since 2006 there have been seven different filling quantities between 165 and 200 grams. Sometimes the stack got bigger, sometimes smaller, and definitely more expensive: Calculated per gram, Pringles cost almost twice as much today as they did 15 years ago. Manufacturer Kellogg says in a statement: “From time to time we adjust our pack sizes and formats to ensure that we have the right pack size for the different distribution channels and eating habits of consumers. The change in the filling quantity affects the entire Pringles range since March 2022.”
Illustrious series of deceptive packages
The Hamburg consumer advice center has already denounced many well-known manufacturers as deceptive packaging of the month. The chocolate Santa Claus and the smiling bunny from Milka were among them, as well as the pasta sauce Miracoli or muesli from Dr. Oetker. Milka manufacturer Mondelez also criticized consumer advocates for moving away from the 100 gram standard size to 93, 87 or 81 gram bars and shrinking some 300 gram bulk packs to 270 or 280 grams.
Once a year, the consumer center has five candidates vote on the deceptive package of the year. Homann’s paprika sauce was awarded the negative prize for 2021. Our photo series shows other deceptive packages from the past few months.
++Here you will find deceptive packs from the industry that are still on the supermarket shelves++